L.A. Affairs: Our flight felt like a first date. Would it continue after we landed at LAX?

When I was 30 years old, my cause told maine I needed to spell to Los Angeles to get immoderate “West Coast credits.” I didn’t privation to spell due to the fact that it meant I’d suffer my precious rent-controlled flat connected Central Park West arsenic good arsenic the supportive New York theatre assemblage I’d worked truthful hard to get into. After graduating from Juilliard 5 years earlier, I was getting theatre enactment successful and astir the city.

I didn’t deliberation I was beauteous capable to get enactment successful Hollywood, but my cause disagreed. She had religion successful me, truthful I reluctantly packed up my worldly and moved to Santa Monica with Gus, my German shepherd. A week aft we arrived, the Northridge earthquake happened. I crouched nether a table, holding Gus close. Aftershocks filled maine with terror, and I wondered if California was telling maine I wasn’t welcome.

Over the adjacent fewer months L.A. dilatory recovered, and I started going connected auditions. Much to my amazement, I got hired to bash a caller play and got a mates of tiny roles connected immoderate sitcoms. In betwixt gigs, I took Gus connected agelong walks on the formation and recovered that I was starting to similar California.

One afternoon, I went to a java store successful Santa Monica wherever a middle-aged red-headed feline with a beard was playing Van Morrison songs connected his guitar.

After helium finished, I thanked him, and we started talking. He explained that helium was a neurologist astatine USC but loved to play guitar successful his escaped time. I was intrigued. So erstwhile helium asked maine out, I said yes. He took maine to meal a fewer times successful his snappy reddish Porsche, past invited maine to articulation him for a play successful Yosemite National Park.

As we were eating meal successful the quaint small compartment connected our archetypal night, helium said helium truly liked me, but if our narration was going to spell anywhere, helium wanted maine to “get retired of amusement business.” Did helium earnestly deliberation I’d springiness up acting to beryllium his girlfriend? That was a relation I couldn’t and wouldn’t play. After that, I stopped taking his calls.

A fewer weeks later, I had to question to Indiana for my grandfather’s funeral. On my mode backmost to Los Angeles, I changed planes successful Cincinnati, and arsenic I sat down, a nice-looking, 30-something antheral with a boyish grin successful the adjacent spot gave maine a welcoming nod. I nodded back, got a publication from my container and tried to work but promptly fell asleep.

Half an hr later, I woke up with a small drool seeping from the country of my mouth. I laughed astatine myself, and the antheral with the boyish grin laughed with me.

“Sorry astir the drool,” I said, wiping my face.

“It happens to the champion of us,” helium said with a smile.

I noticed a publication successful his hand. “What are you reading?”

“The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.”

“Sounds good.” I thought, “This feline indispensable beryllium beauteous chill if he’s speechmaking that book.” I looked guardant to sitting adjacent to him for the adjacent 3 hours.

“I’m Martha, by the way.” I offered my hand.

“Nice to conscionable you Martha-by-the-Way. I’m Don.” We shook hands.

“Do you unrecorded successful L.A.?”

“Silver Lake, and you?” helium asked.

“Santa Monica. Are you a autochthonal Californian?”

“No, I’m from Pennsylvania. That’s wherever I’m coming from now,” helium said.

He seemed truthful bully and normal. I disquieted helium mightiness beryllium married, truthful I asked, “Do you person household successful Los Angeles?”

“No, conscionable me,” helium said with a smile. I hoped that meant helium was single.

He gestured to the publication connected my lap, “Is that a publication you’re reading?”

“Yeah, I person an audition for ‘Diagnosis Murder.’ Maybe I’ll get to enactment with Dick Van Dyke.”

“I anticipation you get it.” He sounded genuinely supportive, which was truthful antithetic from the neurologist’s effect to my work.

“Thanks. Me too. What bash you do?”

He said he’d studied filmmaking astatine the University of Texas astatine Austin and had made a fewer films, but present helium divided his clip betwixt the property container astatine Dodger Stadium, charting pitches for Major League Baseball, and judging scripts for the Nicholl Fellowships successful Screenwriting astatine the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I was impressed.

The remainder of our formation felt similar a archetypal date, implicit with meal and a movie. When we landed astatine Los Angeles International Airport, I got tense due to the fact that I wanted him to inquire for my fig but disquieted helium mightiness see maine geographically undesirable since we lived connected other sides of L.A.

As we headed toward baggage claim, helium asked if I wanted to get unneurotic for java sometime. I said yes, and we exchanged numbers. Don’s smiling bluish eyes and witty speech had maine feeling giddy astatine a clip erstwhile I slightest expected it. The beingness had taken my gramps but had fixed maine a caller friend.

A week aboriginal helium drove each the mode to Santa Monica to instrumentality maine to coffee. When we finished, helium suggested we spell to a movie, truthful we went to spot “The Last Seduction,” a neo-noir thriller. During our treatment afterward, I learned however overmuch Don knew astir filmmaking, and from past connected we started spending Saturday afternoons astatine the academy, watching screenings of caller films for escaped since helium worked there.

Don besides introduced maine to the joys of hiking successful Griffith Park and the Santa Monica Mountains. Being with him felt truthful right. He was dissimilar anyone I’d ever met, childlike and grown-up astatine the aforesaid time, goofy and intellectual. But the astir important happening was that helium wasn’t asking maine to change. He accepted maine for who I was.

As Don and I grew closer, my tendency to instrumentality to New York faded. After six months of dating, we decided to unrecorded unneurotic and rented an aged Craftsman location successful Echo Park, which sat astatine the apical of a elevation that overlooked Dodger stadium and Elysian Park.

A fewer years later, we got joined and bought a location successful Glassell Park, wherever we inactive unrecorded today. I came to Los Angeles to find work, but ended up uncovering truthful overmuch more.

The writer is simply a freelancer and storyteller who lives successful Glassell Park with her husband, 2 dogs and 4 quail.
She’s connected Instagram: @marthathompsonbooks.

L.A. Affairs chronicles the hunt for romanticist emotion successful each its glorious expressions successful the L.A. area, and we privation to perceive your existent story. We wage $400 for a published essay. Email [email protected]. You tin find submission guidelines here. You tin find past columns here.