isla
there was something instantly home-y feeling as soon as the plane touched down on the pavement of LAX. it was a strange feelings of belonging here, in los angeles. i felt jittery, like id had 8 cups of coffee. i hadn't, i was just nervous to meet gus. i was worried he'd be different than the idea of him i'd created in my head from texting him, what if he was an asshole? and what if i'm not as pretty as he thought or not what he thought i was too. it was nerve wracking to meet someone for the first time after sharing so many conversations over the phone.
my row was finally able to get off the place, i followed the strangers out of the plane, into the unfamiliar airport. it was huge, busy and i had no clue where i was going. i followed the signs through the maze of the building. gus said to text him when i get to baggage claim, which i'm pretty sure is where i had just gotten.
isla
at baggage claim
i think
gus
waiting for u as soon as u get out 🥺
i stood at the conveyor belt, waiting for my suitcase to appear. black luggage is definitely not the best choice if i plan on doing this again. note taken. i stopped at the corner before i walked out into the departure area. this was really real and happening. this could be the guy i spend the rest of my life with, or one i never see again. the uncertainty was made this so much harder than it needed to be.
i took a deep breath, stepping around the corner and scanned the room for gus. my eyes locked on him, he was looking the other way when i noticed him. i started to walk towards him until he noticed me, lugging my bags along behind me. gus looked back up, noticing me walking towards him. he smiled, lighting up the whole room. as i walked closer to him, he was all i saw. everything else in the room turned invisible. all that mattered was him.
i picked up my mom walking pace, i basically flung myself into his arms as soon as i could. it just felt like the right thing to do, he happily caught me and lifted me slightly off my feet, spinning us in a quick 180°. he placed me down, we hadn't stopped smiling since we first saw each other. "hi" gus spoke first, letting go of me and taking a step back.
"hi" i smiled, "you're like real—and here" i said, half in disbelief. "yeah i am. i'm not a crazy murderer either" he laughed. "i'm so glad you're here" he said, pulling back into another hug. "so am i" i said. as soon as i saw him, as soon as i was in his arms all of my worries and doubts floated away. he was already perfect in every way, as himself and for me.
"well, do you wanna get out of the airport and we can go back to my place" he suggested. "let's go" i said, we'd had our moment so it was time to leave the crazy airport. he took one of my bags and i took the other. "i'm parked this way" he said, pointing us in the direction of his car.
he pressed the button on his keys a few times, getting his car to make a sound so we could find it in the completely full parking lot. he popped the trunk so we could put my bags in, i got in the passenger side of the black car. "you can stay as long as you want you know. you don't have to go home at the end of the week" gus said. "i wanna stay now, i've only got clothes for a week but i promise i'll go home, pack more and come back" i told him.
he pulled the car out of the lot, paying careful attention not to run into anything or anyone. "do you want music? put on whatever you want" he said, handing me the aux. "i just wanna talk to you" i told him. "we can do that too" he said. "anything in particular you wanna do? first time in la?" he asked. "it is my first yes. honestly just want to hang out with you. if you think there's anything fun we need to do im down for that too" i told him.
"there's a couple good food places i gotta take you. you should meet tracy and some of the other guys too, they've been asking about you" he suggested. "yeah for sure. you know, it's not even like this is the first time we're meeting. i feel like i've known you a lifetime and then some" i told him. it really did feel like a natural connection. if love at first sight actually existed, this was it for sure.
"yeah you're right. everything about you is just so perfect" he told me. i blushed, trying to hide it with my hand. "im not" i said. "you're perfect to me" he said. gus was literally so sweet. he reached across the centre console of the car, grabbing my hand and resting our hands on my leg. he looked over and smiled at me. seeing him smile and be happy created some sort of euphoria within me, i'd never felt like this just from being around someone before.
"the world ain't ready for us" gus said. "no they aren't" i agreed. "have you got any new music in the works?" i asked. "baby i always send you my new shit. but you wanna hear the other ones about you or something?" he asked. "there's more?" i asked. he had told me big city blues was about me, it was my favourite. "you seem surprised? of course there's more" he said. "yeah, i just don't feel like i'm the type of girl you write songs about" i told him. "you're exactly the type of girl people write songs about. baby you're my muse" he told me.
