In This Wondrous Place

The boat thrashed violently, tossing me and the crew about the deck. The waves slapped fiercely at the boat, as if in anger. I couldn’t remember the last time that I had been on the water when it was this rough, but today had certainly been a mistake. We never should’ve been out here.

The captain and his two crewmates attempted to steady themselves on various stationary equipment while I continued to lay exhaustedly on the deck floor. I noticed the large fishing nets that were strewn up on metal hooks throughout the boat, but it confused me as to why a fishing vessel was out here in this weather. Perhaps they thought they could brave the storm, as we did.

A forceful gust of wind beat down on us suddenly, followed by a blinding light from a helicopter. Two men signaled to one another from the opening of the aircraft before one rappelled down to us on a thick black rope. He yelled to the ship’s captain something about a rogue vessel and flying any injured persons to the local hospital. The captain soon pointed towards me and I was quickly taken into the arms of the coast guard.

From the helicopter, a metal basket descended and was grabbed by the man still holding me with a single arm. He looked down at me and spoke close to my ear.

“Get in here and lay down!”

I could barely nod to convey affirmation. My body was thoroughly drained. I practically fell forwards into the basket, but the fall was softened by the man keeping his arm tightly around my waist until I was completely seated inside.

I could see my dad’s sailboat wandering aimlessly into the distance as I was lifted into the helicopter.

My eyes flickered open and for a moment I struggled to figure out where I was. The room was still slightly blurry, but I could make out a dresser in the far corner and the night stand beside me with my phone and wallet placed on top. I squinted at the window to my left and saw that it was black outside, still night.

A sound from the bathroom made me hop back against the headboard. The door squeaked open and a flood of steam poured outwards into the bedroom.

I exhaled as I realized that it was only Chris, done from his shower. I must not have been asleep for very long.

“Hey,” he said, pausing in slight surprise, “I thought you’d be asleep by now.”

Chris stepped into the room with a white cotton t-shirt and long pajama bottoms. His hair was still glistening from the shower and droplets were falling onto his shoulders and speckling the fabric. I can see why so many women would fall at his feet, and into his bed, if he were to even breathe in their general direction. The man was extraordinarily attractive, especially now, when he’s just…Chris.

“I was.” The words spilled from my mouth with some uncertainty.

“Did I wake you? I tried not to make too much noise, but—“

“No no,” I cut him off and shifted so that my back was against the headboard, “I had a nightmare, as childish as that sounds.” I laughed morbidly and ran a hand through my tangled hair.

“It doesn’t sound childish, Emery.” Chris began walking over to the bed and I patted at the open area next to me. He sat down and kicked his legs up so that we were both leaning against the back of the bed. I sighed and pulled my legs up, wrapping my bare arms around my knees.

As we quietly sat there side by side, I began to wonder what I was doing. Here I am pouring my heart out to someone that I’ve known for less than a week and who I’ve been telling all of my problems to. He must think I’m crazy by now.

“So,” Chris chimed in, “how about tomorrow morning I make you breakfast? Do you prefer pancakes or waffles?”

I laughed and responded, “pancakes. Definitely.”

“Good, because we don’t have a waffle maker.”

This comment earned a chuckle from me and the heaviness that had filled the air before had dissipated. I took the opportunity to be a little bold and leaned down to rest my head on Chris’ shoulder. He seemed at ease in this position, so I let myself relax into it.

We spent a little time talking about his career, favorite roles and films, and I told him stories about Grace and Lucas. It felt comfortable talking with him, and soon we were thoroughly distracted and engaged in light conversation. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that I finally began to wind down. With a yawn, I settled in under the covers and curled up facing Chris.

“Finally tired, huh?” He laughed, stretching his arms upwards and twisting towards the edge of the bed. Before he could get up, I pressed my hand against his back. Chris turned toward me and peered down. His eyes were tiredly half-closed, and I could tell all he wanted to do was go to sleep.

“You, um, don’t have to go,” I was embarrassed as soon as the words left my lips.

“Will it make you feel better? If I stay, I mean.” He sat back down and eyed me carefully. I nodded in response and tried to hide my look of humiliation.

Chris flipped up the duvet and slid in beside me, getting close enough to where I could feel the heat from his body, but not enough to touch. I closed the gap without much effort, laying my hand and head on his chest. He then adjusted his arm to where it laid casually on top of my hip, rubbing a few tiny circles with his thumb before stopping and closing his eyes.

It wasn’t long until we each drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

The following morning, I woke to the smell of pancakes and the sound of bacon sizzling and popping a room away. The sheets beside me were empty, but Chris’ impression was still imprinted on them. It brought a smile to my face to think of a particular Australian man cooking me breakfast in the kitchen, when I hadn’t done anything to deserve such treatment.

I wanted to immediately get up and join him, but I soon remembered how I neglected my phone the entire night. The amount of text messages that I imagined were on my phone right now was already making my head spin. I groaned as I rolled over and picked up my nearly dead phone and scrolled through the mass of texts. There were several more from Lucas, but only a couple from Grace and Isabelle.

Grace: Hey, Lucas showed me your texts….He’s really worried, Em. We all are. Mason was just drunk and stupid, don’t let what he said get to you. Call me, ok?

Isabelle: Emery, I’m so sorry for what Mason said. We should all talk when you get back. No rush.

I rubbed at my eyes after reading a few more similar texts, although there were none from Mason. He was likely still asleep after the night of heavy drinking. Speaking of which...the clock on the nightstand read 9:05. I’ve slept in much later than normal.

The sound of plates loudly clattering on to the counter, followed by a “damn it”, clued me in that I should head out to the kitchen. I quickly readjusted my clothing, still disheveled from the night’s sleep, and dropped my feet on to the wooden flooring. I leisurely padded over to the closest mirror and brushed out my hair with my fingers, to no avail. Eventually, I settled on twisting my long brunette curls into something that resembled a bun and secured it with the hair tie I regularly wore around my wrist.

“You’re a little dressed up for breakfast.” Chris joked as I opened the door and approached the kitchen. There was no one else in sight and I wondered where everyone was. Chris seemed to know my question without me asking it out loud.

“Liam is driving Kit to the airport and then coming back here to pack himself up to leave tomorrow. We should have an hour or two to ourselves for breakfast, though.” He smiles genuinely at the last sentence.

“Do you need any help?” I came up behind him and grabbed the plates and silverware that he had put out on the counter to take to the small breakfast nook. An accented voice close to my ear stopped me in my tracks.

“No,” his breath across my ear sent tingles down my spine, “but you can sit down and relax while I finish up.” Chris gently guided me out of the kitchen with both of his hands on my hips and directed me to sit at the table. I tossed my hands up in defeat and laughed as I made myself comfortable on the window bench. The view was beautiful from this angle; you could see the marina off to the right, with boats zipping in and out. The day was perfect for going out on the water, but….

I shook my head and redirected my attention back to Chris, who was tossing some bacon and pancakes on to each plate before bring them over to the table. He put a plate in front of me and set down some syrup.

“This smells amazing,” I cut into a fluffy pancake, “thank you for this.”

“Well, It’s not every morning that I get to cook for a beautiful woman such as yourself.” He winked and bit down on a piece of crisp bacon. I could only blush and continue eating my breakfast.

“Well, thank you for this morning….and last night.” I held my belongings in my hand as I sat in the passenger seat of Chris’ car. We were parked in front of my house.

“I’m just glad I could help. But, um, Emery?”

“Yes?” I paused while opening the car door and turned to look at him.

“Give it time. It’s not easy to lose people, but you can’t let it build up inside you,” He pointed towards the house, “All those people in there? They’re here for you. They want to help. Let them, ok?”

His words were sweet, but I choked up at hearing them. I reached over and squeezed his hand tenderly before ducking out of the car and waving goodbye.

I could see my family and friends inside before I even got to the front door. Grace and Isabelle were drinking tea in the kitchen, chatting seriously about something, while Mason and Lucas were having a heated discussion on the back porch. I was apprehensive about entering, but I knew that I had to.

Here goes nothing.