My Other Half ⚓

Chap 3 "One Little Flaw"

Lea's POV
I opened the door. "Oh my god," I smiled as I put my hands over my mouth. Blake was standing there holding a bouquet of red roses. "Oh my god."
"Surprise," Blake smiled.
We hugged and he handed me the roses. "Oh my god," I smiled.
Blake chuckled. "Is that all you can say, Azalea?" he asked.
"I'm just - oh my god," I nodded. "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh, got your message," Blake nodded showing me the message I sent him on twitter. "I want to be your personal tour guide."
"Blake, I didn't think you saw the message," I smiled. "You usually reply." Mom coughed behind me. I sighed and moved out of the way. "Blake, this is my mom, Claire Bishop. Mom, this is Blake English."
"Nice to meet you," Blake shook her hand.
Mom smiled, "Could you give us a minute?"
"Yeah," Blake nodded.
I smiled as I let him in and closed the door. "I'll be back," I nodded. Mom pulled me into the kitchen. "What?"
"He seems like a nice boy," Mom quietly stated.
"Until today, I didn't think he actually knew I existed," I replied. "He's seen me at concerts and I've met him every -"
"He's one of the members?" Mom asked. I nodded. "Lea, what is it with you and celebrities?"
"It's New York, Mom," I replied. "Look, I gotta go." I walked out to the living room. "I don't think I can take this on a plane with me so I'm going to leave this here with Mom." I put the bouquet on the table. "I'm going to head to the airport now."
"I could get you one in LA," Blake smiled.
"Well, aren't you a sweetheart," Mom smiled.
"I'll get that for you," Blake smiled as he grabbed my larger suitcase.
"Thank you," I smiled as Blake swung the carry-on on his shoulder.
"For a little girl, you sure do have a lot," Blake replied. He put the suitcases in his rental car and we hit the road. "So, after all these years, why are you meeting your best friend now?"
"I've tried to meet her at the concerts in Philadelphia," I explained. "Thing is, nothing went as planned and every time she would come to New York, she can't because something came up or she didn't have the money." I looked at Blake. "Thing is, between here and Philly, our plans just never worked out. So, we're meeting in LA."
"What makes the two of you so different?" Blake asked.
"Two different lives, Blake, two different lives," I nodded.
"Azalea -"
"Lea," I cut him off.
"Lea, why don't you tell me a little about you?" Blake asked.
"What do you want to know?" I asked.
"You're mom, she's a little high class," Blake replied as he kept his eyes on the road. "What about you? You don't seem so..."
Blake couldn't find the words. "Stuck-up?" I asked. "It's alright, I'm not offended by it." I shrugged. "Uhm, she's a first class lawyer, way up there with the Supreme Court. Things she's the best at what she does. When my dad passed away, we inherited everything. He was part of the Presidential secret service." I looked at Blake. "I went to prestige prep schools and passed with straight A's, top five in the class. Then, a private university with a minor in psychology and a major in criminology." I looked at my feet. "I got the internship she wanted me to get but I didn't continue after college. I guess she looked at me like a disappointment. I didn't want everything handed down to me. I told her to give me a summer in LA to prove myself. If I don't find what I'm looking for, I'll come back to NYC and work for her or the police department."
"Hey, let me tell you something," Blake nodded. "You are who you are. A mother's love is unconditional no matter what." I smiled. "Do what you love, Lea. You can't be what your parents want you to be."
"That's why I told my mom to give me a summer in LA," I nodded. "So that I actually have time to come up with something."
"What is your plan, exactly?" Blake asked.
"I know I don't want to do anything that has to do with my degree," I sighed.
"That's going to be a little tricky," Blake sighed. "Can't get anywhere without a degree plan unless you got some hidden talent or something." Blake parked the car at the airport parking lot. "You don't have a hidden talent, do you?"
"I guess you will just have to wait and see, Mr. English," I smiled. We got out of the car. He took my suitcase to luggage check and we boarded the plane. We took our seats. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Looks like we will be spending the whole flight together," Blake smiled. "So you have a lot of time to tell me about yourself."
"Why can't it be the other way around?" I asked.
"Because you already know everything about me," Blake smiled.
"Everything but one," I nodded. Blake looked at me. "You never told me if you're in a relationship."
"No," Blake nodded. "I'm single."
I smiled. "Good to know," I replied. We took off. "So, what all do you wanna know?"
"Well, I'm going to help you land something you love in LA so you don't have to work for the law or government," Blake replied. "And to keep you from going back to NYC."
"You'll really help me with that?" I asked.
"Yeah, and I highly doubt that you'll work retail," Blake replied. I nodded. "Didn't think so."
"I can call Nova and let her know when we land that Blake is with us," was all I could think about.
"Can you act?" Blake asked.
"I was in prep schools," I replied. "We were sometimes taught to bs our way through things."