Chapter 44 - London with Alexandra Daddario (1)

I landed in London what felt like a week later. England is far. It was late, I was tired and incredibly jet lagged. I took a cab to the Savoy Hotel, where I had gotten one of the very last rooms. I couldn't care less at that point. All I really wanted was to hit the bed and go to sleep.

After checking in, taking a shower and finally laying down in bed, I took a beat to really think about what I was doing. I had just flown to another continent, to see a girl, I had only met once before. True we did share some wonderful kisses.

I smiled as I remembered the feel of her lips, and the taste of her mouth. I couldn't help but hope for an encore. I was feeling nervous. Since things ended with Victoria, I hadn't even thought about putting myself out there. Now, here I was. Regardless, the plan was already set in motion. I had to call in a few favors to make tomorrow happen.

What if she changed her mind? What if she had met some other guy while she was here? I mean women like guys with british accents right? What better place to find one than London? I was being ridiculous. I had to calm myself.

I reached for the light switch and as I was surrounded by darkness, one more thought hit me. What if I wasn't good enough? I shook my head. I was just tired. I needed a good night's sleep. I closed my eyes, and slowly but surely, sleep crept in. Taking me away from the insecurities that had been rearing their ugly heads.

*****

I woke up the next morning, carefully showered and even more carefully got dressed. The last time she had seen me, was at the wedding. I was in my tux. I'm hard to resist in a tux. I just had some coffee. Too nervous about eating anything. I grabbed a box that I had brought with me.

It was a gift for Alex, and hopefully it would be a great way to break the ice. I took a cab to the station where I knew she would be giving an interview that morning. San Andreas was premiering tonight in London, so her and the rest of the cast were on full press duty.

I sat in the back of the cab, looking out at London. I had fond memories of my time living here. It had been one of my favorite places to live, even if it had only been for a couple of years. I hated leaving here more than any other place.

I arrived at the station, and was led to the set where the interview was taking place. I saw her and almost lost my breath. She was gorgeous. She was sitting on a couch next to Carla Gugino, who played her mother in the movie. I swallowed hard.

The two beautiful actresses were talking and laughing. Alex hadn't noticed me yet and an idea quickly popped into my head. I asked one of the assistants for a pen and his pad and wrote a short note. The assistant walked over and handed it to her.

She opened it, not really sure what to expect. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as she read it. Her face lit up and her beautiful smile appeared. She looked around, clearly searching for me.

She finally found me, and believe it or not her smile got much bigger. She quickly marked the piece of paper and handed it back to the assistant, who returned it to me. After reading her reply, I could do nothing else but beam a smile right back at her.

She excused herself from Carla and walked towards me. My god! She was beautiful. Her blue eyes met mine and my heart sped up immediately. She threw herself in my arms and held me in the tightest hug I had ever felt.

I just held her. Neither one of us said a word. The silence saying volumes more than our words ever could. Just like that, all of my doubts, all of my insecurities faded away. We both took a deep breath.

"You smell so good." We both said simultaneously and broke out laughing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked,still holding onto me.

"Well I had this pretty terrific job offer. I couldn't turn it down."

"The fortune cookies?" She asked.

"Hell yeah. People have been complaining about the quality of their fortunes. I've been called in to single handedly turn that around."

"Sounds like a big job!" She said looking me right in the eyes. I smiled back at her, admiring just how unbelievably blue they were.

"Oh the biggest. I just hope i'm up to the task."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to manage. I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm glad to hear that. I was sort of nervous."

"Really why?"

"I mean we've only met once. And now i'm in London. Isn't that a bit stalkerish,"

"Oh it's full on stalker. But I dig it. How long are you in town for?" She asked me.

"Just a couple of days." She hit me on the chest.

"Dude, you suck. I have to work! I have all these press events, all day today and tomorrow."

"Actually! You don't."

"What?"

"I got you the day off." I told her nodding towards her publicist.

"How did you?"

"I'm full of surprises."

"I bet you are." She said, kissing me on the cheek.

"Speaking of surprises!" I told her finally breaking our hug. I pulled the gift I had for her. She grabbed the box and quickly opened it. She lifted out a red Manchester United jersey, before looking at me questioningly.

"You don't like it?" I asked her teasingly.

"It's great. I just don't follow soccer that much."

"Dude, here it's football. Careful, you can get shot for that. I'm taking you to a match today. You'll love it."

"Okay, i'll give it a shot." She said still looking disappointed.

"What?" I finally asked her.

"Nothing."

"Alex?" I asked again.

"It's nothing. I was just.."

"Just what?"

"I was just hoping you had ramen. They don't have the good stuff here." I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're ridiculous! You know that?" She nodded."This is an authentic, Manchester United jersey, and you're asking for ramen? What am i going to do with you?"

"Well you can start by finally kissing me, damn it." She said getting close to me and pleading with her eyes. I smiled before wrapping my arms around her waist and bringing our lips together.

It was even better than I had remembered. The fullness and softness of her lips made my heart flutter. I pulled away, feeling myself getting lost in the kiss. It would have gotten uncomfortable for the others in the room. Carla rose to meet me. I swallowed once more.

"Hello Ms Gugino." I said, once again extremely nervous.

"Hello. You must be Duncan." She put her arm around Alex. " Call me Carla. Alex here has been talking about you nonstop." Alex blushed. I smiled.

"It's nice to know i had such an effect on her." I said.

"It's very nice to meet you, Duncan. I hear you're stealing her away for the rest of the day."

"Yeah. I thought it was time we spent some quality time together."

"That's very sweet. Our movie is premiering tonight, you should come along. Right Alex?" Carla said.

"Yeah, you should definitely come. I was going to go solo. But I would love to have you there with me." Alex said smiling at me.

"Well great. I'll see you both tonight." Carla said. "Nice to meet you again Duncan." She walked away returning to finish off the interview.

"What was that all about?" Alex asked me.

"What do you mean?" I replied playing dumb.

"Why did you get so nervous when she showed up?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh my god!" She said holding one hand over her mouth, and the other over her heart. "You have a crush on Carla! You want to fuck my mom!" She finished dramatically.

"I do not!"

"Wait you don't want to fuck my mom? Why not? She's hot as hell."

"Really? She's not your mom, Alex! And I don't want to fuck her."

"Hmmmm," She said holding a finger under her chin. "We're going to get along great. You're a horrible liar. It's okay you know?" I rolled my eyes.

"Alright fine, I've had a crush on her for ages."

"I knew it! I can't blame you though, she is gorgeous!"

"You're gorgeous." I said bringing her close to me once more. Placing a soft kiss on her lips. "We should get going."

"I'm all yours!"

"Oh before we go." I told her before grabbing the box again. I pulled out the bottom and showed her what was hidden beneath.

"RAMEN! You got me Ramen! You rock." Alex said, looking on the edge of jumping up and down. I just shook my head in wonder. "If you keep spoiling me like this, I might just let you fuck my mom!" She finished laughing.

"Let's go." I said laughing and grabbing her hand.

*****

Manchester United were playing Crystal Palace, in one of the last matches of the season. The great thing about England, is that their soccer stadiums are always packed and full of life.

The moment we entered and took our seats, before the players had even come out of the tunnel, the thousands of people in attendance were on their feet singing their hearts out.

Alex was swept by it right away. She had worn the Jersey I had gotten over her blouse. Even in that, I could barely keep my eyes off of her. Alex wrapped her arms around mine, kissing me on the cheek.

"Thanks for bringing me here. This is incredible!"

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

The match was an up and down affair. Both teams creating chances and going for the win. Alex said she wasn't a big fan, but fell easily into the rhythm of the game.

When Mata put in a penalty for Manchester United, I think she was the one screaming the loudest in the arena. I barely paid attention to the game. I spent the entire time looking at Alex and stealing kisses whenever I could.

When the game was over, United had won 2-1 in a thrilling contest. We left the stadium after having a great time, incredibly hungry. I decided to take her to this low key chinese restaurant i knew, not far from the stadium. We were quickly seated at a table in the back.

"So, can i ask you something?" Alex said as we were handed menus.

"Of course. I swept you away from your job, that you love. I think that allows you to ask me whatever you want." She laughed.

"Yeah, i just love these press tours! So these football teams. There must be hundreds of them right?" I nodded. "How did you end up becoming a fan of this particular one?"

"Ohhhh, incisive question!" I joked.

"It's just that, i know you moved around a lot as a kid. Why this team and not any other?"

"Well, I moved to London the year after Manchester United won the treble. Which is the Champions League, Premier League and F.A Cup. Their coach, Sir Alex Ferguson was knighted. My family was invited to the ceremony.

I had a chance to meet him afterwards, and he invited me down to Manchester to meet the team. David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane... They were all there." I took a beat remembering that afternoon. "

I took pictures and got autographs from all of them on a ball that I still have. When school started in the fall, I had no trouble making friends. I was able to go to all their games. My dad and I use to go all over England to watch them play."

"Wow!" Alex said holding my hand over the table. "I was not expecting that. I thought you were just some kind of glory hound!" She said laughing.

"It helps that they win!" I said laughing as well. "Thanks to them, navigating school was easy for a couple of years. It was hard to leave that and start all over again."

"I can imagine!" She said squeezing my hand and giving me a soft smile. "Thank you for sharing that with me. Not just the story, but the experience of being in that stadium. It was amazing."

"You're welcome! I hope I get to help you experience many other things."

"Ohh really? What did you have in mind?" She said teasingly.

"Oh you'll see. Just stick around."

"Oh I intend to!" She said before leaning across the small table and kissing me. I held her hands in mine and enjoyed the taste of her mouth once more.

Kissing her, felt more than good. It felt right. We ate and laughed, feeling incredibly relaxed and at ease with one another.

"How's Michael doing?" She asked out of the blue.

"Micheal? Michael B Jordan? How do you guys know each other?" She bit her lip before answering. "No!" I said covering my mouth with one hand, while the other was against my heart. "You fucked the lead to my show!" I joked.

"No, not at all." She said laughing. "We were on All My Children at the same time."

"Wow, sometimes I forget how small Hollywood is."

"Even smaller when you consider the town is 85% bullshit."

"Well that doesn't help!"

When we finished our meal, we left the restaurant holding hands. We stood on the curb, and i waved down a cab for her. I turned to her and held her close to me, taking in the sweet scent of her skin. I kissed her forehead, before lowering my mouth and kissing her delicious lips once more.

"I'll see you tonight?" I said.

"Damn right you will. I'll pick you up at 7! Be ready." She said poking me in my chest. I kissed her again. I looked her square in the eyes.

"Oh I'm ready." I told her very seriously. "Are you?"

"You'll see. Stick around." She answered before kissing me again.

"I intend to." I said to her as she finally got in the cab. I watched the cab drive away, with a stupid smile on my face and a lightness i hadn't felt in quite some time. It was a nice afternoon so i decided to walk back to my hotel. I did it with one hell of a pep in my step.