Arnold smiled at the sight before him. Beautiful pink and orange clouds of the early morning surrounded him. He felt warm air brush past him as fe floated amount the clouds.
"Arnold..." Arnold jumped at the sound of his name being called. He looked around and saw only a few beams of sunlight peeking out from behind the clouds. "Arnold," the voice came again. It was gentle and melodic. The voice echoed softly and he closed his eyes at let the voice ring in his ears.
The voice disappeared and Arnold opened his eyes. He saw the buildings on the ground getting closer. He was falling fast through the sky. He saw the cars rushing down the highway, honking angrily at each other. The small shops and homes with people moving in and out of them. Arnold began to panic and grab at anything to stop him from falling, though nothing was around. "Arnold," the voice came again, and then he hit the ground.
"Arnold! Wake up football-head, the plane is landing!" Helga said, throwing a piece of paper at him from across the aisle. Arnold jumped awake when the paper hit him in the head. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Gerald, who was seated next to him watching a movie with headphones in. Gerald just shrugged at him. "Sorry, man."
Arnold fastened his seatbelt and Gerald's movie suddenly went black, then being replaced with the American Airlines logo. Arnold pulled up the shade of the tiny window next to him and watched as the plane approached the landing strip. He felt a bump as the plane came in contact with the ground.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Heathrow Airport. Local time is 12:30 pm and the temperature is 21 degrees celsius. Please remain seated with your seatbelt on until the captain turns the fasten seat belt sign off and we are parked at the gate. If you are on the connecting flight to Barcelona, Spain, please remain seated in the cabin. Remember to check for any personal belongings on the floor or in the overhead bins. On behalf of American Airlines, I'd like to thank you for choosing to fly with us as we know you have a lot of options out there. Have a great day and enjoy London, England."
When the "fasten your seatbelt" sign went off, Arnold and the rest of the passengers got up and started to grab their bags from the bins. Arnold grabbed his small carry on and saw Helga struggling to get hers down. He put his hand on her shoulder and she turned and looked at him. "Let me," He said. He reached for her bag, but she grabbed it before him. "I can do it myself, thanks," Helga said, before turning down the aisle. Arnold sighed and followed Julían, Gerald and Phoebe out of the plane.
"We've been waiting at this baggage claim for an 45 minutes! Where is our luggage?" Helga yelled angrily at no one in particular, stomping her foot on the ground and placing her hands on her hips. "Maybe it was lost?" Phoebe said.
"Ladies and gentleman, we regret to inform you that the luggage from American Airlines flight 52 has been delayed. Its estimated time of arrival is 10 pm. Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience. Mesdames et Messieurs, nous regrettons-"
"I can't believe this!" Helga said. "Well we might as well go to the hotel and wait for our luggage to get here," Julían said.
The group climbed out of the taxi and walked into the hotel. Helga marched up to the front desk and dropped her carry-on back onto it. The manager looked up at her with a smile. "Can I help you?" He asked. "Yeah, we have a couple rooms reserved under the name Julían Vargas." The manager nodded and looked through a computer.
"I'm sorry, but there has been a complication with your rooms. They will be ready at 6pm. But you're welcome to sit in our lounge area until your rooms are ready. I also have some brochures if you want to sight-see around London-"
"You mean to tell me that our rooms aren't ready, after our luggage was lost and we were sitting on a 7 hour flight?!" Helga yelled. The manager, clearly startled, only nodded in a response. Helga turned away from the manager and threw up her hands. "This is a freaking nightmare!"
"Well we can go walk around London. I have always wanted to see Buckingham Palace," Phoebe said. Helga shook her head. "Sorry Pheebs, I have business to attend to in Paris. I'm going to catch the next train, since we can't even check into our rooms for 6 hours," Helga said, shooting a glare at the manager, who cowered a little bit behind the desk. Phoebe nodded. "Ok, we'll split up, and meet back here at at least 9 so we can go pick up our luggage from the airport."
Helga turned to the manager again. "Take care of this, please," she said, leaving her bag on the desk and walking out the front door. Arnold ran after her. "Helga, wait!" He called. Helga turned around abrubtly, causing him to almost crash into her. "What?" She said. "I want to come with you." Helga glared at him for a moment, but turned on her heel and began walking again. "Whatever floats your boat, I guess."
Helga studied a map furiously. "It will take us about an two and a half hours to get to there," she said aloud. "That gives me a good amount of time." Arnold coughed awkwardly into his hand. "So...what is this "business you have to take care of in Paris?" He asked. "Oh just something I need to say to someone," Helga said, not taking her eyes off the map. Arnold looked outside the window at the scenery passing by quickly. He hoped the train ride would go by quickly.
"If I may have your attention, we are now arriving in Paris, France. Please remember to grab your belongings as you exit the train. Thank you for traveling with us. Attention. Nous sommes maintenant..."
Helga stood up and walked of the train, Arnold following closely behind her. She kept her eyes glued to the map, except for occasionally surveying where they were. "Helga, do you know where we are going-"
"Excusez-moi, pourriez-cous me dire où Chez Paris est?" Helga asked some woman walking her dog. "Oui, Il est dans le coin gauche," the woman replied. "Merci," Helga mumbled and walked off, leaving Arnold stunned.
"You speak French?" Arnold asked, once he caught up with her. "And you speak Spanish, what of it?" Helga said. "Nothing...I just never knew that about you," Arnold said. "That's very sophisticated," he said, winking at her. Helga stopped. "Thanks," she said quietly, and then began walking again. She turned into a restaurant called Chez Paris. "Chez Paris? Don't we have this restaurant back home?" Arnold asked. "Yup. This is the original one," Helga said.
Arnold looked around the restaurant. It was dimly lit with candles sitting atop each table. The tables were lined with white table cloths and small chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Flowers were placed in small parts throughout the restaurant. It was like the one back home, but much larger. Helga stomped up to the host stand. "Garçon, I'd like to speak to your head chef," she said. When the host only looked blankly back at her, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Laissez-moi parler à votre chef! Vite! Vite!" She said, shooing him away with her hands.
The host soon returned with a man wearing a chef's uniform. "Oui, mademoiselle?" The chef asked. Helga crossed her arms. "Je voudrais que vous sachiez que 'cervelles braisees avec les œuf brouillés' es terrible et ne doit pas être servi. Je ne pourrai jamais les manger à nouveau! Passez un bonne journée." She then turned and stormed out. The chef and host looked shocked as she walked out. They then looked at Arnold, who was just as shocked as they were. "Uh...I'm sorry about that. Je...Je suis désolé?" He said, hoping that meant that he was sorry. He then turned and ran after Helga.
"What did you say in there? They seemed pretty unhappy," He asked. Helga waved her hand. "Oh I just told them that cow brains and eggs is disgusting and should not be served and that I would never eat that again."
"So that was your business? You came all the way to Paris to tell them that you don't like their food?" Arnold asked. "Yes. Well, that, and I've always dreamed of coming here. It feels good to speak French again," Helga said. Arnold chuckled at her as they walked down the cobblestone road.
So...cow brains and eggs, huh?" He said. "Yup. Never get them, they're the worst," Helga said. Arnold nodded, "Yeah, I remember when you first tried them, you were throwing up in the bathroom for a while." Helga froze in place, making Arnold smirk. "What, you didn't think I would figure out who you were, Cecile?"
A/N: Okay, I know this chapter is rough, so I apologize. I also speak Spanish, some Portuguese and Italian, but I've always been crap at French. So I had to use google translate for most of the parts in French. If anything is wrong let me know! Thanks so much for reading!
