“Hey, Cam. Wake up, we’re here.” My head rolled off James’ shoulder, which I didn’t even remember putting it there. Squinting against the bright, setting sun, I peered out to see where exactly ‘here’ was.

A classic brick building stood in front of the car with large windows with white crowning. Every apartment had a iron wrought balcony, overlooking all of London. We didn’t seem to be in the center of the city though as everything seemed to be mainly residential where we were. Not a lot of people were out and it was only early evening.

“I missed driving through London?” I grumbled, shifting out of my seat and out the car door. James merely chuckled.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. You’ll see it for the next couple months.” James pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door as if he had always lived there. “Welcome home.” He threw the keys in a little decorative bowl on a small mahogany table by the door as he walked through the house.

“This place almost looks normal.” I remarked on the size and decor of the apartment. The main floor only consisted of a random bedroom, a bathroom, and then just an open sitting area. Yes, it was far nicer than most apartments I’ve ever seen in my life, but it wasn’t as insane as our house back in Los Angeles. That house could easily fit a hundred people and we were housing four, except for the occasional guest. 

“It’s only going to be us. And Dad, whenever he can make it. Hey Mom!” James called down the hall to wherever our mother had disappeared to.

“What?” She called back, coming out from behind a corner.

“When is Dad coming?”

“He’s on a huge project right now in Zurich. He phoned me the other day and said it’s not likely to be done until end of April. Maybe May.” My dad was a history professor at UCLA and every now and then he would take big trips to the other side of the world to get a better, rounded idea of what he was teaching. He usually only took a couple weeks, but we could all tell he was excited about this current trip and that’s why this trip was taking nearly all of the semester.

“So.” Mom put her hands on her hips. “What do you want for dinner?” I gawked at my mom, wondering how she was possibly awake enough to make us dinner.

“Mom. We just got here. Let’s just order in some food. Besides, Rick is going to crash our party anyway when he brings over my schedule and our luggage.” Mom tossed James the phone. 

“Alright, you know any good pizza places? Or do you feel like Chinese?” James smirked as he dialed in a number. “Why don’t you go explore the house, Cammie? You can pick your room.” I took off up the stairs to find the kitchen, dining room, living room, and an office. Most likely that was solely for Mom who was a journalist. I was already amazed by the size of the place. I thought this was a little apartment, not some giant mansion that’s just a little more compact! However, I continued on my way up the stairs to the bedrooms. The top floor had a large open area with a simple couch, arm chair, and coffee table filling it. There wasn’t anything necessarily special in the room, but that’s when I saw it. The large, double doors leading out to the balcony. The balcony lead out to the front of the house, overlooking London, but more importantly a nice park. Then I remembered my Monster, sitting in the bottom of my bag slung on my shoulder. I instantly fished it out, focusing on different parts of the city and snapping away. Narrowing my eyes, I realized I didn’t get enough out of a mere picture. I wanted to attempt to capture this skyline on my own.

“Mom! Are our suitcases here yet?” I called down the stairs.

“No, why?”

“I want my sketchbook!” I could hear my mom laughing to herself downstairs. It was always me and my sketchbook or my Monster.  Whichever I could get my hands on first. If I had neither, I would have to settle for phone pictures or sketches on a random piece of paper with a borrowed pen. As for that moment, I suppose my Monster would have to do.

Once I decided I had enough pictures of the same skyline, I headed into the first room. It was simple enough, done up in creams and dark hues of blue. However, the windows faced the side of the apartment, which ultimately lead me to look at the next apartments wall. Not entirely sure that’s what I wanted to stare at every day. The next room was white and taupe with splashes of oxblood red. It’s interior was extremely similar to the last room, but I found myself looking at our tiny backyard instead of our neighbor’s wall. Assuming the next room was the master bedroom, I plopped down on the bed, declaring this room for my own. To make sure James didn’t claim it, I instantly unpacked my one bag, scattering my books and small belongings all over the space of the room. Already it looked a little more comfortable with everything strewn about, but I was hoping within the next few months that we were here it would become even more familiar than our home in Los Angeles. That place never felt like home. It always felt too big and empty and pristine because maids came every Monday and Thursday to tidy everything up. I was hoping deep down inside that we wouldn’t have maids. A few years ago, of course I would complain if I had to vacuum or dust or wash the dishes, but now, all I wanted to do was get my hands a little worn from a good solid hour or two of chores.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang and I could hear someone bolting to the door - likely James - and instantly I could smell the delectable aroma of dumplings, tempura, and spice.

“Hey Cam! Food! Now!” James didn’t have to call me twice.

Half an hour later, Chinese take out boxes were sprawled all over our once spotless kitchen and James was occupying the couch, trying to relieve his stomach pains.

“I told you, you shouldn’t eat an entire box of dumplings in five minutes. It isn’t healthy.” Mom said for the tenth time after he groaned in pain.

“It was so worth it, though.” James managed to utter. I moved over to the couch and plopped down beside him, searching for the controller.

“Is our luggage ever going to get here?” I said, spotting the controller on the table by James’ head. My body stretched over his until I was barely touching it.

“Ah, I feel much better now.” James sighed in relief. Before I could ask him how, a rancid smell filled my nose and my body lurched away from his.

“You did not!” I exclaimed, throwing my hand over my nose, pushing myself farther away from him. James just flashed me a smile. “James! That is sick!”

“What? What did he do?” My mother asked, still oblivious from the smell filling the entire sitting area, because she was safe off in the dining area. James merely started cackling wildly, fanning over the air in my direction.

“Gross, James! Oh my gosh.” I held my breath as I tried to escape the gas bubble now hovering around the both of us. “Ugh, P. U. Do we have any Febreze?”

“James, did you -”

“Yes!” James and I said in unison, only he was still laughing and I was trying to get the smell out of my nose. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and I used this opportunity to bolt away from the continuous gas bomb. I flew down the stairs and answered the door.

“Hello Camille!” Rick was always cheery, I felt like. Every time we spoke, he never seemed like he was in a bad mood. It was something I always liked about him.

“Hey Rick!” I always made sure to respond with the same amount of enthusiasm. I never wanted to disappoint.

“Got your luggage here. That was brutal!” He said, pulling in the first two suitcases.

“Really? What happened?” I pushed the suitcases farther in the entry way, making way for the rest.

“Rush hour. Plus the driver is pretty new, I think, so he didn’t know any short cuts.” I nodded, pulling in the other suitcases and duffle bags. “So, is James still up? We have to go over his schedule.” Rick flashed me a big binder that gave me a headache simply looking at it. 

“Yeah, he’s awake. I’ll get him down here though so we can bring up all our stuff.” I called James to come down, where he grabbed two suitcases by himself, while Rick, Mom and I grabbed the remains, dragging them up the never ending staircase. Dumping my suitcase in my room, I headed back downstairs, knowing that somewhere in James’ plans, I would have to hear a part of it.

Rick began the initial ordeal of read-throughs and the first couple days were going to be simple rehearsals and costume fittings and figuring out what the directors and artist crews were going to do. Once Rick had finished the basic schedule for the next few weeks, James told me that for the next few days, Mom and I could chill. Tour London, watch movies, whatever we felt like really. In all honesty, I was very excited for that. It gives me a reason to whip out my Monster and take pictures of anything and everything. Perhaps I should take up a career in paparazzi. I’m sure I would own everyone else’s lives. Not to mention I could capture great pictures of James right before he sneezes.

“Alright, so any questions?” Rick said, closing his binder.

“When can Cam and my mom come to set, do you think?” James asked, which I thought was sweet of him. It was actually pretty rare for us to go to set. Somehow we were always suspected of spying or handing out their plans to the public.

“Well, I’ll talk to some people and see if I can get some all-access passes for them. Shouldn’t take longer than a week, though.” James nodded, as Rick continued, “Anything else? No? Alright then, I will see you,” he pointed towards James, “tomorrow. Nice seeing you, Carol and Cam. I’ll see you later. Take it easy for the next few days.” Rick glanced down at his watch and I could see his face calculating timezones. “Ooh. It’s late. I better be off. Good night!” We all bid him goodnight as he bounded down the stairs and was gone. Mom tried stifling a yawn, but we all knew that we were exhausted. 

“Good night, kids.” Mom said as she disappeared up the stairs.

“G’night, Mom!” James and I called. I curled up in a little ball on the couch.

“Can I just stay here and not move?” I mumbled into my knees.

“Go for it.” James threw a blanket at my legs and I instantly wrapped it around my shoulders. “Night Cammie.”

“Night James.”

“Oh, and Cam?” He said and I merely mumbled something that resembled a, “yes” in reply.

“Thanks for coming. I’m really, really happy that you’re here.” I peeked my head out from under the blanket and smiled at James.

“I’m really, really happy that I came too. Thanks for bringing me, Jamesie-poo.” James grimaced at the nickname I gave him.

“And moment ruined. Good night. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” I settled in farther into the couch as James hit off the lights. I didn’t even care that I was still wearing my clothes. By that point, I was far too comfortable to move another inch.