Escape Route

Seven

Spending time on the beach really helped in giving me a good night's rest. The waves of the ocean gently passing by brought a sort of tranquility. After our trip to the beach, we went looking around for some ice cream since Emerson had a craving. I wondered if he slept alright on the couch.

 The smell of something burning caused me to sit up almost instantly. It seemed as if my question was answered. My feet quickly led me to the kitchen where the smell grew stronger.

I stood still, a bit slack-jawed the moment I realized a shirtless Emerson was at the stove. His biceps flexed a bit every time he moved the pan in his arms.
My eyes trailed down his relatively defined back and his hair was now in a man-bun. Yesterday was the first time I saw him shirtless, but I never took the time to actually notice. Wait, what am I doing?" I wondered a bit panicked.

"Like what you see?" he laughed without turning his head. It was the first time I've really noticed the dainty studs in his ears.

I cleared my voice as he turned his head with a charming smile. "Morning sleepy head. I see you slept well."

"I did, thanks..." I inched closer to the counter to see what he was cooking. Hope you slept okay?" 

"Could be better." shrugged Emerson. "But look" - he pointed to the stacks of pancakes on a plate - "I woke up and decided to make us pancakes!" he had a childlike smile.

I scanned the plate and noticed a few burnt ones and a few lopsided ones.

"I burnt those while watching a tutorial." He laughed nervously. "But I saved the best one for you."

"You cooked?" I asked genuinely surprised.

He placed one carefully on the plate in front of me and added some sliced banana. "Your syrup m'lady." he bowed as he extended the bottle and got a little giggle from me.

"Nobody really did something like this for me." I smiled affectionately. "Thank you, Emerson."

"It's nothing, really." he shrugged with a tender smile. "C'mon try it and let me know." 

I took a bite. "I can handle criticism." he said as I chewed.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." I nodded as I took another bite, tasting a hint of burn.

"Excellent!" he shouted. "Now give me a minute to get a shirt and we can eat this masterpiece together."

Emerson returned with blue tie-dye t-shirt and grabbed a plate before meeting me at the table. Just having a light conversation as we ate.

"So, Riley," he spoke. "We have a busy day today-"

"When is it not a busy day?" I lifted my eyebrows.

"No, no. Today is a kind of special day." He said bug-eyed. "You'll be seeing a whole other side of Santorini."

"What do you mean?" 

"Just trust me, okay. You're gonna like it." he smiled reassuringly.

"Okay... I trust you." I looked at him quizzically before continuing breakfast. It seemed as if he was very smiley. 

"Just dress nice." 

"Nice? I don't have anything fancy, Emerson."

"Oh, you do." he bit is bottom lip to suppress a smile, which made my chest feel warm. "There's something in the cupboard. When you're done you can check it out."

I didn't even finish my plate before rushing off to open the cupboard. "Or you can do it now!" shouted Emerson from the other room with a slight chuckle.
In one of the little shelves in the cupboard was a package, which I took out. When my eyes peered into the bag, I immediately remembered the familiar blue dress from the store in Athens. With its dainty flowers and buttons in the front.