Love Tides | ✓

thirteen | would you laugh

το χαμόγελό σου και ο ήχος της φωνής σου

[ your smile and the sound of your voice ]

☆ ☆ ☆

Avery held the phone close to his ear as he looked around, the different alleys of Skopelos Town swarming his mind.

"This is Penelope, hit the message at the beep!"

A scowl left his lips as Avery heard the beep, passing through a bunch of shops. "Hey, it's Avery. Again. Where are you Penelope? I've looked for you for hours—I looked through the manor, and the ferry, the market, your grandma's bakery. Where are you? I'm in Skopelos Town."

He tutted, looking around once again, he had tried asking for directions but every person he went to answered him in Greek or another foreign language. Avery scolded his earlier self for not learning Greek like his mother suggested—at the time, it seemed like a dumb supersopition.

Turning the corner, Avery tapped the screen, sighing in relief once the phone answered.

"Γεια?"

"Hey, Martha," Avery greeted quickly, not wasting a breath. "Where's Penelope?"

"Penelope?" Martha asked through the phone, her tone was curious, yet, nonchalant, to say the least. "Well, I'm not sure. But don't push your buttons, Avery. She likes to disappear once and a while—especially, with that floral journal of hers," a laugh escaped her lips, "lord, who knows what she writes in there!"

"No, I understand," Avery agreed, moving the phone tighter towards his ear as if Penelope would just hop through the screen. "But, I need to talk to her. Talk to her soon."

"Oh, don't sweat it," Martha sighed, "Penelope is a very genuine gal. One of a kind. And taking to know her little secrets, trust me, is not a walk in the park. I've known her her whole life and still, I don't know half of what she's thinking in that head of hers. It's quite amusing."

Avery scoffed. "Very amusing..."

He didn't know why he was so worked up—was it the fact that Penelope disappeared? Avery didn't think much for that reason—Penelope knew the island like she knew her finger, it would be a dumb idea to make such a speculation. Maybe it was the fact that she brought chills down his body at the slightest mention of her name? Avery surely took that route of thought.

But, he couldn't like Penelope could he?

After all, it's only been two weeks since he arrived in Skopelos and met her. A rush of anxiety brushed through him as he lied to himself over and over again in his head, lie after lie, nothing seemed to get the blonde out of his head.

"Alright, Martha. I'm going to hang up, I'm getting a bit hungry, I'll call you when I find her, okay?"

He could feel Martha nod subtly through the phone. "Sure, Avery. See you in a bit."

A sigh left his lips as Avery stuffed the phone into his pocket, eyeing the terracotta houses in confusion, he needed something, something to distract him from Penelope.

Speedily, he passed through the alley he once stood, passing by large potted flowers on his way. As he was going to continue, the overjumbling of voices caught his attention from a rather large building. Like the terracotta homes, the building was also whitewashed with a light ceiling and surrounded by different flowers and plants.

As curiosity peeled his interest, Avery warily got closer to the building, eyeing the banner that held a few phrases in Greek—he couldn't understand, but from the little coffee illustration, it was easy to say that it was a coffee shop.