[13] A weekend in New York (Seb's POV)
The chapter shows the events of the weekend from Sebastian's POV. That's why it starts on Friday - two days before Christina posted the photo on Instagram.
Friday, November 25th 2022 – New York
Sebastian arrived at JFK Airport in the evening. He had to shoot two more scenes today, before leaving to his hometown for a photo shoot and some press stuff for his movie „Sharper". This should have been released in October but was postponed to the beginning of December because of delays in post-production.
He was excited for both of his appointments although his insecurity made him a little anxious while thinking about the photo shoot. For a moment he had thought about asking y/n to come to New York with him but he decided that this would have been weird.
Rushing their relationship would be wrong and could ruin it - but he enjoyed every second with her and he knew that she would made him feel comfortable during the photo shoot.
But now he had to go through this alone.
Speaking of y/n: he thought about meeting Christina this weekend to ask her a few things about y/n. He didn't want to ruin things with her so asking for some advises would be great.
Sitting in a cap on his way from the airport to his apartment he grabbed his phone and texted Christina:
Sebastian
Hi Chrissy, I'm in NYC this weekend. Wanna hang out tomorrow evening?
Christina
Hi Seb. Haven't heard from you in a while. Hope you are good.
Of course I would like to hang out with you.
Come over to New Brunswick and we can enter the bar again,
where we used to get drunk as teenagers.
Sebastian
Sounds good.
I'll be around at 8:00 pm tomorrow right after my photo shoot.
Christina
Okay. Can't wait to see you, Seb!
Sebastian
Can't wait, too, Chrissy.
He was kind of nervous, because he didn't know how much y/n had shared with her friend so far. Maybe he could go full spy mode and get to know if she liked him the same way he liked her.
He felt the tension between them and she was all cuddly last weekend, but that didn't mean that she had fallen for him. Maybe she was this cuddly with all of her male friends.
On the other hand she agreed to go a date with him next weekend. Their first official date. He needed it to be perfect and he can't wait for cuddling with her while watching one of his favorite movies - again.
Maybe he would even be brave enough to kiss her. He couldn't nearly keep himself from doing that on Tuesday morning. It felt like it was the right thing to do but he didn't want to scare her.
Another thing he needs to ask Christina was about the pace of their relationship. He wanted to do it right. Not too fast and not too slow. He was so scared of losing her again.
That woman amazed him on their first meeting and he couldn't be happier when he heard that y/n was part of the hair and make-up crew for Cap4. He even convinced Anthony to write an E-Mail to Bryan that he (Anthony) wished to work with y/n in that movie. That's why Bryan and Jennifer gave y/n the responsibility for the men and Susan for the women.
She was only in his life for two weeks (we're not counting the first meeting a few months ago now) but he couldn't imagine living without her. She made him laugh and feel happy again. After all the pain he had been through because of the fake PR relationship with that Spanish model and a crazy fake break-up thing with the other actress, he was even more anxious as he was before.
But every moment he was with y/n it felt like his anxiety was gone. Like she was the medicine. The way that little crinkles appear on her mouth and next to her beautiful green eyes when she smiles, made him feel butterflies in his stomach. Every fucking time.
"You can't ruin that, Sebastian! Don't be an idiot. Finding someone like her is hard." he thought.
That's why he needed some advises from Christina and was happy that she agreed to meet him on Saturday.
Things were a bit complicated between them in the last year of university. That's why he was more than surprised when she asked him to come to her birthday party. He rescheduled everything to be there. To maybe talk to her about everything that had happened. But there were too many people on her party that evening. And he was with Mackie. And y/n.
Maybe they had a chance to talk about that tomorrow as well.
The cap stopped in front of his apartment complex in Soho, he grabbed his bag, paid the driver and left the car. When he was gone for a longer time some of his friends were living in his apartment a few days a week to be sure that everything is okay. Since his address was leaked a few years ago he found more paparazzi and fans waiting in front of his home than he liked to. He was always grateful for his amazing fans but his home should have been his safe place. Where he can be as rare and vulnerable as he wanted to be without being scared someone would see him crying on the fire escape.
He entered his apartment and put his backpack on the counter of the kitchen that was right next to the entrance. It wasn't a big kitchen but enough for him as he was not even able to cook properly. Thanks to the american food culture and he living in a huge city as NYC he was able to find food everywhere. Even when he was on a diet for a specific role.
His apartment was a maisonette that means he had stairs that lead to another level within his apartment. The second level above wasn't huge as it only contained his bedroom. He knew that he would probably need a different apartment when he will be married someday, planning to start a family. He was 40 years old and still single. That's why his mum was always complaining that she would never have grandchildren. But he just hadn't found the right woman yet.
The long day of shooting and the 2,5 h flight from Atlanta to New York exhausted him, so he decided to fall straight into his bed.
Saturday, November 26th 2022 – New York
The next morning he woke up (without an alarm) at around 6:30 am, jumped out of bed and made himself a coffee. He texted his personal trainer Don Saladino if he had time to workout with him and to his surprise Don answered immediately that Seb could come around to his house. Don had not only his own home-gym, he had a whole building (called 'The barn') next to his actual house where he can train. That place was awesome.
So Sebastian got a rental car (as he was living right in the center of NYC without a parking slot or garage he didn't have his own car) to drive to Don's house which was a bit outside of NYC.
They had an amazing and sweaty workout session and sat down in Don's living room to talk about everything for over an hour afterwards. Don wasn't only his personal trainer - he became his friend over the last years.
The photo shoot was scheduled for 4:00 pm in an office in Lower Manhattan so he was able to go there by walking - which was a relief. New York traffic was horror.
He said Goodbye to Don and his family and made his way back to his apartment. He arrived at 1:30 pm so it was lunch time. As he didn't want to be bloated during the shooting he decided to get a light salad in a 'salad bar' (yes there are restaurants in NYC that only sell salads!) right down the street. He ate his salad at home and as he saw that there were bell peppers in his salad he felt the urge to text y/n.
Sebastian
Ate bell peppers today. Totally didn't taste what color they were.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Heading out to my photo shoot in an hour.
I am excited!
Y/N
I am pretty sure you will do amazing during the photo shoot.
Have a good weekend in my favorite city. I miss it.
Sebastian
I am pretty sure NYC misses you to.
So do I. (Message deleted)
He sighed and threw his phone in his backpack. It was time to go to the photo shoot and he didn't want to think about y/n too much as he was scared of losing his focus while shooting. It was his job and he wanted to be good at it. On his way to the loft office he decided to buy a coffee at a Starbucks nearby. He was known as a 'coffee addict' as he was having a cup of coffee with him most of the time - no matter if it was in the morning or in the evening.
The shooting went well - he felt more comfortable than he expected and some of photos even in his eyes were pretty good.
The photograph had send him some of the photos on his phone and some behind the scenes footage. He was confident enough to post some of the footage on his Instagram and put his phone back into the backpack as usually his Instagram notifications explode after he posted literally anything.
He went back to his rental car and texted Christina that he was on his way to New Brunswick now. As he was a bit early Christina offered him to come to her house before they head out to the bar together.
He arrived at Christina's house at 6:55 pm, parked the car in the driveway and rang the doorbell. Christina opened the door and gave him a hug. They went into her living room where Christina offered Sebastian a drink. He needed some alcohol to calm his nerves before he was going to ask Christina about y/n.
After a little bit of small talk Sebastian didn't want to hide around the bushes any longer and decided to confront Christina with the topic he urgently needed to talk about.
„Listen Chrissy, there is a specific topic I want to talk with you about"
Christina looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't know what to expect but she had a slight idea.
„You know you can talk to me about everything, Seb. Go ahead"
He sighed and could feel his insecurity and anxiety grow inside of him. But he needed to be brave now.
„You know that I work with y/n for the current movie and we're going to have our first official date next weekend. I wanted to ask you if there is something I should know about her and how I should handle the whole dating situation. I really like her but I don't want to ruin it with her."
His body language portrayed his insecurity and he was not even able to look Christina in the eyes. She had heard from y/n that they were on a karaoke night and that she thought Sebastian was „a really nice and funny guy" and she remembered her heart eyes after the birthday party. But y/n hadn't told her that the are officially dating, what surprised her.
„What do you mean with 'official' first date?" she asked and tried not to let him know how much she already knew.
„Well we were on a karaoke night with Sam, Ann my assistant, y/n and Susan who is another hair and make-up artist at the movie. And.."
He wasn't able to continue as Christina immediately said: „Wait Ann? I thought Ethan was your assistant?!"
„Ethan and Mina are expecting their second child. So we decided that Ethan needs more time for his family. We chose Ann together as second assistant. It works good so far!" he answered smiling. Christina nodded without saying any further so that he could continue with the explanation.
„Anyways. Two days after the karaoke night I met y/n at a grocery store and I took the chance to invite myself for dinner that day. We had good food and wine and ended up cuddling on the couch while watching 'Notting Hill'. Well at least I was watching - she fell asleep after a few minutes." he smiled while remembering y/n's warm body resting on his chest. Christina saw his face expressions and exclaim:
„Sebastian Stan. You really fell for that women!"
He raised his arm and scratched his neck while making a grimace. „Yeah, I think I do like her a lot" he whispered more to himself than to Christina but she still heard him.
He finally looked into Christina's eyes and asked the question he wanted to ask right from the beginning: „As you guys are very good friends, I wanted to ask you if you have probably talked about her and me and if there is a slight chance that she likes me a little bit."
She waited a few seconds to answer and it felt like a lifetime until Sebastian finally heard her voice: „Well, after my birthday party we talked about you. She really liked spending time with you on that evening. But as I know how you've been at Rutgers... I told her that you were always a playboy and I didn't want her to be another of your trophies."
He was shocked when he heard what she said. It was true that he didn't take it very serious with girls and women during college. And even afterwards. He had a lot of short-time relationships, he even - and he was not proud of it - cheated on some of his girlfriends.
But since he became older he was looking for 'the one'. The one to stay with his whole life. The one to marry and to start a family with. The one to be excited to come home every day until he was dead.
Christina saw the shocked expression on his face and that he wasn't able to answer, so she quickly added: „But maybe this was just jealousy talking out of me." she looked on the ground - unable to look into his blue eyes.
„Wait. What do you mean... jealousy?" Sebastian stumbled.
„Don't you remember that night right before you went to London for your exchange semester?"
„No, I don't. What do you mean? Chrissy please tell me!" he said and took her hand into his - trying to comfort her as she was clearly uncomfortable with this conversation.
„The last night before you went to London we were in our favorite bar. And we all had way to much alcohol so I was finally brave enough to share with you that I was badly in love with you." she said in a low voice. It felt like she was ashamed for her feelings from over 20 years ago.
„I don't remember that. Maybe I really had too much alcohol" he chuckled - trying to lighten her mood.
She ignored his comment and continued: „That's why I took double the courses while you were in London. So that I had the chance to graduate before your return. To never see you again."
That made him really sad. They were always good friends and he never really figured out why that changed while he was in London. Now he knew. And his answer wouldn't make things better between them:
„Well. Guess we had bad timing then. Because I was head over heels for you from the first day I met you until the day I left to London. Maybe we should have just talked about it with each other.."
Her jaw was on the floor when they looked each other in the eyes. They could have been with each other all the time? Could have been married by now and even having kids? And they ruined it just because none of them was brave enough to share their feelings sober? That's a shame.
Maybe they just were not meant for each other.
Sebastian saw Christina chuckle a little before her chuckle grow into a huge laughter and her expression smoothed.
„Well Seb, we were falling in love with each other but never managed to date. What a shame. We could have pretty children by now. Nevermind. It's the past. It's over. Now we need to make sure you and y/n don't do the same mistake and not mention your feelings for each other!" she said and her face turned into serious mode again.
„Yeah, I really want to make things right with her. She is very special." he said with sparkles in his eyes. He couldn't hide his feelings for y/n anymore and he didn't want to.
„She is. And she is not complicated at all. She has kind of a tragic story with one of her ex-boyfriends but she needs to tell you that on her own. So just treat her well, Seb. Don't touch her or grab her arm or waist in a fight to prevent her from running away. That is the worst thing you could do to her. You will understand once you know the story. That's my only advice to you. I know you long enough to know that you will give her all the love she deserves, that you will care for her and protect her. You won't ruin things with her, Seb. I am pretty sure. You two will be a cute couple!" she said and now grabbed his hand while looking in his eyes. She smiled at him and he smiled back.
The story of her ex-boyfriend made him curious, but he had an idea what this was about. He decided to let her tell him that story when she was ready to do. All of his anxiety was gone, now that he knew that Christina believed in them.
After their conversation they headed towards the little bar in town and enjoyed the rest of the evening. As Seb had to drive back to NYC he didn't had any alcohol besides the one drink at Christina's house. That chatted, the laughed, they danced. It was an amazing evening.
He was still smiling all the way back to his apartment. He and y/n would have a realistic chance. Now it was up to him to treat her well and he didn't plan to do anything else.
Sunday, November 27th 2022 – New York
Sunday was full of press stuff for his movie 'Sharper' that included a lot of interviews - a few of them in person and other ones via zoom.
His flight back to Atlanta was scheduled for 6 pm so he was going to the airport right from the hotel room the agency booked for them to do the interviews. Ethan and Mina would take care of his apartment for the next weeks so he texted his cleaning team to clean the apartment before his friends would arrive some when next week.
The day went by really fast and he didn't even had the chance to check his phone a lot. Between two interviews he had seen that y/n liked the behind the scenes footage from his photo shoot and his heart skipped a beat. He wanted to text her but he didn't had the time as the next interview started almost immediately. He would text her later when he was waiting at the airport.
Right before heading to the airport he said goodbye to his cast mates as well as to the directors and producers of the movie. He already check-in online and as he just had his backpack he didn't need to be at the airport too early. He made it through the airport security check and waited in a lounge for boarding.
He felt his phone buzz more than usual and grabbed it out of his pocket.
Christina tagged him on a photo from last night and comments and likes went crazy over her caption:
Rutgers reunion: tonight my university crush confessed to me that he was in love with me as well. 👫🏽
He commented two green heart emojis „💚💚" underneath the photo and didn't even realized what he had done.
But he would find out soon enough...
