Silence in New York - Book One

~Chapter 23~

To say she was surprised was a complete and total understatement. Adriana stood stiffly in her own doorway when she returned quite late from work that same day.

She felt too guilty to allow Mike to wait for her to finish her shift without being able to give him an approximate time, so she had thanked him for the lift and made her own way home. No thanks to the New York City transport system though, some of the bus drivers were on strike leaving the citizens of New York to wait frustratingly for hours for a free bus.

"What are you doing here?" She leaned back on the front door closing it but still unable and refusing to move. Why am I so nervous? She thought frustrated at her own reaction. She hated that just the mere presence of Salvatore near her unwillingly brought her to her knees. Why is he always so hot... She shook her head as if trying to shake away the thought from her mind. He was certainly distracting in his designer black dress shirt with silver patterns at the cuffs which were folded up just below his elbows. The first three buttons of his shirt were undone showcasing a fabulous V revealing a tiny patch of chest hair. His suit jacket was casually draped over one of the dining room table chairs.

"Are you going to walk in or...?"

"Well it's my house so I suppose so" she made her way to the couch first placing her bag down before realising there was an amazing smell coming from her kitchen. She walked over towards the kitchen noticing the two pots on the stove top. "Claudia" Adriana called out assuming it was her cooking.

"She went out" Salvatore cleared up. He made his way to one of the pots and began to stir the contents bubbling away filling the air with the sweetest aromas. "I realised" he began as he sprinkled some salt into the pot before taking a teaspoon and scooping up some of the sauce and tasting it, "that you've never had my famous ragù. It's the only thing I know how to make myself and everyone agrees it's delicious"

"Err, what?" Adriana was confused. Those were not the words she expected to hear from him mouth. She was fairly certain that the last time they spoke at Marquee they had not left things on great terms. She certainly was not expecting him to come running to her apartment to make ragù.

"My ragù Adriana, it's delicious. I was visiting my mother today and she sent me on my way with some fresh pasta. She was slaving away all day making it. so I thought I'd bring it here and make you this to enjoy it with"

"Salvo I-"

"Adriana I'm not leaving" he took the fresh tagliatelle placing them in the second pot of salted boiling water. "This pasta will take 3 minutes to be ready, maybe use that time to freshen up a little. I'll plate up when it's ready".

What the heck is happening right now, Adriana thought to herself while locking herself in her bedroom quickly trying to get changed. She was frustrated. Frustrated that she had not kicked him out, frustrated that when he commanded something of her she seemed to comply, frustrated that she suddenly had nothing to wear!

She quickly grabbed a black and yellow sundress when she heard the sounds of Salvatore plating up and practically threw it on.

Salvatore had just placed the two plates down onto the table when Adriana emerged from the bedroom. He avoided her gaze at first casually pouring them both two glasses of a Sicilian red wine. He could feel her stare burning into him from the other side of the room. He looked up and smiled beckoning her to take a seat with him at the table.

"You look amazing" he stated as she sat down next to him. He stared at her chest wondering why she chose to dress in something so sexy for just a casual dinner. "Also distracting" he admitted knowing very well he was caught out when his gaze lingered for longer than the appropriate time!