Living In The Shallows (UK Crush #1)

Chapter Forty-Two

Our flight was called. I was about to have another dream realized, that of flying first class on Japan Air Lines. We boarded, and instead of making a right, like I was used to doing, we went up a small circular staircase, and entered the mystical realm of First Class. Teddy, of course, was used to this, but I didn't know where to look first. We took our seats, which were like La-Z-Boys, only bigger, and separated by large consoles. Wow. Across from our seats were huge screens for watching movies. And it looked like these bad boys converted to completely flat beds when it was time to sleep. We were offered champagne before we even got our luggage stowed.

We held hands across the console while waiting for take off, talking about what we were going to do in LA when we arrived. I said I wanted to visit my mother's grave, and I was going to have to do some major shopping. Six months in a cold place was something I wasn't prepared for.

"I've never lived anywhere other than LA. I don't even know what kind of clothes I need to live somewhere cold. Can I even find what I need in LA in July?"

"Don't worry so much," he said, rubbing my fingers reassuringly. "If you need something we'll buy it for you in London. It's a capital city, you know. It has all the mod cons now, running water and electricity and everything. I'm sure we can find you a winter coat or whatever."

"Asshole," I said pleasantly. "I don't know where anything is in London. I'll pay through the nose in London. I can't afford to pay through the nose. I'm a poor student. In LA, I know where the bargains are."

"I think you're laboring under a misapprehension here, Birdie. Let me help you out. You aren't going to be paying for anything while you're with me. I know your financial situation. I know you're a poor student. The whole point of coming to stay with me in London is to save you money, or have you forgotten? You need to focus on your audition. What's the point of flying all the way to another continent to prepare for the most important audition of your life if you're worried about every penny you spend?"

I had sat up during this incredible speech, and I took a deep breath now to correct him, but he shushed me, and pointed to the monitor, where a handsome flight attendant was preparing to tell us what to do in the event of an emergency.

"Don't think we aren't going to talk about this later," I said. He just nodded complacently.

As the plane leveled off, the seat belt sign blinked out, and Teddy said, "Finally!" He turned to me and patted the seat next to him invitingly. "Come on, these seats are huge, come sit by me, let's watch a movie or something, please?" He smiled encouragingly at me, and blew all other thoughts out of my head. I climbed over the center console and sat down next to him. It was cozy, but we fit quite comfortably. He put his arm around me, and we spent a few minutes scrolling through the titles before agreeing on The Theory of Everything.

After I'd made my fifth or sixth comment about how gorgeous Eddie Redmayne was Teddy paused the film and looked at me, saying, "You know, I never would have agreed to watch this if I'd known you were in love with the man."

"I'm not in love with him," I protested. "I just happen to think he's very, very, um, handsome. Very handsome—"

"Yeah, all right, I get it, he's a dreamboat, Jesus, can we move on, or would you like some alone time with the video?" He laughed.

I sat up and looked at him. "Theodore Shelley, are you jealous? Of an actor in a movie?" I grabbed the remote out of his hand. "Seriously? Of a person whom you've never met?"

"I have met him, actually," Teddy said. "Very nice guy—"

"You've met him?" I interrupted. "Really?"