Nothing to do but wait.

**** back inside the building by the cold, Arakaya sat with her bags in the arrivals lounge and waited. And waited. And Waited.

She cursed herself that she hadn’t organised a contact number for Hilde just in case, relying on her old pen pal’s word that she would be there. Arakaya wouldn’t have a cell phone to use but she could have at least called her on a payphone after making some change.

She briefly got her hopes up just as the sun was going down when people started arriving at the airport again. Her hopes were dashed though when another plane landed and Hilde still didn’t show up. She thought maybe her friend had just got the times wrong and would come to get her at this later flight time but again the airport emptied and Arakaya was all alone again.

Arakaya found herself starting to get stomach-rumbling hungry. She’d eaten on the plane before falling asleep and had missed the breakfast service before landing. That was almost a day ago now and she needed to find something and soon. The Tea Shop in the arrivals lounge had shut long ago so dragging her bags with her, Arakaya set off to find somewhere that was still open. The only place she could find still operating late into the evening was Jedediah's Bar & Restaurant.

The bar looked old to Arakaya with exposed wooden beams, flagstone paver flooring and rustic wooden furniture. It was modelled to look like an old western saloon but Arakaya didn’t know that. The place was near deserted besides a bored-looking young man behind the bar. The barman looking alert and coming to attention when the tall attractive Kazakh woman come in.

“Good evening ma’am. Something to drink?” the bartender offered.

Arakaya shook her head.

“What can I get you tonight then?” he asked instead.

“Something to eat. I’m so hungry,” she told him. Panic and worry in her voice.

All accents sounded foreign to Arakaya so she’d just assumed him to be American but the bartender had an accent of his own, Australian. As she looked at the menu, she was alarmed at the prices she saw. It was all so expensive! She hoped it wouldn’t cost as much like this everywhere else or she would run out of money very quickly. Arakaya not knowing that airports charge like wounded bulls.

As she was looking a second customer walked into the bar talking loudly on a cell phone as if the whole world needed to know about his conversation.

“What! No, I’m not taking a cab! I’ll wait until Dad is finished and he can send the driver down to pick me up. What do you think I’m some kind of peasant?” The newcomer laughed loudly and obnoxiously at his own joke.

As he was talking Arakaya motioned to the bartender that she was ready to order and pointed out one of the cheapest things she could find on the menu; Pulled Pork and Sourdough Biscuits, entrée size. $21. Arakaya was just so starving that she would pay the overinflated price and make up for it later. Her stomach was turning anyway so the thought of some nice little biscuits to eat sounded appealing.

The loud stranger finished his conversation, hanging up before moving seamlessly into another. Again, at the same incessant volume. This one too about the inconvenience of his father not having someone at the airport to pick him up as soon as he’d landed.

It was after his third call letting his friends know that he had arrived in Aspen for the ski season that he yelled out a drink order to the barman without bothering to look at him at all, “Jonny Walker. Blue Label! Coke,” and turned his attention to Arakaya. “Woah Mumma! What are you doing here?”

Arakaya’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared at suddenly being spoken to. The youth picking up his drink and throwing some notes onto the bar before continuing his attempt at seduction, “I’ve got a car coming. What’s say you and me jump in the back and take a ride?”

Arakaya did desperately need a ride but did she really want to get in a car with this jackass? Turning to just barely face him, Arakaya said in what she hoped was her most imperial sounding Eastern European voice and declared, “no English.”

“Even better. Can’t say no if they don’t know the meaning of the word! Am I right buddy?” The obnoxious clown asked the bartender as if he would find his tasteless joke just as funny as he did.

Any further flirtations cut off when he again pulled out his phone and walked off without a gesture or anything excuse the interruption.

With him briefly away from the bar, Arkaya leaned into the barman and asked, “what time is last bus into town?”

“You missed it like an hour ago sorry,” he told her gently. “This whole place closes in an hour too. Airport and all,” the bartender telling her regretfully as if reading her mind.

A tear coming to Arakaya’s cheek. She was stuck at the airport for the night.

“Hey! Don’t cry,” he said offering her a bar napkin to wipe her tear away, “what is it?”

“My friend was supposed to pick me up today and I don’t know anyone here. She’s staying in a chalet but I don’t know where or how to get there,” Arakaya unloaded her concerns on the kind man.

“Hey, I work two jobs. The other one up at the chalets. I could give you a lift home with me tonight and we can see about tracking your friend down at the office tomorrow,” he offered. “What’s your friend’s name?”

Words in the stranger’s conversation suddenly reached Arakaya and made her take notice. “Hahaha! Can you believe Frank Swanson was arrested? Oh my God, Hilde is going to be wetting herself!”

Something about a man getting arrested! Could this Frank be Hilde’s dad? The names matched up.

{Author's note: Newest chapter based on your suggestions! Hope everyone likes how I have spun the ideas you have all given me. Please don't be offended if I haven't included everyone's comments in this next chapter. Now let's keep the prompts coming and see where Arakaya goes from here!

Dacia xoxo}