Transit Lounge - Marie-Ange, Jean-Phillipe & Laurie

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Backdated to December 28th





Laurie's foot tapped slightly in impatience as she waited for her suitemate and his cousin to return, they'd gone to see if there were any open flights now that their's had been delayed, and Laurie had left them too it, deciding that she didn't want to know just how they intended to find an open flight when so many people would also be doing the same.

Instead she sat in the little airport bar, idly swirling a straw in the soda she'd brought before raising it to her lips and taking a sip. She wondered what Eamon was doing right now, and wished she could have spent more time with him in Ireland. She had to go back though, both to her schoolwork and her chosen career, some things were more important then her heart.

"As predicted, nothing." Marie-Ange nudged her way into the seat that Laurie had saved for her and dropped into the chair with nothing like her normal grace. "Nothing except promises to refund my ticket price and hotel vouchers." She snorted indelicately and shook her head. "As though I cannot afford a hotel room after I suggested I might be willing to purchase a first-class ticket just to get back to New York. But the entire east coast is shut down, I am told."

"Did they say for how long?" Laurie asked, wondering where Jean-Phillipe had disappeared off to. He had been with Marie-Ange when they left. "Admittedly it's not like we need to get back fast but I can think of other places I'd rather be then stuck here."

"Merde," Jean-Phillipe swore as he practically flung himself into the other seat at the tiny table Laurie had staked out. He and Marie-Ange had split up in an attempt to find someone to assist them. "It would be wrong of me to slag one of those ticketing systems, correct?" he asked rhetorically.

"I hope you are not looking at me to strengthen your ethical foundation. " Marie-Ange said, after placing what was a outstandingly large order with the bartender."They told me that the storm system looks to shut the airports down for at least a full day, and possibly two or three. I think that we are stuck here." She looked around the airport with distate. "Or we are stuck somewhere at least. I am not staying here any longer than necessary."

"Anywhere in particular you're thinking of?" Laurie asked, curious. She wouldn't be arguing if Marie-Ange had somewhere for them to go that wasn't waiting around here.

"I am certain that my cousin has some extremely clever plan that she will share with us and then expect us to be in awe of," Jean-Phillipe said with a sardonic smile. Not that he wanted to stay in the airport, but appearances had to be kept up.

Marie-Ange wadded up a napkin and lobbed it at Jean-Phileppe. "We are obviously going to be stuck here for at least a day, and possibly longer if they do not consider us or our flight a priority." She had little hope that she could talk the ticketing agents into bumping them onto the first flight back to New York ahead of all of the other people who had also been delayed without spending a truly absurd amount in bribes. "I think that we would be better off changing airports and starting from a location more receptive to..." She smiled and wrapped a lock of hair around her finger. "Foreign students simply trying to get back to school before the new semester starts..."

"I think this may be the point where I say I really have no idea why it would be easier at another airport but as long as it gets us home, I don't care," Laurie noted, taking another sip of her drink. "Did either of you see an actual food court anywhere on this level?"

Jean-Phillipe tilted his head to one side and looked at his cousin. "I believe that I am still lost," he said.

"It is simple enough. Here, we are simply yet another group of travelers, or worse, Americans." Marie-Ange said dryly. "One short train ride and we are attractive foreign students with money to spare."

Jean-Phillipe groaned. "You are going to make me flirt with -women-," he said melodramatically.

Marie-Ange covered her eyes with her hand and laughed. "It is not going to kill you. Unless you want to stay here for the next two days?" She took her PDA from her coat pocket and tapped at it's screen several times with a fingernail. "Besides, I know more ticketing agents in Heathrow than I do here."

"And by 'know' you mean 'can bribe'?" Jean-Phillipe asked knowingly.

"Flirting really works?" Laurie asked, somewhat surprised. She'd need to remember this for future trips. "I'd have thought they'd be taught about that in airticket giving person school."

"It works if you are very good at it, can make a good guess as to your target's preference and are willing to act as though you are shameless." Marie-Ange said, quite seriously. "And there is no airticket giving person school." She made air-quote gestures with her fingers. "If the ticket agents are given a week of training, I would be surprised. Also no, I do not intend to bribe anyone. If I cannot get us on a plane out of Heathrow without bribes, I am, as they say, doing it wrong."

Bribery offended her sense of frugality. Money was better spent on clothing.

It was sad, having to agree so much with his cousin.

"I think that perhaps we should do the talking, non?" he asked Marie-Ange. "A French accent conveys a willingness to...perform certain unspeakable acts in the washroom. An American accent conveys a desire to find the food court and purchase a...'Royale with cheese'." The last was delivered in a credible imitation of John Travolta. "What? I watch American cinema at times."

"I know," Laurie replied with a brief smile. "Being your suitemate means waking up in the middle of the night to your television watching habits. We won't speak about the other ones."