"Shopping?" Diana blinked and got into the passenger seat.
"That's right!" Ethan started the car, the engine dropping into a deep rumble. "Bedding, daily stuff, pots and pans, basic pantry — salt, oil, vinegar, all of it. And most importantly — ingredients. Tonight, Chef Diana has to cook in the new kitchen. As the one who just wrote the check, I need to see if your cooking justifies the price of that apartment."
He put on a deliberate capitalist-inspecting-the-results expression.
Diana laughed and the last of the daze from signing dissolved, replaced by a warm buzzing energy and genuine excitement.
"Hmph. I'll make you eat those words." But she glanced at the street passing outside: "Where are we going? A mall?"
"One stop for everything." Ethan already knew where. "Time Warner Center."
The car dropped into the underground parking structure a few minutes later.
Weekday afternoon — the mall was quiet, open, unhurried.
Ethan took Diana's hand and headed straight for the home goods floor.
The spread of products hit Diana all at once.
She usually lived practically and spent carefully. Looking at the beautifully designed, high-quality items — especially the price tags — she couldn't help hesitating.
"Hey... this Egyptian cotton set looks really nice, feels so good..." Diana picked up an elegant off-white bedding set and flipped the tag. "Hiss... over three hundred? Isn't that too much? Normal cotton is perfectly fine for a couple hundred..."
Ethan took the set out of her hands and reached past her to pick up a silk-blend set nearby, softer and smoother, with a delicate subtle pattern woven into it: "If you like something, just get it. New house, fresh start — bedding matters most. Sleep well, everything else follows."
He pointed to the better one. "This one feels better. Get this one."
"No, no!" Diana grabbed it back and put the expensive one down quickly. "That's way too extravagant. The cotton one is already good. Spending that much on a sheet set... just thinking about it hurts."
She had her own spending philosophy and she meant it.
Ethan smiled — helpless, indulgent — and ruffled her hair: "Diana. We just bought a five million dollar apartment. What is a bedding set?" He paused. "Fine. Your call. Get what you like."
He gave in, but then turned and quietly picked up a set of silk pillowcases in the same color. "These are fine though, right? Pillow comfort matters."
Diana felt warmth move through her chest. She knew exactly what he was doing. She smiled and nodded. "Yes. Those are fine."
Next — curtains.
This time Ethan didn't give her room to hesitate. He went straight for champagne-colored velvet blackout panels with a quality weight to them, paired with sheer matching linen for layering. Grand but comfortable.
Diana looked at how it would sit in the space and had to admit it was much better than the plain fabric she had been reaching for. She didn't argue.
The cookware section was Diana's territory.
She worked through it carefully — checking material, testing the weight of pots, running her thumb across the glaze on the plates.
She picked up a German-brand wok and checked the tag: "A pan costs this much?"
Ethan: "Get it. Good pan, nothing sticks, lasts forever."
Diana: "What about this set of bone china? It's beautiful but still..."
Ethan: "Get it. It'll look perfect on that dining table."
Diana: "This rice cooker has a lot of functions we probably won't use..."
Ethan: "Get it. What if you want to make congee one day? More is better than less."
Diana laughed in spite of herself: "Are you trying to buy out the whole floor? We have to be reasonable about this!"
Ethan replied without blinking: "Reasonable about what? These are things for our home. Get the best when you can. Trust me — you'll thank yourself for all of it."
He nodded at the sales associate standing nearby.
Diana couldn't counter that. Looking at him in full unbothered CEO mode, she felt something syrupy settle in her chest.
She knew he wasn't being wasteful. He just wanted to give her the best of everything.
Towels, bath linens, toiletries, slippers, throw pillows, a few small pieces for the shelves — the cart filled up steadily.
Diana handled style and selection. Ethan handled quality calls and the "yes, get it" part of the process.
They pushed the full cart down to the grocery level.
Diana lit up like she'd found her natural habitat. She moved through the aisles with purpose, murmuring to herself: "Rice... new pans need to be seasoned first... salt, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, balsamic... green onion, ginger, garlic, obviously... eggs, tomatoes, something green... and meat! Hey, what do you want to eat? Short ribs? Or fish?"
Ethan pushed the cart behind her, watching her compare brands and check for freshness, and felt more settled than he had signing the purchase agreement an hour ago.
This was what warmth felt like. This was what home tasted like.
Only with Diana did he feel this.
"Get a sea bass. Steam it. Short ribs too — braise them. Stir-fry some vegetables and a simple soup." He called his order.
"Got it." Diana was already reaching for things, comparing as she went. "This brand of soy sauce is on sale... need to pick the eggs carefully..."
By the time the trunk and back seat were both packed, the sky had gone pink at the horizon.
The first evening of a new home.
Back at The Hudson Residences, the lobby staff recognized Ethan's car and stepped up immediately, directing them to the private resident parking in the garage without a word.
The two of them wheeled a full cart into the private elevator and rode straight up.
The door opened.
The wide, finished apartment sat in the warm gold of the evening light, and it looked completely different from the model unit they had toured that afternoon.
The cool showroom feeling was gone. Something else was there now — a quiet readiness, like a space waiting to become what it was supposed to be.
"Wow." Diana stood at the entrance, eyes moving from the open living room to the river glinting in the distance beyond the glass. "Our home."
"Our home." Ethan wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, chin settling on her shoulder, the two of them looking out at the water together. "Ready to set it up?"
They looked at each other and dove in.
First — the bedding.
Diana handled the covers, Ethan took the duvet.
Coordination: nonexistent. The duvet rolled itself into a ball almost immediately. Diana burrowed under trying to fix it and couldn't find her way back out, which sent Ethan into a full laughing fit. They ended up tangled together on the brand new mattress, laughing too hard to function for a solid few minutes before finally getting the bed made properly.
In that moment Diana was completely herself — no composure, no COO energy, just a girl laughing on a new bed.
Looking at it made neatly after all that, something quietly triumphant settled in both of them.
Next — curtains.
Ethan was tall. He handled the hooks and the rods.
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