April leaves town for work

April sighed, her heart feeling three sizes too big as she sat waiting in the airport. Her plane was delayed again - thankfully she was supposed to fly into Houston early enough that it wouldn’t make a difference for the recording time, but it was still one of those things that was a real hitch in the day. The heart thing wasn’t about the delay, though. It wasn’t even about the script for the series she was going to do some voiceover work for; she’d been known to tear up when reading some of the particularly good ones, but this one was a little-known, kind of niche theme she didn’t expect to go very far with a Western audience. She was also being brought in to do a few of the different background characters so she wasn’t particularly invested in any of the main storylines. No, the real reason her heart felt three sizes too big was because of the extremely sweet text messages Olliver had sent her.

He was her big-dicked, big-hearted teddy bear.

It was still a little hard for her to believe how goddamn fast she’d fallen for him. That first date through the dating app sponsorship had been a surprise. She’d almost written off the experience right off the bat when she saw him - just another fan meet-and-greet sort of situation. Sure, she didn’t rack up the huge lines at Comic Cons like the big actors did, but she did well enough that she was used to the cycle of meeting a new fan, giving them a bit of personal attention, and then moving on. It got weird if you got too involved.

But she’d been open enough, the door almost shut, that she noticed once he relaxed just a little bit, Olliver was charming. And not just charming, she realised over dinner, but downright sweet. And everything had clicked. And somehow she’d found herself swooning over a guy she’d just met, and inviting him to her hotel room, and…

And the rest is history, she thought to herself.

But not yet. Two dates, and two ‘meet the friends’ dates, did not a relationship make. The calls and texts were definitely helping though. And the fact that she could get blushes out of him with basic, honest truths made her grin like she couldn’t believe.

‘Wish you could come with me,’ she sent him. ‘Would make this wait so much better if you were here.’

April adjusted her ball cap and sunglasses, then took a selfie and sent it to him. She was smiling in the foreground and he would be able to see the airport behind her through the big glass windows. She rarely got recognized in public - the joy of being a voice actor and not a live-action actor - but when she did it always made her feel awkward. Not because the initial fan was weird, they were almost always sweet and considerate. It was the people after them, who were just reacting to the commotion of someone famous, that were usually weirder and more entitled.

The hat and glasses did the trick most of the time. It was an oldie but a goodie - she’d once stood behind Matt Walberg in a Starbucks line for almost ten minutes without realising it was him, and when she did they’d made eye contact and he winked. One of those Hollywood moments.

Ollie texted her back. He was at work, but from what she understood he was good at what he did so he wasn’t going to get in trouble or fall behind while checking his phone.

“God, I love him,” she murmured to herself and then gulped hard.

It was definitely too early for that. Two weeks? Not even?

She would scare him off if she dropped the L-word.

“Bitch, when are you back home?” Zara asked.

April snorted and then sighed, letting out a little groan as she eased back onto the patio chair. The Airbnb she’d booked was one she’d stayed at before in Houston - decent price, clean, and the owners didn’t try to nickel and dime on extras. Yet, at least. Good places to book were getting few and far between, soon it would be cheaper just to book hotels again, even for a week at a time.

“Next week,” April said. “Why? Do you need me to hunt down Tracy Scottsburg again and egg her car?”

Zara barked a laugh. “No, I can handle that on my own,” she said. Tracy had stolen Zara’s boyfriend in the 10th grade and Zara had never let it go - not that Zara wanted him back. She just had a bit of a spiteful streak. “I’m coming home to visit.”

“Holy shit,” April said, her eyebrows raising. “Jesus, you should have told me to sit down. I need to write this in my calendar.”

“Ha. Ha.” Zara deadpanned. “No, my parents have been bitching at me to come visit for a while.”

“Well, you did miss Christmas for that thing in Miami,” April cut in.

“That thing in Miami paid my rent for a month and a half,” Zara said. The fact that ‘the thing’ had been a Christmas yacht party she’d been hired to attend as a model, which basically meant being walking furniture for some ridiculously rich assholes, hadn’t persuaded Zara to let it go in favour of family time. “But I need to get them off my back, and I want to see you.”

“Little old me?” April said, using her ‘Disney Princess’ voice. She’d been practising it for years but still hadn’t managed to book that particular gig.

“Yes, bitch, you,” Zara said. “Every time we text you’re going on about this boy you’re seeing with the mammoth cock. I need to meet him and make sure he actually stands up to what my bestie deserves.”

April… wasn’t so sure about that plan. Not because Oliver wasn’t everything she needed and wanted, but because Zara could be…

“So?” Zara asked.

“I’m home Saturday night,” April said. “They extended my contract for an extra background character so I had to bump my Friday flight to fit in the extra recording session.”

“OK, I can’t be back that fast anyways. I’ll fly on Tuesday, put in my mandated Parental Unit time, and then we hang out Wednesday, and I meet your boy Thursday?”

“Sure,” April said, still feeling that little pinch in her stomach. “And I’ve mentioned you to him, he’s already said he wants to meet you.”

“Oh, he did, did he? Did he look me up on Instagram?”

“No,” April said. “I don’t think he even has Instagram.”

“Really?” Zara asked in surprise. “Maybe he’s actually worth something then. OK, I need to go. Ciao, bella.”

“Ciao, bella,” April said, putting on as equally ridiculous an Italian accent as her friend did. It was an old joke, but it still made her smile. She could do a proper Italian accent now on demand, all part of her job, but the over-the-top one would always be her favourite.

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