Vegas, Baby

Richard Burton

I accompanied James to 'work' every day for a week, enjoying watching how he brought a character to life. Whenever he walked onto the set, he became this confident man who had such a presence that it awed me to watch him act. Goosebumps pimpled my skin whenever he delivered on a scene; Felix had been right when he said that James would make it big one day.

Outside of the long days spent on a movie set, we hung out, often drinking wine up on the rooftop of the hostel, talking well into the morning and falling asleep on the uncomfortable deck chairs that became our beds most nights. 

Of course, this life with him in South America wasn't something that I expected to last beyond a fleeting romance, so when James' time in Argentina ran out, I was resigned to the fact that I had to give him up. It had been fun while it had lasted but sooner or later, reality was going to kick back in and it was probably better that it was biting us on our arses sooner rather than later. The longer it continued, the more I would have fallen for him and my pure heart wouldn't have been able to cope with that sadness. 

"My flight is tomorrow," James solemly announced as we sat up on the roof and watched the stars twinkle above us. He glanced over at me, looking for some sort of reaction, but all I did was stare. "Which means I'm leaving."

I nod, averting my eyes. "I know." my voice comes out in a whisper filled with sadness. Despite only knowing him very briefly, I reserved a special place in my heart for him, a place that would soon be left hollow. "I wish you didn't have to leave, though."

"Yeah, me too," James agreed. He bolted upright in his seat, almost falling off, and gave me crazy eyes as he excitedly stared at me. "Come with me! no, seriously, I mean it. Come with me."

"To Los Angles?" I ask in shock. When James nods, I laugh and shake my head. "You're crazy. I can't go to Hollywood with you. Are you mental? No!"

Sensing a challenge, James raved about all the reasons that I simply had to go with him to LA. I'll admit, he was quite convincing with his delivery, reminding me slightly of old clips of Richard Burton I've watched online. He was a master of delivery, each word making me believe more and more that I should go with him and heck, I'd pay for both our tickets to go there. Eventually, his enthusiasm got the better of me and I found myself nodding along in agreement, even going so far as to skip down to my room, pack my backpack, say adios to my gap year friends and hot foot it back to James' luxury hotel room for the evening. 

The second I walked into his suite, I started to re-think my whole plan. This was such a bad idea. I mean, what type of person suddenly decides, on a whim, to follow a boy they've only known for two weeks to a different country? I've always thought I was a sensible girl, someone who followed their head, not their heart. I'm a rational person and this, well, this irrational.

"You look as if you've changed your mind already," James commented later that night- or perhaps early the next morning- when we were sitting on the balcony of his room, watching the city below us live its life. "If you have, you don't have to come back to LA with me."

I smile across at him. "I haven't changed my mind, I'm just a little nervous about the whole thing. I mean, I don't do things like this. Ever. It's just a bit out of character for me to take a leap of faith like this. Why am I even following you to Los Angeles?" I laugh from the hilarity of the situation. James sighed and shook his head, lifting his beer bottle to his lips. "Seriously, why am I doing this? What reason do I have to follow you to wherever you ask me to follow you to? I don't know you, you don't know me but hey! Let's go on an adventure together!"

"You overthink things," James commented as if he knew me. Despite only knowing each other a fortnight, he has me sussed out. He continued to sip on his beer, smirking as he spoke. "Why does life have to be complicated? I like you, Nina. I really like you and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Do you like me?"

I nod.

"Then that should be reason enough to follow me," James said. "If the tables were turned, I'd follow you."

"No, you wouldn't." 

I honestly didn't believe that he meant the words that he said. I think he wanted to believe it but even the best of intentions are sometimes misplaced or misjudged or... I don't know, they can lead people on. I watched as James set his bottle down on the low-set table between us and leaned across, holding his hand up to cup my cheek and bring his face as close to mine as he could. Ever so gently, he let his lips graze mine softly. It was sweet and innocent but it sparked something inside me. When James tried to pull away, I wouldn't let him. 

"No," I mutter, drunk from his kiss. "I haven't had enough of you yet."