Chapter 3
Three
Aweek later, a troubling picture was taking shape as Elio settled into his new office and got the lay of the land at Starlight.
Everyone was absurdly kind and patient. Some too kind and Elio found their fawning repulsive.
Sycophants never failed to irritate Elio so he was the rudest to them, ejecting them from his presence with a cutting critique or a withering look and guaranteeing they’d keep a wide berth.
The one person he wanted time with was still nowhere to be seen and Elio worried that Milo had actually quit.
“He’s somewhere around here, I’m sure…” Hector Lawson had murmured while scanning the institute’s second floor and shrugging. “Ashby’s an odd one and you never know what will send him into hiding. You might ask Tyler.”
Tyler had rolled his eyes and snickered and Elio felt a strong urge to beat the stuck-up shite with one of his loafers before he opened his mouth to answer.
“Haven’t seen Mild Ashby since this morning.
Not sure what you’d want him for, but you might check the nursery.
” He laughed and held out his hand so another stuck-up shite named Bryan could slap it.
“The nursery?” Elio said flatly, not appreciating the joke or the fact that they were wasting his time. “Do I look like I’m in the mood for stories and games?” he barked loudly, causing Tyler to pale and shake his head.
“Sorry. I have no clue where Ashby is.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Elio said as he stalked off to continue his hunt, gripping the tennis ball in his pocket tight to ease his bubbling temper.
The Starlight Institute: Leading the way into a brighter future.
The slogan and company logo was on every coffee mug and pen and was etched onto the glass windows and doors.
But Elio wasn’t impressed with his coworkers or very optimistic about his future at the institute.
He’d had TAs at university who were more qualified and Hector was more of a hall monitor than a mentor.
Then, Elio’s temper flared when he found one of the institute’s brightest minds in a bathroom, working in one of the stalls.
Elio had just about given up his search and went into the bathroom because it was the only place he hadn’t looked.
A soft hum came from the last stall and Elio spotted a pair of red Converse when he ducked to look under the walls.
Elio listened for several moments to make sure Milo wasn’t conducting a different sort of business, then mouthed a swear when he heard pages flipping and a pencil tapping.
He gave the door a knock and coughed softly, causing the occupant to gasp and jump. “Just a moment,” Milo answered shakily before opening the door. A notebook and several print-outs were hugged against his chest, a red rash spreading under the collar of his gray sweatshirt. “Can I help you?”
“What are you doing in here? Don’t you have an office?” Elio demanded but Milo shook his head.
“No… My desk is over by Hector’s office, next to the cantina.”
“Next to the cantina?” Elio drew back, grimacing as he imagined all the traffic and noise. “There are better places than a bathroom, though.”
Milo swallowed loudly and nodded. “Probably, but I like…” his gaze ping-ponged around the bathroom rapidly. “All the water helps me think.”
“The water?” Elio blinked at the toilet that Milo had been sitting on.
He was lying again. Frustrated, Elio turned and scrubbed his face.
Theo’s voice was in his ear, though, scolding Elio and reminding him that Milo and his father, Giles, had severe anxiety disorders and to always be gentle with them.
It had only taken Elio seconds to see just how severely both were afflicted and he had taken great care to be on his best behavior, knowing how frightening he must look to them.
Most people didn’t warrant that much consideration and Elio might have disregarded Theo’s request until he saw the Ashbys and their beautiful, blended family for himself at Schonbühel.
He was struck by how unique it was that Giles was best friends with his ex-wife and still shared a loving, platonic relationship with Claire.
Giles had a daughter with his husband, Riley, named Luna.
They had used a surrogate and Claire’s sister had provided her eggs so Milo would have a biological sibling.
But what fascinated Elio the most was the bond Giles and Milo shared.
Having lost his parents, Elio was particularly interested in their nonverbal communication and shared mannerisms. And while he felt the occasional pang of grief and jealousy, Elio found it incredible that Milo could be such a close clone of his father and wondered how much of that was because of genetics or the fact that Giles was such a devoted and involved parent.
The way Milo adored his sister also touched Elio.
Despite the eleven-year age gap, they were inseparable at Schonbühel.
Milo doted on seven-year-old Luna and was often seen hurrying around the castle with her on his back.
That had piqued Elio’s interest and he’d decided to take a deeper look into the young, rising physicist. Milo was making a name for himself overseas, mostly within NASA, but he wasn’t on Elio’s radar at the time.
Like most child geniuses, Milo wasn’t brilliant in all subjects.
Instead of private schools and private tutors, he had attended a public magnet school and kept a low profile after graduating.
Instead of a spoiled, arrogant brat, Milo was down-to-earth and devoted to his family.
He had no interest in attention or notoriety, just a sincere desire to understand the universe and illuminate its mysteries.
That spoke to Elio’s soul as a brother and scientist and had marked Milo as a worthy peer.
Milo had already worked with some serious physicists, though, and had written several papers.
Elio read what had been Milo’s most recent paper at the time and was legitimately impressed and had decided to seek him out.
The wedding made that trickier than Elio would have liked because he had “responsibilities” as brother of one of the grooms and an “obligation” to their guests.
He wasn’t able to get a moment alone with Milo until Theo and Matteo shoved Elio at him and ordered them to dance.
Unlike Elio, Milo didn’t have older brothers who forced him to take lessons and the younger man’s grasp on rhythm was tenuous at best. Not wanting to humiliate either of them, Elio had taken the opportunity to lead Milo away and see if he truly was as smart in person as he was on paper.
Tipsy and flustered, Milo still managed to impress and his remarks about spaghettifying objects and accretion discs had sparked an idea that Elio had to investigate immediately.
He spent the rest of the evening in his room, examining the compression and stretching of light when sucked into a black hole and how it might affect time and be altered by gravity.
Time and light were the key to unlocking quantum physics’ darkest secrets and Milo Ashby seemed to be the only other living physicist to have scraped the surface of what was possible. Yet there he was, cowering in a bathroom stall.
Was he hiding from Elio? Had he overstepped and overwhelmed Milo or offended him? Or was it Starlight and people like Tyler and Brad? Was Milo so unhappy and underappreciated that a bathroom was his best option?
“Absolutely not,” Elio declared, taking Milo by the elbow and towing him out of the stall. “You’re coming with me.”
“What? Where?” Milo was wide-eyed and looked panicked, his confusion yanking Elio by the scruff.
You’re trying to help, not make things worse.
“We’re going to my office. You can use my desk or the sectional.”
“Your office? But…it’s yours and I—” Milo stopped when Elio raised a brow at him in warning.
“There’s plenty of room and I’m not using it at the moment. If you’re that enamored with working near a loo, use mine. At least there’s a sofa in there.”
“Thank you,” Milo said quietly, blushing as he looked around them to see who was watching. “That’s very kind.”
“Kind?” Elio growled back as his gaze followed Milo’s, searching for anyone he’d consider sincerely kind. Most people had chosen to ignore them but Elio spotted a few bemused and mocking grins. “Why am I, of all people, the only person who seems to care about kindness around here?”
Milo shrugged, apparently unbothered. “This is what you get when you throw together a bunch of people who grew up entitled and gifted. Realizing you aren’t special anymore can make some people a little too competitive, and maybe a bit petty.”
Milo Ashby was neither of those things but he was hiding his light. In a bathroom. “Let’s go.” Elio pulled Milo along, scowling at the occasional curious look. When they reached his office, he threw open the door. “Make yourself at home.”
“Holy—!” Milo pointed at Elio’s desk and rushed in. “This is bigger than Hector’s office.” He turned, taking in the black chalkboard walls and the view of the park.
Elio shrugged. “I told them I needed room to work.”
“Ha! No wonder you were so upset about the bathroom…” Milo’s neck stretched as he went to peek in the bathroom and chuckled. “That’s as big as Brad’s office. He’s going to be so mad when he finds out.”
“Brad Parsons is a shite and mediocre physicist,” Elio said angrily but Milo offered another distracted shrug.
“All true. His dad is on the board.”
“Shocking news,” Elio muttered, sweeping a hand through his hair instead of punching at the air or swearing loudly.
Milo seemed more relaxed and had taken interest in the 65-inch touchscreen behind the desk so Elio backed towards the door, outwardly calm.
“As I said, make yourself at home. I have other matters to attend to.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a—”
“You won’t.” Elio didn’t care, whatever Milo was worried about was eclipsed by disgust. “Take it all on a test drive and let me know if they forgot anything,” he said with a nod at the touchscreen and the rest of the office, then closed the door behind him.
“I don’t know what kind of operation they’re running here at Starlight, but this stops now. ”