Astray

13 / Leaving

When Emerson awoke the next morning, she found that she was no longer handcuffed, Felix was already awake—and from what she could hear, he was in the shower—and lastly, he had left her a surprise. Next to the dresser, three large shopping bags sat on the floor, all clearly meant for her.

She glanced over at the open bathroom door, listening for the sound of running water, then got gingerly off of the bed and began to examine the bags.

Emerson had never cared much for shopping—though, she had stolen a fair amount from the department store in Santoville—but she knew immediately that the items in these bags were luxury. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Emerson pulled out dresses made of flowing silk and satin, long patterned skirts, leather miniskirts, jeans in every shade of blue, soft knitted sweaters, blouses, jackets, tank-tops, lingerie... it went on and on. Evidently, Felix had spared no expense. She was taken aback so much by the sheer amount of clothes that she didn't even hear the shower turn off.

"Good morning," Felix spoke suddenly from behind her, making Emerson jump in surprise and drop the lace-adorned chemise dress she had been holding.

Emerson whipped around to see her captor leaning against the bathroom door, wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist, running a comb through his hair. Unwittingly, her gaze flitted down to Felix's extremely toned chest and abs, but upon realizing where she was looking, she turned away quickly to hide her flushed face.

"Um... good morning," she responded awkwardly, unwilling to look back at him until he was dressed.

"You finding anything in there that you like?" Felix asked. The sound of drawers opening told Emerson that he was rifling through his own dresser, which she was relieved to hear.

Emerson shrugged. "I mean, they're nice clothes. But I'm fine in the sweatpants and shorts and tees and stuff. It's what I normally wear."

"Well, I'm glad you've been comfortable in those," Felix said. "But I got all these clothes so you don't have to wear the same thing everyday anymore. Everything should be the right size."

"I'm really fine with what you've been giving me," Emerson pushed back, trying to sound patient.

Felix sighed. "Don't fight with me, please. You're going to wear something nice today. We're going into town and—,"

"And you're dressing me up like a prized pig?" Emerson interrupted him angrily, before she could stop herself.

Suddenly Felix was behind her, one of his large hands entrapping her chin and forcing her to look up at him.

"Look at me," Felix commanded, in his best impression of a calm voice, desperate for the day to go smoothly. "We're going into town today. It's going to be weird if we show up to a beautiful wedding dress boutique and the bride to-be is wearing sweatpants. Don't make this difficult. You can choose from these yourself, or I'll do it my way."

And so, not wanting to find out what his way meant, Emerson begrudgingly donned herself in a soft white sweater and a pair of jeans. She even put on a touch of mascara that Felix provided for her.

It was very odd to look at herself in the mirror that morning; dressed up in the nicest clothes she'd ever worn, which had been given to her by her kidnapper. She barely recognized the girl looking back in her reflection.

When Emerson was dressed and ready to go, Felix took hold of her hand tightly and led her—to her surprise—downstairs. Breakfast had already been made and was set out for them on the table.