Jude sat at the table in the sushi restaurant, eyeing a piece of Tommy's spicy tuna roll.
"Just take it. I can't eat with you drooling on my food," he said pleadingly, as her eyes lit up and she reached over to snatch the piece of sushi with her chopsticks.
"Tank u," she said, through a mouthful of rice and fish.
"You're welcome," he replied with a grin.
She looked around the restaurant and saw a few other people scattered around the room. It was a warm Sunday afternoon and he had had a sudden craving for sushi, a craving he knew she would appreciate.
"So, what did you do last night?" she asked casually, dipping a piece of her eel roll into the soy sauce.
He finished chewing and replied, "I went to a housewarming party. Some friend of Jessica's."
"Was it fun?"
"It was okay…it was kind of a stuffy crowd. Not exactly my idea of fun," he replied.
"Well, did Jessica have fun? Since it was for her friend?"
"I guess…she's not really that close with the girl anyway. I think she feels like since her friend came to our housewarming, we have to go to hers."
"Ahhh, the joys of friendship…" Jude said with a grin.
"Exactly," he agreed. "Anyway, what did you do? Hang out with stuffy people too?"
"Sort of. Rob's parents were in town so I went out to dinner with them."
"Ooo…meeting the parents…how did it go?" Tommy asked curiously.
"Not bad actually. I thought it would be much worse, but we got along pretty well. And I think Rob was relieved that things went smoothly."
"That's great. Has he met your parents?"
"Nope, but he will at Sadie's wedding."
"Wow. Well I wish him lots of luck there. I've met your family, Jude, and they're not exactly a walk in the park," Tommy said with a grin.
"Hey!" she said, feigning offense. "They're not that bad…" she defended, looking at his knowing expression. "Okay, so maybe they are. But I'll prep him ahead of time."
"Good. Did you do anything else?"
"Well, after dinner, Rob and I went to the Upper West Side for one of his friend's birthdays."
"You know, I never go up there, but I've heard there are some great places to hang out," Tommy replied, setting his chop sticks down.
"I'm never up there either. Since Rob goes to Columbia, he's always there so he knows the best spots."
"That's a perk," Tommy remarked. "Having a significant other who knows different areas around the city."
"Absolutely. Does Jessica know other neighborhoods?"
"She knows the Upper East Side. She actually grew up there."
"Really?" Jude asked in surprise.
"Yeah, she's a city girl for life. Are you surprised to hear that?" he asked, noting her reaction.
"Kind of…I just…can't imagine growing up in the city," Jude said, putting her chopsticks down. "I loved having a backyard and playing games in the street between my house and Jamie's. It's just different, I guess."
"Yeah, I agree. But she wants to raise her kids here too."
"Which, I would assume, would be your kids as well?" Jude asked as a subtle reminder to him.
"It certainly looks that way…" he replied quietly, leaning back in his chair.
"So you're cool with that? Raising kids in the city?" Jude questioned, seeing his hesitation.
"I guess so. If that's what she wants, then I guess it's fine," he responded vaguely.
Jude nodded silently, thinking about his mixed answer. "Speaking of Jessica, how's her coat?" she asked with a smile, attempting to shift the topic slightly.
He laughed lightly. "Fine actually. She took it to a dry cleaner and got all of the coffee out."
"Good. I was worried about it, you know," Jude said with a grin, taking another bite of her sushi.
"Yeah…the coat is fine…Jessica, on the other hand, is a little peeved with me…" he started, rubbing his temples.
"Why? What did you do?" Jude asked, wide-eyed.
"She feels like I haven't been around at all lately, like I'm not spending enough time with her."
Jude thought for a moment and then asked quietly, "Is she right?"
"Kind of. But I've been swamped at work lately—I've got four artists all with albums due over the next two months, so I just don't have a lot of the free time I used to have."
"And whatever free time you do have, are you spending a lot of it with her?" Jude asked slowly, knowing the answer.
He looked at her with raised brows. "What do you think?"
She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "So maybe you should be. Maybe you should be here with her instead of with me."
"Jude, she hates sushi."
"She hates sushi? Who is this woman and what planet is she from?" Jude asked in shock.
He laughed at her reaction. "Not everyone loves sushi like you do."
"Impossible," Jude scoffed, shoving her last piece of fish into her mouth with a grin.
"Anyway," he continued, "I think she's just not used to me hanging out with someone else. It was always the two of us spending time alone or with another couple."
"But you have friends, don't you? I mean, besides me," Jude said, half-jokingly.
"Of course, but I don't see them every day. Maybe once a week or whenever we have time. She's not used to me spending a lot of that time in between with someone besides her."
"And let me guess," Jude started, sitting back in her chair, "she's really not happy because that someone is a female."
Tommy looked down and silently nodded.
Jude continued hesitantly, "So maybe we shouldn't be hanging out as much."
He looked up at her immediately in concern. "That's not what I was saying."
"Well, I don't want your fiancée to be mad because you're spending more time with me than with her…"
"But there are a lot of things she doesn't understand the way you do," he countered. "Like the movie you and I saw two nights ago—that indie film—it wasn't a chick flick so she would've hated it. She would've made me see 'The Breakup' or something…"
"I liked 'The Breakup…'" Jude mumbled softly.
He ignored her comment and proceeded. "It's just—we're different and we have different interests. And I don't think there's anything wrong with not spending every waking minute together. Being engaged doesn't mean you lose your own identity, right?" Tommy questioned heatedly, getting riled up.
"Whoa, tiger," Jude said, trying to get him to calm down and come back down to Earth. "Nobody said you have to spend every waking minute together or that you have to sacrifice everything you like because you're engaged. I just think that maybe you could balance it a little better."
"Balance…" he repeated, mulling over the concept. "Like how?"
"Like…I don't know…taking time out to do something you both like. Or…ummm…." Jude said, biting her lip to come up with some good idea. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "I've got it. We should double date."
"Double date?" he questioned uncertainly.
"Yes. You said yourself that she's used to going out with other couples. Well, I'm part of another couple. And it could be good for all of us to hang out. Maybe instead of it just being the two of us, it could be the four of us from now on," she said hopefully.
"Really? You think that'll work?" he asked, still not totally convinced.
"I do," she replied confidently. "Listen, Rob's not thrilled whenever I ask you to do something instead of him, so maybe if you guys could get to know each other better, you can become friends. And then he'll realize it's really not that big of a deal. And the same for me and Jessica. What do you think?"
He sighed and thought about it for a few moments.
"Double date…hmm….okay. Why not?" he agreed.
"Great! We can go out this week. Thursday maybe?" she asked.
"Sure. We can go for dinner and see how it goes," he replied.
"Perfect," she said with a smile. Her mood instantly perked up at the thought of the four of them hanging out and becoming great friends.