I could hear the waves crashing in the distance, meeting the shore like old friends. They were intertwined, two pieces of a puzzle the nature put together so long ago. It was so peaceful here, nothing like it was back at home in Boston. Here I didn’t have to worry about money, or school, or even my friends. Here it was just me and Hudson in the beautiful ocean and the sunshine.
I turned over in bed, expecting to see Hudson sleeping peacefully next to me, but, instead, I was startled to find that his side of the bed was empty. I ran my hand over the satin sheets, and found that they were cold. So he'd been gone for a while. I wrapped the sheet around myself, and got up out of the bed. I shuffled over to the French doors, and opened them so that I could clearly see the ocean. All the windows in his room were already opened, but I just needed to be closer. I needed to feel the salty air my skin. I stood there and waited for him for what felt like hours, but I was sure was only minutes. But he didn’t come. So, finally, I wrapped the sheet around myself tighter, toga-style, walked out into the main hallway, and down the stairs.
The tile felt cold on my feet as I wandered around the main corridor trying to find the kitchen. For some reason, French food didn't seem to fill me up like American food did. I was starving, eve
n though I had a large dinner last night. I heard the clanging of pots and pans, so I made my way into the East wing of the house, where I found the kitchen. I expected to see some sort of cook or maybe even the Butler making some sort of breakfast for us, but instead, I was shocked to find Hudson shirtless, only in his boxers, with a small sauté pan in his hands making eggs.
“You can cook?”
He turned around smiling. “Yes, I can cook. Not much. Actually, eggs may be it, but at least it's something. How did you sleep?”
There was a table in front of bay windows overlooking the garden that had been set for two. There was another white rose sitting in the middle of the table in a small vase. He laid a quick kiss on my cheek, as he walked past me, and put the eggs onto one of the plates.
“Fine. You?”
“For the first time in a long time, I slept soundly. I didn't have a single dream.”
It was funny, but neither had I. “So, which one is mine?”
He went back over to the stove. I could tell was expensive because it had a hood like many restaurant kitchens’ did. “Yours is one of the eggs already. Ladies first.”
I beamed at him before shuffling over to my seat. “Got any ketchup?”
I looked over my shoulder at him, and he was shaking his head. “You don't ask the chef for ketchup.”
I laughed. “I guess I'm lucky that you're not a chef, aren't I? Sorry, I'm starving. And it's an old habit.”
He nodded towards a set of cabinets. “It's in the fridge.”
I looked at all the cabinets, but I couldn't tell which one was the fridge. It had been camouflaged in to match the rest of the cabinetry too well.
He passed by me, opened the one on the far right, and voilà! There was ketchup sitting on the door.
“Just like at home,” I said, as he gave it to me.
“Home. What is home like?”
I sat at the table and ate my eggs. “Home is busy. It’s just me and Alexis, but that’s enough to keep things going.”
“No family?”
“Oh they’re around, just not at school. I grew up in upstate New York. They still live there. Well my stepmom, dad, and my little brother. Dunno where my real mom is these days.”
“She’s not around?”
“She’s nomadic. Never in one place for too long.”
“Do you take after her in that way? You seem to like to travel.”
I pushed the remaining eggs around of my plate. “I hope not. I don’t really want to be like her. But I can tell in some ways I am. I’m kind of terrible at being an adult.”
“Being an adult is overrated sometimes.”
I couldn’t agree more.
I finished my plate in silence while Hudson whistled behind me and made himself breakfast. It was suddenly like we were a real couple, like those people you see in the movies. I was totally relaxed here, something I wasn't used to feeling.
Hudson sat down next to me, and scarfed down quadruple the amount of eggs that I did in about half the time. “So, what would you like to do today?”