Hold on one second! Before you start read this story, have you read ‘The Best Family’?
Maria woke up around four A.M to Myles mumbling in his sleep. He was making an acceptance speech from the bits and pieces she could make out.
He thanked God, his mother, father, siblings, Maria, and the citizens of New York City. Maria couldn’t help but laugh as he thanked the mayor, the folks that collected the trash, and the street vendors, who could forget the vendors. No one loved this city more than Myles.
From what Maria heard, he attended the show, and two after-parties, before making it home to get some sweet, sweet lovin’ from Maria. Who fucks their own wife in their dreams?
Since she was off, and it was already four in the morning, Maria decided to go for a run. Lacing up her Nikes, she slipped out of the apartment and made her way to the buzzing streets of the city. After queuing up her playlist, she did a little stretching and took off.
Zigzagging through wobbly twenty-something-year-olds, still intoxicated from the previous night’s activities, and fellow runners and walkers, Maria made her way to the East River.
Even at four in the morning, the city was alive and buzzing. That was her favorite thing about living in New York.
As she slowed her run down to a jog and then an eventual walk, she strolled along the water.
The breeze that rolled off the water was heavenly, she never liked the heat, and the record-breaking temperatures the city had been having the past couple of weeks was the perfect excuse to stay inside. Maria was one of the few people she knew who hated summer. While the rest of her friends, family, and colleagues were outside, half-naked, enjoying the sunshine, Maria was inside, in front of the AC, counting down the days until the snow would return. But with the current state of the planet, she wouldn’t be surprised if their winters started getting shorter.
As the sun rose over the horizon, Maria took off running again; she wanted to make it home before Myles awoke.
Rounding a corner, she made her way into the lobby of her condo building, greeting the doorman before making her way to the mailroom. After checking the mail, she hopped onto the elevator and made her way to the top.
As she flipped through the mail, riders hopped onto the elevator, offering polite hellos as they stepped on.
“Why do people even send mail anymore? This is such a waste of paper.” Maria said as she walked into the house.
Myles looked up from the eggs he was making.
“Capitalism.” He said, pointing the spatula at his wife.
Maria rolled her eyes.
“You blame everything on capitalism.” She said as she threw the stack of newspapers and envelopes down on the counter.
“That’s because everything is capitalism’s fault!” He said, matter of factly.
Maria only nodded, adding in an ‘mhmm’ before leaning in to kiss him.
It amazed Maria how in love she remained, even after a decade of being with Myles.
The couple had met in their mid 20’s, and honestly, Maria had no interest in dating. Myles was still living at home, making films in his basement with his best friends, and on his way to flunking out of film school. The couple met at a party at a college neither of them went to, and Maria was immediately intrigued. When she first saw him, he had headphones on and was reading, in the middle of the party. Puzzled, she made her way over and took a peek at his book. The book was in Spanish, and later she would learn that he didn’t understand a single word from the book, and only had it because it featured naked women, but at the time, she was impressed.
The pair talked for hours; they hadn’t even realized the party had ended until they saw the sun rising. Maria ended up skipping class, and the pair went and got a cup of coffee. Then, as they parted for the day, she gave him her number, and since then, the couple has never gone a full twenty-four hours without speaking.
“That’s pretty rich coming from the man who benefits so heavily from this fucked system.” She laughed as she stepped up to him.
Rising up on her tippy toes, Maria kissed Myles slowly. He tasted like orange juice and Crest toothpaste. What kind of psycho drinks orange juice after brushing?
“What’s on the agenda for the day?” She asked, resting her head on his naked back as he turned back to the stove.
“Well I’ve got some light editing I’ve gotta do and then the day’s ours to do whatever we like.” He said.
Maria smiled before heading to the cupboard where she grabbed glasses and plates. As she set the table, Myles began plating the food when his phone rang.
“Ahh, no!” He yelled, scooping eggs onto Maria’s plate.
Setting the pan down, Myles fished his phone from his pocket, grumbling as he checked who was calling.
“What is it Pat?” He said, sandwiching the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could get back to plating the food.
“You’re coming to the red carpet event tonight, right?” Pat asked.
Myles rolled his eyes. If there was one thing he hated most about the movie biz, it was the events. Rich old white men, dressed to the nine with women young enough to be their daughters or granddaughters, hanging from their arms like shiny ornaments on a Christmas tree.
“Nope. I’m busy.” Myles said, stealing a piece of bacon from his wife’s plate.
Maria swatted his back before taking the now empty pan from him.
“Myles come on! You gotta show face! Network!” Pat said.
Was he fucking serious? Myles had just gotten home from an entire three-and-a-half month of networking. Between making a feature film, recording a masterclass, and going out to dinner every night with clowns in overpriced suits, all Myles did was talk business. He didn’t even get to enjoy making the movie, or bond with the cast the way he normally did, because fucking Pat kept introducing him to hot shots in suits who didn’t even bother to learn Myles’ name.
“That’s funny Pat. You mean I didn’t get enough networking in those three months you spent pimping me out!” Said Myles.
Maria watched her husband with amusement. While Myles could make a movie about anything, he was pure shit when it came to the business side of the film industry. But Myles was surrounded by people who understood him and knew how talented he was.
“Myles! We need money to make films! That’s how this shit works! And if you wanna make that money, you gotta play ball!” Said Pat.
Though Myles had hired Pat to manage him, Pat didn’t know shit. After Myles started gaining some traction in the film industry, a friend of a friend hooked him up with Pat, and Myles fell for the ‘I’m gonna take you places kid’ line. As a broke twenty-something-year-old, he loved to tell himself that he knew what he was doing, but he didn’t. He hadn’t a single clue about anything business-related, and Pat positioned himself as someone who did know a thing or two, so Myles trusted him. In the beginning, the men seemed to be on the same wavelength, but as of late, all Pat could see were dollar signs, and that was proving to be a problem for Myles.
“Pat, I’ve been doing this shit since middle school. I could make a fucking YouTube video and win an Oscar for that shit! I know how to do my job, trust me.” Said Myles.
Pat sighed into the phone.
“I do trust you! But Myles you gotta-”
Myles ripped the phone from his ear, placing it face down on the counter. After scooping the last of the eggs into his plate, he set the pan in the sink.
“Did you hang up on him?” Maria asked as Myles made his way to the table.
Myles nodded.
“Sure did.” He said.
Maria couldn’t help but laugh. Part of her wanted to ask why he didn’t just fire Pat, but she knew the answer. Myles was loyal, he’d been making movies and running his business with the same group of people since college.
Port Prince Media, Myles’s company, was tight-knit. Through the good, the bad, and the downright ugly, they stuck together. But Maria worried her husband was putting too much value on his and Pat’s relationship. They weren’t even that close, and other than for business purposes, the men didn’t even speak to one another.
“I know, I know. I’m a softy.” Myles said, mid-bite.
Maria held her hands up in surrender.
“I didn’t even say anything!” She said.
Myles shook his head.
“You don’t have to. That face is talking loud and clear.” He said.
Maria rolled her eyes but said nothing, because what was there to say? They’d already had this conversation about a million times.
“So are you coming to the office with me?” He asked, batting his eyes.
Myles was the exact opposite of most of the men Maria knew. While her friends and many of the women in their families were complaining that their husbands never wanted to spend time with them, Maria and Myles were golfing, hanging out at his office while he edited, and traveling the world attending film festivals. They were best friends in every sense of the word, and if Myles’ job didn’t require him to travel so much, Maria didn’t know if they’d ever spend time apart.
After finishing breakfast, the couple headed back upstairs and took a shower. What was supposed to be a quick shower turned into back-scratching, animalistic lovemaking. By the time they’d finished, the water was ice cold.
“Never gets old.” Myles laughed, fastening his towel around his waist.
“I must say Mr. Grace, you sure know how to keep a promise.” She panted.
For the entirety of his work trip, Maria had been taunting him with photos and videos. Myles had warned her, several times, to watch herself or she’d be in big trouble when he got back. But she pressed on, and deliver Myles did.
“Oh, the games haven’t even started my love. We’re gonna need a weekend for what I have planned for you.” He said.
There was a glimmer in his eye, a warning almost, and if Maria was more of a cautious person, she’d heed that warning, but playing with fire was one of her favorite hobbies.
Myles took in the look on his wife’s face and shook his head.
“You’re lucky we have separate closets.” He said, shaking his head.
Maria laughed before making her way into her closet and closing the door behind her.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of Myles’s story. If you did like this installment, be sure to it that star, and if this is your first time visiting the site, have a look around. And when you decide you love RBN, make sure you follow the site so you never miss a post! In between post, you can find RBN on Twitter and Instagram (mostly Twitter). You can show your support for the site by buying a cup of coffee if you’d like. A single cup is 4$ and would go a long way in helping out the site. But if you can’t or just don’t feel like it, that’s fine too. Until next time- C
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