Forward

Chapter One

"So." I smile.

"..So.." She replies, widening her eyes a little.

"What do I call you?" I tilt my head a little as I wait for her to answer.

"Uhm.." She tucks a strand of hair behind her left ear. "Most people.. Call me Jo?" She shrugs.

"But what do you like to be called?" I counter.

"I dunno.. I guess I haven't really thought about it?" She arches her brow.

"Well then I will." I smile.

"What?" She frowns and smiles back at me.

It doesn't escape me; how alike the character she is soon to be portraying, Tessa.

I wonder if she is aware of the similarities herself.

"I will think of some names.." I tell her. "Then, next time I see you, you tell me which one you prefer. Simple." I casually shrug one shoulder.

"Uh, okay." She shrugs both shoulders and shakes her head a little.

"Right, well. I'd better go and prepare. First day tomorrow and all that." I smile as I stand and start to stretch.

She's still looking at me and I fight the urge to look away; feeling a little uncomfortable myself.

People have always stared at me for being so tall. I was hoping she wouldn't be one of those people.

"You're going?" She says also taking a stand. I fight back and resist the urge to laugh a little. She's actually pretty short herself.

How ironic.

So there's me, really tall and her, really short.

Who's idea was this?

Then again, with different camera angles, I'm sure they can make the height difference look a little less obvious..

"Yeah, I wanna have a shower and I need to FaceTime my mum, I promised I would." I shove my hands in the front pockets of my jeans; my thumbs still poking out.

"Oh, right. Sure. Must be kinda tricky with the time difference?" She looks up at me, holding her arm and rubbing it.

"It is sometimes, but I think we've pretty much got the hang of it now. So long as I ring sometime within the next few hours; it'll be fine." I smile politely.

I pause; wondering if I could somehow show some interest in a part of her life to return her politeness, but I've got nothing.

I don't want to seem rude but what else can I honestly say at this point? I guess I'll just have to make more of an effort next time we speak or something.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." I hold my hand out with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you too." She takes my hand; returning my smile.

"Wow.." I frown.

"What?" She attempts to snap her hand back but I hold it there, in mine.

"Your hand! It's freezing?!" I exclaim.

"Oh, yeah.. That." She laughs.

I frown a little more out of curiosity but let her go. It crosses my mind that the reason she is so cold must be due to her lack of clothes. A t-shirt and jeans, no less. Even I would be cold.

"There was.. A mix up. At the airport.." She tucks more hair behind her ear.

Still frowning, I shift my weight from one foot to the other as I fold my arms and wait for her to explain.