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

When I was 30 years old, my supplier told maine I needed to spell to Los Angeles to get immoderate “West Coast credits.” I didn’t want to spell because it meant I’d suffer my precious rent-controlled flat connected Central Park West arsenic good arsenic the supportive New York theatre organization I’d worked truthful difficult to get into. After graduating from Juilliard 5 years earlier, I was getting theatre activity successful and about the city.

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

Over the adjacent fewer months L.A. slow recovered, and I started going connected auditions. Much to my amazement, I sewage hired to do a caller play and sewage a mates of mini roles connected immoderate sitcoms. In betwixt gigs, I took Gus connected agelong walks on the formation and recovered that I was starting to for illustration California.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It happens to the champion of us,” he said pinch a smile.

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

“The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.”

“Sounds good.” I thought, “This feline must beryllium beautiful cool if he’s reference 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 meet you Martha-by-the-Way. I’m Don.” We shook hands.

“Do you unrecorded successful L.A.?”

“Silver Lake, and you?” he asked.

“Santa Monica. Are you a autochthonal Californian?”

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

He seemed truthful bully and normal. I worried he mightiness beryllium married, truthful I asked, “Do you person family successful Los Angeles?”

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

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

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

“I dream you get it.” He sounded genuinely supportive, which was truthful different from the neurologist’s consequence to my work.

“Thanks. Me too. What do you do?”

He said he’d studied filmmaking astatine the University of Texas astatine Austin and had made a fewer films, but now he 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 for illustration a first date, complete pinch meal and a movie. When we landed astatine Los Angeles International Airport, I sewage tense because I wanted him to inquire for my number but worried he mightiness see maine geographically undesirable since we lived connected other sides of L.A.

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

A week later he drove each the measurement to Santa Monica to return maine to coffee. When we finished, he suggested we spell to a movie, truthful we went to spot “The Last Seduction,” a neo-noir thriller. During our chat afterward, I learned really overmuch Don knew about filmmaking, and from past connected we started spending Saturday afternoons astatine the academy, watching screenings of caller films for free since he worked there.

Don besides introduced maine to the joys of hiking successful Griffith Park and the Santa Monica Mountains. Being pinch 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 about important point was that he wasn’t asking maine to change. He accepted maine for who I was.

As Don and I grew closer, my desire to return to New York faded. After six months of dating, we decided to unrecorded together 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 sewage joined and bought a location successful Glassell Park, wherever we still 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 pinch 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 want to perceive your existent story. We salary $400 for a published essay. Email LAAffairs@beritaja.com. You could find submission guidelines here. You could find past columns here.