Fifty Shades After

Chapter 4: The Rose

It's the ocean! Holy crap, the ocean! I haven't seen it since- well, I don't remember. I feel glee and excitement circulating through my veins. I feel so young as I smile like an idiot at the sails of the anchored boats. Phoebe rolls the window down and the cool salty breeze is very welcoming. The scent of seafood flows through the air and I realize how incredibly hungry I am. "Look, mom, the sea! It's so pretty!" Phoebe exclaims happily sticking her head out the window, and I pull her back from her shirt.

 While mom is gazing out the windows with a sort of melancholic smile, dad is watching us, absorbing Phoebe's joy, the childish joy he never saw in me years ago. I don't want to feel guilty. I dont want to be sad, so I dismiss my depressing thoughts. "Which one's yours?" I ask looking at the dancing sails. His gray eyes scan the port and he grins, gracefully extending a long finger at the tallest mast in the port. I whistle impressively. "Don't you recognize it?" He asks and I glance at him, then back. I shake my head. 

The car pulls over in front of the dock and I'm the first to step out. I automatically grab hold of Phoebe's hand, because she looks so ready to run down to boardwalk. She zooms out and is slingshot back. "Not so fast." I scold her and she grumbles at me. Mom giggles, picking her up and planting a kiss on her cheek. They start walking, but I stay behind. Dad is talking to Sawyer. He nods and gets back in the car, and dad makes his way towards me with a smile. "Ready?" He says and I nod with half a smile. 

We begin to walk, my hands in my pockets. I regret wearing shorts today. It's very cool. There's hardly any people, most likely because of how early it is. There's only fishermen- and seagulls. "So." He says and it makes me turn to him. "What do you think?"

- "About?" I say casually. "The circumstances you're currently in." He says and I face forward to notice Phoebe happily skipping around mom, who is trying to catch her. "Not exactly the circumstance I'd imagine myself in," I answer. "Oh? Why not?" In an equally casual tone. I think about saying it. Should I? "I never thought myself walking beside you. Ever." And that sounded way better in my head.He seems to freeze for a nano second but continues walking. From my peripheral vision, I see he drags a hand through his copper hair. I probably shouldn't have said that, so I quickly change the topic. 

"Smells good," I say and take a whiff. Boy, it really does smell good! What is that? I turn to look at a restaurant beside us and notice the enlarged menu. My mouth waters- boiled lobster sounds delicious. I glance to look at dad and his eyebrow is raised with a smirk plastered on his face. He looks forward and whistles loudly, making a ringing in my ears. Mom and Phoebe turn and he waves to them to return, pointing at the restaurant. Phoebe runs towards us, and mom follows her, rolling her eyes. Why? There's been a significant amount of eye rolling from her lately.

 We sit at a table for four and a young lady serves us. She's stuttering while taking our order, and I don't think it's because of me anymore. We're eating now, and the lobster is even better than it looked! I break the red, sweaty shell with the crab cracker and pull out the pale meat with my fork and dip it in butter. I think I'm enjoying myself a little too much.

 I turn to look at mom, she's talking about her job back in Denver. She keeps dodging dad's question about the name of the company, which makes me vaguely wonder why. I have an urge to tell him, but she probably doesn't want him to know for a reason. And considering him knowing where we lived, and his car being parked outside our driveway two days ago, maybe I should keep my mouth shut.

"Are you going to drive your boat, Mr. Grey?" Phoebe says after she swallows her shrimp. Dad clears his throat and wipes the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief. Might as well do it with his pinky out. "No, Phoebe, I'm not. But you are." He grins and Phoebe gasps like if she has won the lottery. "I am!" She squirms excitedly. Lucky. "I can't wait! I'm going to be a captain!"