INNOCENT ADVENTURE

CHAPTER SEVEN

I don't know how long I cried for but I drifted off to sleep. I woke up not so early the next morning with a mild headache, probably from the crying I did last night. I reached for my phone to check the time. I panicked a little thinking I was still back at home before relaxing when I recognised where I was. I got out of bed, long legs first; went to my still unpacked bag and got a pair of shorts to wear with the tan top I already had on. I took off the cardigan and jeans ( I did not bother to change last night) then wore the shorts and went off to use the washroom and brush my teeth. Before heading out, I decided to leave my phone on charge in the bedroom.

When I went out to the living area, the whole apartment was quite and Nancy's key was still in the door which means she isn't awake and is still in the apartment. I looked around trying to see if I needed to do something but the place didn't look like it needed anything done. I decided to dust up a little bit but I could not find a duster so I just ended up sitting on the couch. I got the TV remote, turned on the television and just sat there flipping through the channels. I found a TV station playing some music and left it there but I was still bored. I have never woken up and just sat around before so this was weird. I thought about starting breakfast but decided against it; nobody wants a cold breakfast. I looked around and realised I have not really had a chance to look around the apartment properly. I got up and walked around and decided to first look at the picture frames that were on the shelf underneath the TV on the wall. She looked beautiful and happy in the pictures. There was even one with Ethan and Nancy and some other people. There were no pictures of her family; or at least mother or me. I turned and looked all around to see if there was one that I had missed but there was none.

I wanted to do a little bit more looking but was interrupted by my loud protesting stomach. I looked at the time on the wall clock and realized that I would either have been eating breakfast or preparing it. 'Why is she not up yet', I thought to myself. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door. I waited a while to either be sure it was on this front door or to see if Nancy will come out; maybe she's expecting someone this early. I started heading to the kitchen when the door was knocked again; it was certainly this front door so maybe it's the next option; she's expecting someone. Or is it Gwen? I rushed to the door ('why does this for not have a peephole?' I thought to myself)

"Who is there?" I asked not too loud but loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. And just to be cautious to not open the door for a total stranger.

"It's Ethan" came the reply.

My sadness was quickly replaced by panick, I was all of a sudden aware of the way I probably looked. A very messy pony tail (does it even qualify to be called a pony tail?), A short jeans short and a fitting tan top with my n****e pointing at nothing in particular.

"Are you going to let me in?" Ethan asked.

I was so confused I didn't know what to do; either to quickly go and change or just let him in.

" You want to come in?" I asked back

"If you will let me in, yes I would want to come in." He replied sarcastically

Finally, I decided to just let my hair down and unlock the door to let him in. I think I almost passed out from the handsomeness at the door. His silky looking jet back hair was all combed back, his brown eyes seemed to sparkle and damn, those small pinkish lips... and I could smell his cologne from where I stood. I swallowed and stepped back to let him in

Ethan walked in and went straight to the living area and sat down before acknowledging me.

"Hey Emerald. How are you? How was your first night here?" He inquired.

I tried to keep a straight composure while I replied him

"I- I'm- I'm fine. The night was ok. T-thanks for asking"

'What is wrong with you, Emerald? What is the meaning of this? When did you start stammering? Get a hold of yourself already" I scolded myself

"That is good to hear. Where is Nancy?"

"I haven't seen her this morning yet. I don't think she's awake-"

"I am here. I thought I heard some voices. Turns out it is you" She said sleepily pointing to Ethan.

"Good Morning Nancy." Ethan asked

"Why are you here so early? Shouldn't you be resting or something?" She ignored his greeting

"Have you forgotten you asked me to help you get some things you needed for the house ?" Ethan asked back

At this point, I had become a spectator moving my head from side to side following the conversation depending on who was speaking.

"Oh, yh. I did. But you're still here too early." Nancy said with a yawn.

"It is past 9am, Nancy" Ethan said pointing to the wall clock

"Ok, fine. I am still very exhausted so this is what we will do. While Emerald prepares breakfast, I will list down the things we need and you will go with her to get them. She could use a little tour of this part of the big city. (Turning to me) And when you return, I will take you to the salon to get your hair fixed."

"But there's nothing wrong with my hair." I protested

"Your hair looks like a bird's nest"

"Nancy!" Ethan snapped

"No offense intended. And if big guy here is not busy, maybe he can take us to a party I was invited to." She said to me

"You have a car, why do you need me to do all these?"Ethan asked Nancy

"Because we will need a responsible person to drive us home afterwards and I doubt that Emerald here can drive.

They both turned to look at me simultaneously with question marks written all over their faces

"My Dad thought me how to drive but I didn't do anything formal neither do I have a license." I replied their unasked question

"See? So we need you." Said Nancy

At this point my stomach was not happy with the fact that I was ignoring it so I just left these two to go prepare breakfast. As planned, I made the scrambled eggs, the sausage and the bacon. When I was almost done, I called out to Nancy telling her that breakfast was almost done and I had no idea how to make coffee. She and Ethan got up from where they were sitting but she said Ethan will take care of it as she was going to get the list ready. While Ethan brewed the coffee, I toasted the bread and dished everything out onto three plates. I also prepared my chocolate drink before laying the table. Ethan brought their coffee while I went to get Nancy.

"You two should start. I will join you soon." She replied without coming out

"Your coffee will get cold" I reminded her

"I'm finishing up the list. I will join you soon." She said

I returned to the dining table and found Ethan already seated but waiting.

"She says we can start. She will join after finishing the list." I told him

I sat down, said the grace and started eating. When I lifted my head, i caught Ethan looking at me with amusement.

"What?" I questioned after swallowing what was in my mouth.

"It's been a while since I last saw anyone do that" he replied with an amused smirk

"Do what? Eat? Say the grace?" I asked after swallowing what I had in my mouth

"The grace. Most people just say it in their heads without making it obvious" he replied

"What is wrong with the way I did it. That is how I was thought to do it and it is how I have always done it." I defended

"There is nothing wrong with it. I just found it to be interesting."

I did my best to ignore him through the rest of the breakfast; after all, he is the one waiting for me to be ready to go do the shopping. When I finished, I got up to take my plate and mug to the kitchen to wash when a hand held my wrist to stop me.

"Wait." He said

It worked. I stopped and looked at the hand holding my wrist and up to the face of the owner of the hand. We both stared at each other a little bit too long than we should have but Ethan came to his senses faster than I could have and snatched his hand back. I was still standing there looking directly into his eyes.

"Go and get ready. I will wash the dishes. Perhaps, it is only fair since you made the food." He reasoned

"Oh - okay. Thanks" was all I could say

I left my plate and mug on the table and went to take a shower and dress up. For the first time in my whole existence, I was worried about what to wear; what is going on with me lately? Once again, from my unpacked bag, I searched for the most 'appropriate" thing to put on. I decided finally on a black jeans trouser and a blue coloured t-shirt complete with a pair of black sneakers and a brown jacket. So much for worrying about what to wear. I tied my hair in a high ponytail while playing over and over in my head how his hand felt so gentle on my wrist and I had been doing this the entire time in the bathroom only pausing to think about what to wear for a moment. Where from this dreamy attitude? I mean, I've never really been this dreamy over a man before; good-looking or not.

Talk about good-looking... Adrien had asked for permission to text me, has he? I went for my phone from where I left it to charge from the bedside table. I turned on the screen and was surprised to find that I had received messages and missed a few calls; a couple coming from Ethan. 'But he is right here, why was he calling?' I thought to myself. I decided to reply the messages on our way to do the shopping and since the messages were from Adrien and Dad, there shouldn't be a reason to call them back.

I looked back at my messy room while walking out and made a mental promise to pack up when we return.

Nancy and Ethan were seated at the table when I got out. Nancy had her breakfast in front her; she said with her right hand's thumbs up when she saw me

"Breakfast tastes amazing and you said you're not a good cook?"

"It is just scrambled eggs and toast. There's nothing special about that." I said back trying not to look at Ethan and trying not to blush.

"Everything is special about it. I would have burnt the toast and the egg would have been all kinds of weird." She insisted

I laughed nervously and went to join them, sitting right in front of Ethan.

"I agree with Nancy, breakfast was great" Ethan contributed

"Thank you" I said still not looking at him.

"Are you ready? We should get going." He said getting up

"Yes. Yes, I am." I replied and stood up as well.

"I will be ready by the time you return for our little girls' spa day and we will have lunch out. If there is anything you want that is not on the list, don't hesitate to add it. Ethan has the list." Nancy chipped in

"Sure" I replied simply as I followed Ethan who was already at the door.

I walked behind him as we went to the elevator, inside the elevator it was dead silence. When we entered the elevator, I went to stand behind him at the corner but I still couldn't look at him. The metal walls are reflective so I could get caught looking.

His car was parked outside and when we got inside, I he turned to me and asked

"Are you ok? You look pale. Do you want to go back inside?" Ethan asked sounding worried

I thought he was just teasing me but when I looked up at him, he looked genuinely worried. Why does these two people get worried so easily over me? But I was pale? I thought I would be all shades of red in the face. I touched both my cheeks at though to feel what was going on.

"I'm perfectly fine. This is my usual complexion." I assured him

He looked at me for a while before shrugging and driving off. I brought out my phone and started replying the messages I received earlier. I opened Dad's message first.

Dad: Good Morning Emerald. How're you doing today?

Me: Good Morning Dad. I'm doing well. Sorry about the late reply, I had left the phone on charge in the bedroom

Dad: That is fine. We tried calling Gwen as well when you didn't answer but her number was not reachable. Are you settled in yet?

Me: (ignoring the first part of the message) Not quite yet. But I'm sure I'm a few days, I would have settled just fine.

Dad: That is great. You will be just fine. Don't forget to have as much fun as you can while having at the back of your mind the conditions that came with going to the big city.

Me: Yes Dad (he just had to remind me)

Dad: When Gwen is busy, and you are bored, you can call either me or your mother and we will keep you company. Okay?

Me: Yes Dad.

Dad: I am driving your mother to her friend's house. Let's talk later. Okay?

Me: Sure Dad. My regards to mother

Dad: Call her later in the day and do that yourself.

Me: Bye Dad.

I raised my head and turned to look at Ethan before turning my attention again to my phone. He must have noticed because he asked

"Everything ok?"

"Yh. Yes, everything is fine" I assured him

"Great."

"By the way, I had missed your call earlier. Why did you call?" I asked him

"I had called Nancy to let her know I was at the door and when she didn't pick up I knew she was not awake, then I called you and when you didn't pick up, I thought you were still asleep to but then I decided to knock." He explained

"Oh - okay."

I turned back to my phone leaving him to concentrate on the driving since he said all that he said without looking my way and tapped on Adrien's message.

Adrien: Hey Beautiful. How're you?