Mirrors

April 10th, Wednesday

The next morning he offered to drive me to work, and I would've turned it down but I didn't get much sleep last night. My mind would let me rest and I spent most of the night thinking about all that had gone on yesterday. Riding in the passenger seat of his BMW, I didn't say much, but neither did he.

When I finally came home last night, despite me running back to him as I always would, things didn't exactly go back to normal. Not that I expected it to. He apologized over and over and told me that it would take him awhile to get used to the whole idea, "to adjust."

Well it would take me a while too, at least he didn't have to carry this baby for nine months then go through labour.

The drive as I said, was silent all except for the radio playing quietly. I stared out the window as he drove but I turned to look at him. "Could we...not tell anyone about this? At least for awhile."

He glanced at me and nodded, "Sure."

I resumed looking out the window but he cleared his throat and began, "Did you need anything today? Like, d'you need any errands done? I can go do them today."

I thought for a moment, "Well, I need this prescription dropped off, but I can do it myself."

"Prescription for what?" He kept his eyes on the road.

I hesitated, "...vitamins."

"Oh. I'll drop it off for you, the pharmacy is close to the restaurant anyways." He replied, glancing at me and offering a small smile.

I dug through my purse as he pulled up to the front of the building and took out the prescription, tucking it into the glove box. When the car came to a complete stop, I opened my door and hesitated, I turned to him.

He took my hand, "We'll be okay. Don't worry." I just smiled. He leaned forward and kissed my cheek softly before I got out of the car and left. Bracing myself as the elevator approached my floor, I talked myself down and tried to settle the nauseating butterflies in my stomach.

As always when the door opened, I was greeted by Matthew who waited for me eagerly. "Good morning, Avery."

"Good morning Matt." I smiled, walking past him as he followed me down the hall to my office. He set down a coffee, my notebook, and some messages on my desk and waited for me to give him further instruction.

I began looking through the messages as he began, "Jann isn't in today, but he asked me to give this to you along with this."

I looked up and smiled when I saw that he was handing me the new issue of the magazine, "It's in. That's great."

"Hot off the press. And there's a note and an official invitation to Jann's birthday party on the 19th." He smiled.

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot about that." I bit my lip. "Well this is all great, thank you Matt, I'll call you when I need you."

"Okay." He politely nodded and left. I dreaded Jann's party. The whole office being there, drunken karaoke, Jann sobbing over how much he loves us. And this year Hudson coming with me. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I shook my head and finished reading my messages, seeing one from Gemma.

I smiled as I read it, "Avery, usually I'd text you, but I thought leaving you a message would make me seem professional. Anyways, you busy this Saturday? Dress shopping! Get back to me, love you."

Again I smiled, I took out my phone to call her. She answered in her usual way, "Gemma Dylan, Vogue employee as well as a devastatingly beautiful fashion extraordinaire." She giggled, "Hey there, Avery."

I laughed, "Hey Gem, got your message. Saturday would be great."

"Pefect! I was thinking we could go for brunch, then go to Kleinfeld and then after we could go check out like a bar or something, get a few drinks."

Drinks. "That all sounds really great, is Kennedy still in Italy?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck.

She sighed, "Yeah, in Milan. If it weren't for work, I'd be there with him. But he's coming back on Sunday."

"Well hey, why don't you come over for dinner on Friday night, we can watch a movie, hang out. If you wanna spend the night too you can, and we can talk about the wedding."

"Yeah! Ugh, I'm so lonely without Kennedy and I think I'm driving Ginny and Gabby insane." She giggled, "But sure, I'll come by Friday. Hey, I'll call you after, the snotty secretary I told you about is giving me the stink eye. I need to go straighten her out."

"Alright, try not to break a nail." I laughed, "Bye."

"Bye." She laughed before hanging up. I tucked my phone into my purse and before turning on my computer, I paused for a moment and thought about Christian. I smiled to myself and decided that I would go and thank him or...well, maybe apologize about last night, maybe give him this coffee since we have ours the same: one cream, one sugar. Verona blend. So I got up and left my office, walking the seemingly long distance to where I used to dwell in this building, back when things weren't so...well, messed up as they are now.

I walked down the hall to his door and heard two people laughing, but not really taking much notice in it, I came into his office and stopped in my tracks when I saw a leggy, blonde bombshell sitting on his desk laughing and looking at the computer screen. With him. When she saw me, she quickly stifled her laughter, though not with much effort.

He looked up at me with a grin on his face, most likely from whatever they were laughing at, and stood up, straightening his tie and stifling his own laughter. "Avery, hi."

"Hey, sorry, I didn't realize you were busy, I'll come back later." I began taking steps out the door but he quickly stopped me. "Hey wait, it's fine. I was just showing Brandy a video on youtube."

I hesitated.

He blinked, "Oh, wait, you haven't met Brandy have you?"

I shook my head and tried my best to keep my cool. It's his girlfriend. He has a girlfriend. I should've known. Of course he wouldn't wait around forever. "No, I haven't." I sheepishly smiled.

"Brandy is, or I guess was, an intern in the creative department. Jann hired her on full time now so she's sharing this office with me now, she's kind of my apprentice." He politely smiled. She stood up from his desk and walked over while smoothing out the crease in her pencil skirt. Extending her long arm and slender hand to shake mine as she greeted me in an almost mocking tone, she smiled, "Hi, it's so nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." I smiled and nodded. Wow, she's tall. She's gotta be at least 5'10". Five inches taller than me, I must look like an ant to her. And she's stunning. In guy world, she would be a ten. Creative department? She looks like she could be a Victoria's Secret angel.

"So, what did you need?" Christian asked, watching me carefully.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I'll talk to you later." I shrugged my shoulders and backed up, swiftly leaving his office, now realizing I still had this coffee. Before I could even make it halfway down the hall, he gently caught my wrist and stopped me. He softly smiled at me, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, "Nothing. I just came to apologize about last night. And well, I guess thank you too. And give you this coffee." I held it out to him.

He laughed and his lips curved into that gentle smile of his as he gazed down at me, "Thanks, my assistant isn't in today. I needed my caffeine for the day. And don't apologize about last night, I'm glad you came over. I wanna be there for you."

I smiled up at him and felt a bit relieved. "Thanks. That means a lot." Glancing past him I noticed Brandy peeking out of their office, "Hey Christian, don't you think we should get started on that thing."

Not taking his eyes off me for one second, not even flinching, he answered her. "I'll be there in a bit."

Again I couldn't help but smile, "I'll talk to you later, I've got some work to do." I backed up and left down the hall.

The day went how it usually did, I'd be in my office doing my top five, updating my blog on the magazine's website, editing the odd assignment, until it was the end of the day. Six o'clock. I packed up my things and pulled on my Burberry trench coat as I looked out the window. It was drizzling rain out, so I closed the blinds in my office even though I'd have to face the rain once I went outside.

As I got in the packed elevator, I checked my texts and read a recent one from Hudson. "Waiting for you out front."

As soon as I got to the main floor, I rushed out of the uncomfortable elevator about to go outside when I heard my name called. I turned and realized that Christian was exiting the elevator too, I smiled, "Oh hey, I didn't realize you were in there too."

He smiled back, "I have an umbrella, can I walk you to your car?"

My smile faltered and I shook my head, "No. Hudson's parked out front. That would be weird."

He nodded, "Oh, yeah. I guess it would."

I bit my lip and continued walking, "Have a good night."

"You too." He stood there and softly smiled as I left outside. It was chilly out as I walked through the small crowd but slowly stopped when I saw Hudson leaning against his car with an umbrella and a large bouquet of roses on the hood of his car. He wore that tan jacket, my favourite of his and smiled as he watched my surprised expression.

I approached him and couldn't help but smile and blush like a school girl. He scooped up the flowers and held them, reminding me of a young Richard Gere from Pretty Woman. There must've have been two dozen or more roses.

"If it weren't for the rain, I'd have my motorcycle." He handed me the large bouquet. "I wanna make it up to you. I've been an ass lately and I know flowers won't make up for everything. But I told you I'd try. So let's start over. Let's go out tonight, on a date. You and I." He smiled.

I smiled back and admired the flowers, I gazed back up at him. "I feel like Miss America."

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss me softly on the lips. "And you make me feel like Captain America."

I laughed, "Let's go out."

He grinned and walked me to the passenger side, opening the door for me as he held the umbrella over my head. I thanked him as I got in and in the corner of my eye I could see Christian in the background, in the crowd, watching. I just turned away and waited for Hudson to get in.

After dinner at Il Buco, we were walking through the Guggenheim Museum and taking in the art, as Hudson told me about his day; an almost accident in the kitchen, an unruly customer, the shenanigans that he and Jules got into. I listened intently as we slowly walked along the rotunda, he sipped a cocktail and I stuck to orange juice. While he talked about his day and the restaurant, he stopped, so I did too.

He smiled, "Avery. The restaurant in London will be finished at the end of this month. That means we don't have to wait much longer."

I blinked, "Wait much longer to...move?" He nodded, that boyish grin glued to his perfect face. I looked down to consider it, taken by surprise.

"Wow, that's great about the restaurant...when were you wanting us to leave?" I looked up at him, blinking again.

"Well, I'm expecting something in the beginning of May, I'll tell you about that later, but I don't know, maybe the second week of May." He shrugged his shoulder. My stomach knotted and I took a deep breath. That soon?

"Oh, wow." I replied, not really knowing what else to say.

He watched me and put an arm around me, pulling me closer to him. He kissed my forehead, "I know it may feel sudden, but I think it's time for us to leave. New York is amazing and it means a lot to both of us, but I think we have too much history here. This is part of us starting over, on our own. I think England would be a better place to raise a child, a better place for a family, for new memories." He watched and waited for me to say something. I needed to take a moment and think about it, though I knew I didn't have any say in the matter; this was for his career, the new restaurant, a chance for him to become an even bigger celebrity. And I guess this was for us too, the baby and I, though I'm sure I know the real reason why he wants to leave so soon: Christian.

I'm not sure when I'll start to show, but probably like me, he doesn't want anyone to find out...well, for now.

But if it means starting over...

Looking up at him into those familiar green eyes, I put a smile on my face. "London would be perfect for us. Second week of May it is."

He grinned and gave a sigh of relief, hugging me. "Oh, I'm so glad you think so."

My forehead resting against his shoulder and my arms wrapped around him, I silently sighed and closed my eyes. Starting over...