Sunday in New York

Hudson was gone for quite some time, but I didn't mind. I stayed in the room for a couple hours working from my laptop and sending in a few assignments to my boss via email. After I got tired of that, I noticed that he had a stereo docking system in his living room, so I plugged in my iPod and listening to some music, walking around admiring the pictures and paintings around his place.

At around 8pm I heard the door unlock and in came Hudson, carrying a brown paper grocery bag. He looked at me and smiled, "I'm sorry I'm late, one of my guys didn't come in for work, his wife went into labour, so I had to take his shift."

I quickly turned off the music and looked back at him, "That's fine, I did a little work on my laptop, um...took a nap, strolled around the apartment." I lightly laughed, but even that put me in pain.

"How are you feeling?" He put down the bag and came up to me, gently placing his hand on my side.

"I'm okay, sore, but not in agony." I half-smiled.

He nodded, "Well, since I came home late, I decided that I am going to cook dinner for us. Are you hungry?"

"Starving." I smiled.

"Well, I am going to make us a divine supper." He picked up the bag and took out a bottle of wine. "Would you like a glass?"

"I'd love one." I smiled.

He then walked to the kitchen, "You can turn the music back on, I don't mind." So I turned it back on and "The Look" by Metronomy began. I followed him into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching him pour us each a glass of wine.

"So you own a restaurant? And you're a chef?" I spoke.

He nodded, handing me a glass. I thanked him and took a sip. "Yeah, I own it with a buddy of mine, it was on a whim. Three years ago he asked me if I wanted to have a restaurant with him, and we had both just graduated from cooking school, and I was like 'yeah'. We had no idea what we were doing." He laughed. "But we made it work."

"That's great. Where did you go to school?" I asked.

He was lighting up candles on the table for me, "Le Cordon Bleu in London. My friend is from England too."

"That's so cool. Must be nice owning your own place, making it your own."

"Yeah, I like it. It gets pretty stressful at times though." He shrugged his shoulders then took a drink.

"Oh well if you want me to cook I will, I don't want to make you work more." I smiled, getting up from my seat.

"Oh, no I wasn't hinting around, I want to...I was actually gonna ask you if..." He looked away with that shy, boyish smile on his face.

"Yes?" I bit my lip.

"Well, I thought that tonight could be a date...but it's probably too soon." He shook his head.

"I'd love for tonight to be a date." I softly smiled, walking around the table toward him, gently stroking my hand along his arm. "And it's not too soon...I stopped having feelings for him a long time ago."

He softly smiled down at me, I felt the same feeling he was probably feeling, wanting to grab each other and kiss each other over and over again. But we resisted.

"Uh, can I help you with dinner?" I blushed.

"Uh, yeah." He nervously laughed, pushing his hair back and turning to the bag on the counter. He began taking out the food items and placing them down. "Steak with mushroom sauce." He smiled.

I lightly laughed, "I'm actually allergic to mushrooms."

"Steak with...brown sauce." He chuckled.

I bit my lip, "Sorry."

"No, that's fine. I don't want to poison you on our first date." He laughed. I laughed with him as we prepared everything. He got me to prep the vegetables while he took care of the main course, and in other words, he did all the work and let me sit and watch, sipping red wine.

While he let the food cook, he sat at the table across from me and drank his own wine. We remained silent for a long time, sitting across each other with faint smiles and steady eyes. What I loved most was that even silence, there was no awkwardness or tension between us. I then blushed, remembering what my face looked like, feeling ashamed I looked down and put my hand on my face.

With my eyes closed, I heard the sound of his chair being pushed back. Soft footprints approached and my hand was taken from my face, being replaced by his cupping my face tenderly and kissing me. "You're beautiful no matter what." He whispered.

I half-smiled, resting my head on his shoulder and gripping the shoulder of his shirt on the other side. Our tender moment didn't last as long as it should've because then there was a knock at the door. Hudson sighed and apologized, turning to go answer it.

When he answered the door he was met by a loud male voice, and soon a guy about Hudson's age came in and shut the door. "Holbrook, you forgot your jacket at the restaurant, the girls were offering to bring it to you but I knew their intentions. I'm off work anyway so I thought I'd steal a bottle of scotch from the bar and bring you your coat." He shoved a crumpled jacket against Hudson's chest, then immediately noticed me.

He had a goofy grin on his face and walked over, "Hi there, I'm Jules. And you are?"

I lightly laughed and shook his hand, "I'm Avery, it's nice to meet you Jules."

"This is the buddy I've been telling you about, Jules Walker." Hudson half-smiled, looking at Jules in an annoyed way.

"Oh I'm not interrupting am I?" Jules asked, looking eagerly at me and Hudson.

"Well..." Hudson bit his lip.

I started to laugh, "Not at all. We were just going to have dinner, but I wouldn't mind the company." I smiled.

"The thing is Julesy, I only made enough for two." Hudson laughed.

"That's fine, I have my dinner right here." He grinned, holding up the bottle.

"You do know those are $90 a bottle." Hudson raised an eyebrow at him.

"I know." He chuckled, "And I had already had dinner already, at the restaurant. But now you, Miss-?"

"Moore." I replied.

"Holbrook has told me countless wonderful things about you, I was beginning to think you were all in his imagination." He smiled, taking a seat next to me.

"Holbrook?" I furrowed a brow, making a confused face.

"Hudson." Jules smiled. I looked at Hudson and he rolled his eyes. Jules continued, "His name is Holbrook, but he prefers to be called by his last name as he believes Holbrook to be too stuffy and uptight. A wealthy name."

I smiled at Hudson, "I prefer Hudson too." His green eyes met mine and his soft lips curved into a smile.

"Scotch anyone?" Jules put the bottle down on the table, right in the middle of us.

"I'm good for now." I chuckled.

Later in the night, after supper...we were sitting on the floor in the living room, I leaned against the couch to have support for my upper body. We were all laughing, sipping on scotch with the fireplace going.

"That one time we took a trip to Paris, sort of a field trip with the school, and in the middle of the night he woke me up 'cause he was sleep walking. I followed him out into the hall, and sleep walking turned immediately into sleep running." Jules laughed loudly, falling over in hysterics.

Hudson covered his face, laughing and embarrassed. "I said never to speak of that night."

"He was in his boxers too." Jules laughed like a hyena, lying on his back holding his face.

"Oh Hudson, don't be feel bad, we've all had embarrassing stories." I laughed.

"What's one of yours?" Jules asked, looking at me from the floor.

I thought for a moment and rolled my eyes, "I was pants during a football game when I was in university." I laughed, "We had the afternoon off and we decided to go to Central Park to play a game of boys versus girls football, and I had borrow a pair of sweatpants from one of my friends and because I'm so skinny, the pants were terribly baggy on me. I had jumped up to catch the ball and one of the boys accidentally pants'd me right in front of everyone. Old people were watching us too. I was so mortified." I laughed.

"That's embarrassing. But one time when Jules and I were at lake in England, there were some girls there and he climbed a tree trying to impress them, I still don't know why that'd be impressive, anyway, he stood on a tree branch and was flexing his "muscles" when he lost his balance and fell backward into the lake. His shorts were lost too. I think his story takes the cake." Hudson chuckled, glaring at Jules.

"Alright, alright. Enough about me, more about you." Jules turned onto his stomach and moved to face me, refilling our glasses with the last of the scotch.

"Me? There's nothing to tell." I chuckled.

"Oh really? Where'd you get the shiner?" He slurred.

I hesitated then smiled, "I was on a tree branch and fell off into a lake, my capillaries burst."

Hudson then started to laugh.

"Well I think you're absolutely fantastic and great and perfect for my dear friend, Holbrook." He took Hudson's hand in his. "Take care of your girl." He then joined our hands and rested his head on the floor, yawning soon falling asleep.

"I'm sorry about him." Hudson laughed, "We're still not sure what happened to him."

I quietly laughed, "I like him, he cares deeply for you."

"We're like brothers." He smiled, looking at Jules. I too looked down at the sleeping man who resembled a little boy, tired after playing. I then remembered that I forgot to take my insulin shot.

"I'll be back." I quietly spoke, standing up and going into the bedroom. I took out the old wooden box that kept the needles for me. I prepared everything and injected myself. I then felt that i was being watched, so I looked to the door and saw that Hudson was there watching me.

I lowered my eyes and sighed, I removed the needle and put it in another box for hazardous materials. I took a deep breath and looked at him, "I didn't want you to find out this way."

He then walked to the other side of the bed and laid down, patting the other side of the bed, wanting me to lie with him.

"I already knew. The doctor had asked me if I knew if you had taken insulin yesterday." He spoke. I moved close to him, his arm wrapped around me. "There's no need to be ashamed or afraid to tell me things. They don't change the way I think about you."

"I just don't like being patronized...most people when they find out treat me as if I'm a dying cancer patient." I sighed.

"As long as you promise not to call me Holbrook, I promise not to patronize you." He smiled.

I laughed. "Okay then, I promise...But I can't promise that I won't tell your sleep running story."

He burst out laughing, "If you do I'll tell your pants story."

I looked at him and glared, then smiled and sighed. "Fine. This is lovely, a friendship based on threats."

"And broken promises." He laughed.

"And that." I smiled.

"I'm glad that I can spend this night with you." He softly spoke.

"And Jules." I chuckled.

"And Jules." He laughed with me, kissing my head.