Sands of Redemption

2

Georgia woke to bright, hot sunshine.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you,' a woman whispered.

''morning,' Georgia mumbled.

She clutched at her head, the pounding headache behind her eyes telling her she had slept way too long. The sounds of traffic and laughter and hollering shopkeepers blasted through her window. Georgia wondered how she'd managed to sleep through it.

'I'm Bianca, your roommate, but I can't stay and chat. I've got to get ready for the tour this morning.'

Georgia sat up, forcing her eyes to stay open against the glare. White curtains. What a stupid idea. 'How long we got?'

Bianca was exotic, at least from Georgia's point of view. She was somewhere in her twenties with long dark hair and very long black lashes above almond shaped eyes. She had a thick Latino accent. South American, not Spanish.

She pulled on her sandals. 'Twenty minutes. You'd better be quick if you want to go. Rana waits for no one.'

'I bet,' Georgia said, slumping back into bed.

Starving and deciding she wasn't going anywhere without breakfast, Georgia climbed the stairs to the second floor. The dining room was full of groggy-eyed backpackers: shoeless, shirtless, some still in their pyjamas. With nowhere to sit, Georgia whisked away some toast, yoghurt and juice and headed back downstairs.

Drink in one hand, yoghurt in the other and drooling into her toast, Georgia sidled down the stairs, trying not to knock into anyone. She grunted when someone elbowed her in the shoulder, spilling her juice over her arms.

'Bit cramped around here, isn't it?' spoke a young guy with spiky blonde hair as he climbed up beside her—Australian. Grinning at her, he slung an arm around her waist and gave her bum a quick grab before hurrying upstairs. Georgia swore into her toast.

'Sorry,' a woman in a floral hijab chirped as she too tried to squeeze past her on her way up. She gave a double take. 'Oh! Is that you Georgia? Georgia Mackenzie?'

'Yeth,' Georgia grunted, her toast dangling from a tooth.

She smiled. 'I thought so. You look like your pictures. Rana told me you had arrived. I am Hana Jalali.'

In her early thirties, she was a striking woman with high cheek bones, large cheerful eyes and very dark heavy eyebrows. She was quite pale, a trait Georgia would have thought unusual for this part of the world. She was looking elegant in a pair of grey trousers, pleated blouse and floral hijab.

'How are you? Are you okay? Did you journey well?' She looked concerned. 'I'm so sorry I couldn't meet you.'

'I'm fine thanth.' Below, the staircase was quickly backing up. How big was this place?

'Here let me hold that,' Hana said, taking her now half-empty glass. 'Are you joining the tour today?'

Removing the toast from her mouth, Georgia followed Hana downstairs. 'I intend to.'

They entered the common area and sat together at one of the tables by the window.

'Again, I'm sorry I couldn't see you earlier. This is not usually how things work around here. I always try my best to greet my volunteers on their first day.'

'No worries,' Georgia said, waving it aside. 'Rana gave me the rundown anyway.'

'Good, good. Have you met any of the other volunteers yet?'

'No.'

Leaning forward, Hana folded her hands together on the table, looking serious. 'I won't keep you long because I don't want you to be late for the tour, but I just wanted to let you know that for the next few days it's all about having fun and settling in, okay? Familiarise yourself with the city and the hotel and don't think about your lessons. We will go through them in the future. For now, I want you to make yourself feel at home.'