Kelly walked over to Sabrina and Kris with bottles of water for each of them. It was crowded and stuffy as usual at the airport, and waiting in the arrivals lounge was never a favourite pass-time for any of them.
"Aw thanks Kel, it's so dry in this place!" Sabrina took an eager gulp of cool water. Kris also said her thanks and did the same. Kelly remained standing, at the row of seats they were waiting at. She looked over for the hundredth time at the flight information screen nearby and seemed to be a little edgy.
"Kelly?" Kris noticed her friends slight nerves. "You wanna sit down? Flights delayed a little, you may as well take the weight off!" Sabrina looked over to Kelly and also read her nerves. She furrowed her brow. "What's wrong Kel? Nervous about meeting someone with better manners than you?" She joked, to try to get Kelly to relax. Kelly shot a quizzical look back, sighed, then moved along the row to sit down.
"I don't know, I just feel a little anxious about this collaboration…" Then she smirked back to Sabrina "…besides, just because she's British…" she emphasised the word …"doesn't mean she's better than me! Or any of us!"
"Absolutely!" Kris nodded her head then looked up to Kelly. "You know, I'm a little nervous too…" she smiled. "…guess I don't get out as much as I thought I did!"
Sabrina chortled after she took another sip of water. "You don't get out at all, Kris, it's your big sis who's the globe trotter!" She threw Kris a mischievous look. Kris raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Ha! Cute! Hey, it's not my fault Charlie hardly ever let's us off for a vacation!" Kelly smiled at the banter and relaxed. She watched Kris as she lifted her head and smoothed her hair over, making sure her neat style was still in place. Then Kris brought a compact out of her bag and checked her makeup, touching up a little on her lip gloss. Kelly smoothed her own hair over and reached for Kris's compact. Sabrina looked at them both, smiling. "Anyone would think we were meeting Her Majesty! Hmm, What else ya got there Kris? Maggie Mo's Mini Make-up Mobile?" Kris rolled her eyes and Kelly giggled. "Aw Bri, yer just jealous!" Sabrina huffed good-naturedly then laughed "Of what? Of a midget with a make-up mojo?"
Kelly laughed out loud, her nerves completely forgotten in the moment. Just then, the tannoy announced the arrival of the flight they had all been waiting for, and Kris put her make-up away and stood up. "OK fellow Americans, let's go meet Her Majesty!"
Jennifer Caine finally spotted her luggage come through on the 3rd round of the carousel. She sighed and went forward to pick off her 2 cases, matching sage green, they were quite difficult to miss. She disliked this part of flying, twice her luggage had gone missing and she now kept her fingers crossed every time she got to this point in her journeys. Not that it helped, she thought to herself. She lugged her cases onto a trolley and set off briskly away towards the exit. So now, where was she to find the three detectives whom she was to meet? She stopped for a moment to smooth down her slightly rumpled suit. She'd decided to go for a somewhat formal look, a grey pinstripe with a peach coloured blouse, which highlighted her auburn hair nicely. She lightly patted her hair to ensure it felt ok. She should've gone to the ladies first, she thought, to re-touch her make-up again. No, it's enough, she did it on the plane, she assured herself. Feeling slightly nervous, she looked all around the crowds who were gathered around, still waiting for luggage, then she set off through the exit doors and into the arrivals lounge. Again she stopped and swept her eyes around, looking for 3 women who might appear business-like. She found none, save for 3 girls who looked like they had just come off holiday themselves. Oops, she thought, mentally adjusting…vacation, not holiday! She smiled to herself. Why did Americans have to by different? She pushed her luggage more slowly in front of her, hoping to catch sight of someone with perhaps a sign with her name on. Hmm. She glanced back towards the 3 'vacationers' and saw to her surprise that someone was indeed, holding a sign with her name on! She turned with her trolley and waved, a little hesitantly. The blond girl wiggled the sign and smiled to her. She looked as though she's spent the last fortnight in the Bahamas! Wow, nice tan…my, what big teeth you have! She chided herself for her first impression…at least get to know the girl! The three girls hurried up to her when they all realised they had found their mark. Sabrina held her hand out first and gave her best welcoming smile.
"Hello, my name's Sabrina Duncan! Really nice to meet you Miss Caine! How was your flight?" Sabrina took her trolley so that more introductions could follow. She spread her palm towards Kris, then Kelly in turn. "This is Kris Munro and Kelly Garrett."
Jennifer nodded to the group. "I'm so pleased to meet you, Miss Duncan, Miss Munro, and Miss Garrett, " she also smiled her best meet and greet smile. "thank you so much for meeting me, it's most appreciated!"
"Oh hey, it's no bother at all, we're so pleased to meet you and we are all looking forward to working with you!" Kris decided immediately that Jennifer's accent was a little snooty, but the girl seemed likable enough. She looked around Sabrina's age, a couple of years older than herself. She also thought the formal suit was a bit of an overkill, but hey, maybe the girl didn't travel all that much. She smiled again at Jennifer. "OK, let's get you to your hotel huh?"
Jennifer looked at Kris then the other girls. She felt a little disadvantaged, but thought she ought to put work first, which would clear her head and her nerves. "I thought we could go to your office first and do a quick update on what we have, then I could sort my luggage out later?"
Kris and Kelly both shared a puzzled look. "Oh, well, it's just that, your hotel is on the way to the office," Kelly replied, "and we thought you would be tired and maybe hungry from your journey…? She let the sentence hang, indicating she thought Jennifer could do with a rest first.
Jennifer was going to respond with a no, then thought better of it. She realised she perhaps was being a little hasty, and actually, she was tired, and realised what she really wanted right now was a shower and a decent cup of tea! She smiled thankfully at her new acquaintances. "You're right, I could do with a rest! Thank you. The hotel it is then!"
Sabrina smiled also and turned Jennifer's trolley toward the exit. "Great, let's go grab a taxi outside and get you checked in, then we'll give you a couple of hours to turn yourself around, then we'll swing by and pick you up." She looked back over her shoulder at Jennifer. "Okay?"
Jennifer nodded. "Of course." Again she smiled. The girls began to make small talk with her and she responded in kind. She wasn't really sure how this case was going to pan out, Anglo-American relations-wise…she was somewhat dubious about her American counterparts. Alright, their agency had an excellent track record, yet, to look at them… well… she couldn't help the thoughts that bubbled up. To be honest, they looked just too fluffy-doll like to be true! Hmm, maybe apart from the Sabrina woman, who looked a bit more… what was the word she was looking for… savvy! Yes, that was it! But then… she stopped herself, inwardly embarrassed. They had walked round to the short stay car park, and Sabrina was taking charge of her luggage again, whilst Kris had walked on to get her car and come round to pick them up. Here they were, being nice as nine-pence, all sunny Californian smiles, radiantly pretty and so welcoming - what the devil did she have to complain about? Where was her professionalism? She again chided herself and smiled and voiced her thanks as the girls bundled her luggage into the boot of Kris' extremely sporty looking car. She looked it over…a Cobra? Never heard of it! Jenny, get with it, she admonished herself, as she climbed in the back beside Kelly Garrett. This was going to be one heck of an experience!