“Write everything down, I'm serious!” Rikki's sister shouted from the car window. “I want to know every single detail when you get back!” “I'll try. This is all just so...” Rikki looked around her, as if looking for an ending to her trailing off sentence. The airport loomed in front of her; no doubt it was full of sweaty, hurried people who bumped into you and stepped on your toes and crowded around you and suffocated you and- “Rikki.” Sarah stated simply but firmly, pulling the twenty-something out of her stupor. Rikki looked back at her sister helplessly. This was all just so crazy; the farthest she had ever gone from home was Pennsylvania, and that was only for a few days. Now this briefcase shows up at the apartment door and here she was just going along with it. Everything in her gut was telling her that this wasn't safe. Despite the cash in the envelope, for all Rikki knew this could be a scam. Or an expensive prank. Or an elaborate human trafficking ring. The sky pressed down on her as she stood there, waiting for an excuse to back down, go home and pretend this never happened. Instead of backing out, Rikki simply looked at her sister, wide eyed and nervous. “I've never even been on a plane before.” “It's not so bad; even if you do puke your guts out, you'll probably get there safe and sound. And after that, they'll probably have a car waiting for you or something, so you won't be wandering by yourself for very long.” Rikki took a deep breath and braced herself, savoring the air from her hometown one last time. “Well, I guess I'd better get moving. The note said I couldn't be late.” “Good luck, Tavi. Don't act like an ass and you'll be fine.” They said their final goodbyes and hugged through car window, soon the car pulled away leaving Rikki alone to walk unsteadily into the airport by herself. Shiny floors and lots of headroom greeted her, as well as a small flood of other travelers. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the place as people maneuvered around her, occasionally bumping her expensive looking luggage. Rikki looked down at it, just now noticing the contrast between her new luggage and the worn black khakis and t-shirt she was wearing. She didn't want to wear any of her new clothes on the flight, just in case she threw up all over them. Rikki looked up at the signs all around the airport, none of it meant anything to her; she was totally out of her depth. However, out of the corner or her eye, she saw something at the airport gift shop that she most certainly recognized and had to buy several of this very instant to satisfy the demands of her sweet tooth. She strolled over to the shop quickly and bought as many toblerone bars as she could fit into her carry on bag. Even if she didn't eat them out of sheer stress induced terror on the flight, they could still be used as peace offerings to whoever else she would be staying with during the trip. If there was one thing that could get her through this unfamiliar territory, it was triangular shaped chocolate. Other than that, all Rikki really did was wait. She waited until it was time to board, waited as the flight attendant showed her to the first class seats, waited for the plane to take off and nearly had a heart attack when it did, and then waited for it to land. Hours crawled by as she stared out the window, and she had begun to drift off to sleep. Maybe traveling wasn't so bad after all. -------- The plane lurched as it touched down onto the tarmac, causing a rather green looking Rikki to tighten her grip even further. She was clinging to the arms of her chair, like it would help any even if they did crash. A book was being crushed between her knees as she squeezed her eyes shut; it was [i]Maurice[/i], by Forster. She had given up trying to read it when they started landing. By the time she felt okay enough to open her eyes again, people were already unbuckling their seat belts. She followed suit; slowly though, her stomach wasn't quite settled yet. As gathered her things, Rikki talked to herself quietly; it felt therapeutic. “Well, I'm alive. That's a bonus. Definitely alive. One crisis at a time, please.” She turned and looked out the window and saw the landscape. The horizon was dotted with unfamiliar architecture, with a backdrop of beautiful mountains and hills framing it all. It looked like a photo from a textbook. Rikki stared for a moment before thinking out loud, “Holy hell, I'm in another country.” As she stepped outside with the others, she noticed a slight chill in the air that she assumed would get much more prominent as they approached the manor. Rikki was used to cold weather conditions, though. Sometimes Lake Erie could be a nasty bitch. Eventually she made her way to what she called in her head 'the big wheelie baggage thing', and began scanning the bags for her luggage. Rikki's heart began to pound as she didn't see it emerge. She stood there for several minutes, waiting, panicking. She whipped her head around nervously, running her nervous hands through her long dark brown hair. [i]Oh god it's gone who do I tell will they be mad at me did the airport lose it crap crap crap[/i] Just as she felt like she was going completely insane, she spotted a man in a suit holding a board with her name written neatly on it. 'Rikki Dreyer'. It felt absurd, here she was in a completely unfamiliar country and there was this total stranger standing there with her name in his hands. Rikki approached him nervously, worried about what he'd say when she told him that her luggage was gone. “Hi. I'm Rikki. Um...my luggage-” “Your luggage is already waiting in the limousine. If you would follow me.” [i]Oh, thank god![/i] Rikki thought as she moved her carry-on further up her shoulder. She walked behind the well spoken man and followed him to the car. The surroundings once they exited the building were overwhelming, so she kept her attention to the man leading the way, making sure not to fall behind. When they got to the limo, the man bowed and said politely, “Please help yourself to anything you need.” With that, Rikki stepped nervously into the limo, which she had also never been in before, and saw another woman sitting there with a can of pop. She breathed a sigh of relief; Rikki had half expected the limo to be full of guys with guns or something, as stupid as the idea was. “So, this definitely isn't a human trafficking ring, right?” She asked the other woman only half in jest. Might as well try to break the ice early. Speaking of ice, she spotted the mini bar and planted herself next to it. Rikki ignored the alcohol entirely as she didn't even drink when she was at home, and rummaged around the drinks. “Please, please, please tell me that there's some ginger ale in here.” Victorious, Rikki first placed the ice cold drink on her forehead for a minute, and then started drinking it carefully. Hopefully it would settle her stomach some before anyone else showed up.