Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
Olivia
                          
"Final boarding call for flight 168 from Indianapolis to London" The pleasant overhead voice calls.
                          
"SHIT where is my boarding pass!"
                          
"Calm down Liv, it's in your hand. Wow you're really freaking out aren't you? You're even more spacey than normal." My well-meaning best friend, Lexie, is laughing at my panicked state and it's more than a little irritating.
                          
I mean I AM leaving the country for the first time ever, And not just for a short vacation. I'm moving to London for the next 6 months. London is everything I've been dreaming about for years, so when this internship came up I HAD to jump at it. So I won't be graduating early like I had planned. I am going to spend my last semester of college working under Dr. William Kingston, renowned neuroscientist. I'll be doing the grunt work on his groundbreaking Alzheimer's trial. In London. I still can't even believe this is happening. At first it was a long shot. I knew even if I got the internship, money was an issue. Money is always an issue. It was an unpaid internship so even though my tuition was covered by loans, grants, and scholarships there was still the issue of housing. So when my acceptance letter came my mom brought up my long lost cousin, Lou. I had never met her or my mom's sister Helen for that matter. She moved to London straight out of college and they never really kept in touch. She made the awkward phone calls and got everything squared away for me to live with Lou, her boyfriend Tom, and her daughter in exchange for helping her out with work in my spare time. I had no clue what she did but I was sold.
                          
"You really aren't helping at all Lexie. What if I hate London? What if I hate my internship, my boss, my coworkers, Lou, EVERYTHING?!?! Or worse, what if everybody hates me? I'll be all alone for the first time ever. What if I can't do it?" This isn't the first time I've externalized all my fears so Lexie knows exactly how to calm me down.
                          
"Stop crying like a little bitch baby, you'll be fine. You know you'll love London, you'll be doing what you are passionate about, you're a star pupil so your boss will love you, and you know even if you hate everyone you'll still smile and be friendly and everyone will love you. Stop panicking." She may be harsh but she knows me better than anyone.
                          
"Ok I need to go or I'm going to miss my flight, hurry give me a hug before I start crying, you know how emotional I get."
                          
So there we are in the middle of the airport hugging and I'm crying like, well, like a little bitch baby, story of my life. I walk away and wipe my tears just as they are about to shut the doors. Here I go, my first real adult journey is about to begin. 
                          
        I'm the last person to board the plane which means there is absolutely ZERO room in the overhead compartment. I'm attempting to shove my carry on in the nonexistent space which is a struggle in itself since I can barely reach it. Being barely 5 feet tall with the upper body strength of an infant can have its drawbacks. Just as I'm about to give up I see a set of hands reach up to help me. Large, tan hands. Wow how is it possible to be so turned on by hands? I know before I look up that this guy is going to be hot but damn, I'm still taken back. He's tall, obviously, with dark olive skin, short dark hair that is carefully gelled to perfection, and piercing ice blue eyes. It takes me a few minutes before I realize he's speaking to me.
                          
"You're all squared away, yeah?" the stranger repeats for what I'm hoping is only the second time.
                          
Shit he's British. Of course he's British. And hot. While I'm standing here in my yoga pants, and Ball State hoodie with no makeup on. At least my hair is down and looks pretty decent if I do say so myself. Even so, I am feeling very inadequate standing next to this Adonis on the plane.
                          
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for your help" I manage to stammer as the flight attendant urges us all to get to our seats. He walks away with a nod, towards first class no less, and I'm left with a string of witty conversation starters running through my head as I settle into my seat. Oh well, there will be plenty of British hotties to make conversation with over the next six months. That is, if I can ever actually speak to one. I'm not exactly what one would call a flirt. I've had crushes, some even had crushes back, but nothing every panned out. Yes, I am 22 years old and never had a boyfriend. But that's about to change. In London, nobody will know me. Without the fear of everyone in my small Indiana town gossiping about me and who I like, I'll be free to say how I feel, make the moves, gain experience. At least, that's what I'm hoping will happen.
                          
With my mind going a mile a minute I plug in my headphones and settle in for the 8 hour flight.
                          


                          
                                "straight off the plane to a new hotel...."