Banana Pancakes

Long eyelashes fluttered over hazel eyes as the blare of his alarm clock awoke James from his slumber. Slowly rolling over onto his side, the heel of his hand hit the snooze button with force, and the young man fell onto his back, tired eyes gazing at the ceiling, fully aware that the irksome sound would return in nine minutes.

The lump beneath the covers at his side stirred, followed by the sound of Autum’s familiar groan. It wasn’t long before a head of bobbed, messy chocolate locks emerged from the cream-colored sheets. His girlfriend squinted at him through sleepy brown eyes.

“Do you have to work today?” she mumbled, pushing her tangled bangs from her face.

A sigh forced its way through James’s plush lips. “I’m supposed to head down to the studio to shoot a couple scenes today, but I don’t really feel like moving,” he chuckled, his eyes still focused on the ceiling above them.

“Blow it off then,” she smirked as she rolled over onto her side to face him. “Everyone needs a day off every once in a while.”

The mischievous gleam in her eyes and her Southern drawl were a little hard to resist.

Her fingers trailed along the sun kissed planes of his bare chest. “Besides, it’s pouring out there. Rainy days are the best for sleeping in.”

He couldn’t exactly argue with her logic as the pitter-patter of the rain against the roof was like a siren song trying to lull him back to sleep.

“That’s easy for you to say, you don’t have to be in until 5,” he replied, but he couldn’t deny the soft smile that adorned his features.

Her arms folded behind her head as she flopped back onto her back. “Eh, I think I’ll take the night off. It’s just so dreary and gray outside, I can’t motivate myself to do anything.”

It was true. They’d both become a little too accustomed to the Californian sunshine.

“Lazy bones,” he teased as he flashed her his perfect smile.

Silence lapsed between the two bodies stretched out on the bed, both sets of eyes watching the blades revolve around the ceiling fan.

Autum was right, James did need a break from work. He’d been working fourteen-hour-days for the past two weeks, and lying in bed, he could feel its effect on him.

“We can have breakfast in bed,” she tempted, as if he needed the extra swaying. His mind was already made up.

“Sounds fun, but just so you know, you’ll be doing all the work. I can barely toast poptarts in the toaster without burning them to a crisp.”

“Ah, that is true. Luckily, my roommate basically has her own mini-IHOP in our kitchen, so we shouldn’t have that much trouble whipping up a quick stack of pancakes.”

“Pancakes do sound good right about now,” James admitted before sitting up in bed.

“Then it’s settled, breakfast in bed?” she asked with hopeful eyes.

“Breakfast in bed.”

The pair rolled onto their feet, Autum gently pulling the sheets up as James flipped off his alarm clock.

As the two stepped from her bedroom and into the living room, James couldn’t help but notice how oddly quiet the apartment was. Generally when he slept over, he was awoken by the sound of Autum’s roomie singing in the shower or the sound of their roommates laughing boisterously in the next room.

James and Autum’s relationship had begun on awkward footing, a makeshift match made by their respective roommates, who were completely infatuated with one another. Autum was a little hesitant to spend any time with James, though she could deny the attraction she felt towards him. She’d just gotten out of a long term relationship when she’d moved across the country, so she wasn’t looking to dive into another relationship so quickly. With James’s acting career just beginning to take off, he hadn’t had much time to devote to his social life. And though it sounded completely cheesy, as soon as his eyes had met hers in that first night in the crowded club, he had thought she was beautiful. Unlike most girls, she didn’t throw herself at him because of his charm and good looks.

Though she was more reserved than her loquacious best friend, James saw her shyness as more of a challenge. He had to fight his way into her life, and when he finally got her to open up to him, he realized it had all been worth it.

James, Autum, Kandi, and Logan had become this odd family, and they wouldn’t have had it any other way. But James had to admit he appreciated the alone time that he and Autum had this rainy Monday morning.

The two stood in the center of the small kitchen, the cool linoleum against the bottoms of their feet as they stared into the cabinet, trying to decipher a meal from Kandi’s collection of pancake toppings and fillings.

“Wow, this is harder than I thought,” Autum laughed as she eliminated things one-at-a-time from the lineup.

“You weren’t joking when you said you guys were running a mini-IHOP.”

Autum sighed, slightly shaking her head as she placed a hand on her hip. “Well, I guess in Kandi’s mind, if you can only successfully cook one thing, why not specialize in it?”

“I guess that makes sense,” James chuckled to himself as he stared up into the cabinet. “I just want something simple. It doesn’t have to be IHOP quality, but I am starting to get a little hungry.”

“Alright, how about this?” she asked as she pulled out batter mix, cinnamon, walnuts, and a couple bananas. “Banana pancakes.”

“You know, I’ve never had banana pancakes before, so let’s do this,” he laughed as he stretched his arms out in front of him, jokingly cracking his knuckles.

He reached over to the stereo on the counter, and his finger pressed the power button, filling the cozy apartment with a breezy Maroon 5 tune.

Autum was spraying a frying pan with a light coat of cooking oil when he wove his arms around her waist in an attempt to coax her to sway with him.

“James,” she giggled as she tried to shake him off, all the while trying to steadily pour pancake batter into the pan.

As the batter began to bubble and sizzle, James began to sing along with the radio, his warmth breath brushing against her cheek as his soulful voice serenaded her.

He eventually broke her down, and her hips swayed in time with the easygoing melody, head bobbing to the tune as she began to sing along as well.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were dancing together in the small kitchen, allowing the three lopsided silver dollar pancakes in the pan to burn to a crisp in the process.

It was the moments like this that he lived for, the moments when Autum completely opened up to him and he caught a glimpse of that side of her that was reserved for him and him alone.

As the song faded away, replaced by an obnoxiously autotuned Black Eyed Peas hit, and three more silver dollars were dished onto the pan. It didn’t take long for the two of them to have a plateful of the tiny breakfast treats, slices of banana strewn across the plate with cinnamon sprinkle freckles.

Though the pancakes weren’t exactly perfect, the moment was as the two sat together in bed, enjoying the slow morning they spent together. As he slid his plate to the side of the nightstand, James leaned over and planted a syrupy kiss on his girlfriend’s lips, his own way of showing his thanks.