"We are now ready to start boarding passengers onto American Airline's Los Angeles bound flight. All flyers in group A may begin boarding. Have a safe flight!"
I grabbed my small carry on bag and walked to the gate, anxious to board. Flying made me nervous. I'd only flown a handful of times before, all of which made my mind jittery. Turbulence had made its way to the top of my list of biggest fears.
As I walked down the isle searching carefully for a seat, I was stopped twice. Signing old hats and scrap paper never bored me. Any attention I can get, I'll take. There was an empty isle seat in row 13 and an open window in row 19. Tough choice. An isle was preferable but isle 13? No way. Being as superstitious and paranoid as I am, I made my way passed the unlucky seat number to the equally nerve-wracking window seat.
An elderly woman struggled to get her luggage into the overhead compartment. I gave her a hand. She thanked me and took her seat.
"Do you fly often?" Maybe small talk would ease my nerves.
"Close to never. I need a break from this cold weather."
Her New York accent was obvious. "I can definitely relate. It's been such a cold fall! How long are you staying in LA?"
"2 whole weeks. How about you, young man?"
I stopped and thought about it. "...Indefinitely."
She turned to face me. "Hm, sounds like an interesting story. Would you like to share?"
I explained the past year of my life. I told her about SNL, which she'd never heard of. Actually, she told me she'd never owned a television. That was absolutely mind boggling. How do you not own a TV? I explained how I was meeting a friend in LA to possibly costar in a movie with.
"Well..."
"Jimmy." I shook her hand.
"Well, Jimmy, it sounds to me like you've got a great head on your shoulders. Your parents raised you right."
I looked down at my hands and smiled. "Yes, yes they did."
The plane shook and my body leaned forward. We're already landing?
"This is your pilot speaking. Please remain seated until we taxi in and turn the "seatbelt off' light on. It's 72 degrees here in LA. Enjoy your stay and thank you for flying American Airline's."
The light above me dinged and I stood and helped Carolyn from her seat and proceeded to grab her bag. I carried it off the plane for her and rolled it through the airport with her alongside me searching for her ride. I had time to kill, why not wait around with my new friend?
Three middle-aged woman approached us. "Mom! Over here!" They embraced.
"Oh, mom. You didn't tell us you were with Jimmy Fallon!"
I shook their hands. "Hey, call me Jimmy. Carolyn kept me calm in the air. It was nice to meet you all."
Carolyn hugged me. "Thank you for talking with me. It was nice to meet you, Jimmy. Good luck with your movie. Maybe I'll buy a TV to watch it on."
I gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "It was nice to meet you too, Carolyn. Safe travels!"
We waved goodbye and right as I did, there was a playful tap at my shoulder.
"DREW!!!!"
"JIMMY!!!!"
"Did you miss me or what? Give me a hug already!"
Finally, a familiar face. Drew gave me a bear hug.
"You smell nice." I couldn't help it. She smelled like roses dipped in freshly squeezed orange juice.
"I could say the same to you. New cologne?"
"I don't wear cologne. I smell great naturally."
She rolled her eyes and we walked to baggage claim. I grabbed my bag from the silver spinning carousel and set it down.
"That's all? Tell me you're going to go shopping for more clothes."
"...Uh, yeah. Duh? Wait, why? You don't think I brought enough?"
"Jimmy, you're here for a while. I don't think that small bag holds as many clothes as you will need."
"Hey, this bag is like a clown car. Just when you think it's full, 12 more things get stuffed in."
"Does shopping Wednesday work for you?"
I gave in. Shopping with Drew couldn't be too bad.
"So what are the sleeping arrangements? Should I book a hotel room?"
"No, no Jim! I have a little condo I'm staying in right next to the studio I'll be working in. It has two bedrooms. Cool?"
I was really hoping for one bedroom for... well, reasons but "Yeah, cool!"
I looked out of the cab window up at the shiny skyscrapers. LA has nothing on New York. It just didn't feel the same being out of The Big Apple. I felt like I was cheating on NYC.
"Are you nervous about your audition?"
Drew woke me from my daydream. "Audition? I have an audition?"
She bit her lip and looked at her lap.
"Drew. You didn't tell me I had to audition. I thought I had a sure shot of being a part of this."
"You do! I'm positive you'll make it. The audition is just sorta mandatory. And it's also in about 34 minutes."
I looked down at myself. I was classing it up in my stained Yankees hoodie and holy, worn jeans. My acting better have improved immensely from my Almost Famous days if I expect to make this audition.
