The New Girl

[July] - The Arrival (1)

Dianne breathed in as deeply as soon as she stepped off the plane at Heathrow eager to suck up as much of the UK oxygen as she could. This was her new home. And she wanted to start experiencing it from the get go. 

Instead, she choked as she inhaled the stale stench of old coffee and cleaning products. Glancing around, she realized the terminal was empty - her flight had landed at 5am - early even for the international terminal - and the only sign of life besides the zombie-like passengers exiting the plane behind her was a janitor mopping the floor with disinfectant and a teenager slumped over the cafe counter looking half asleep. 

"Welcome to the United Kingdom!" - a large sign read as she shuffled down the hall toward customs. 

Welcome, indeed, she thought to herself, the effects of no sleep beginning to thud behind her eyes with an unwelcome headache and her stomach rolled at the mixture of the scents. Shaking her head quickly, she rummaged through her jacket pocket for her phone - she'd been careful to make sure it was set up with a UK card and ready to go so she could call her roommates upon landing. She knew it was early - but a text couldn't hurt, right?

As she powered it on, she was surprised by the four text messages that flooded the screen. 

Oti: Can't wait to see you Di! 

Johannes: Call us when you land!

Dianne grinned at the texts that had been sent late last night, continuing to scroll. Her two South African friends she'd met on her last Burn the Floor tour - and luckily, her two new roommates.

Oti:  Di...call us when you land.

Dianne frowned. Johannes had texted that six hours before, but the exclamation point had been replaced by a very serious period. One punctuation mark somehow changing the entire tone. 

Johannes: As SOON as you land, chomi. We have some...news. 

Dianne came to a stop in the long customs line, her hand beginning to shake as she quickly pulled up her contacts list and pressed Oti's number. 

"Hey! Oti!" she murmured, trying to keep her voice down around the other sleepy passengers. "It's me...it's Di. I just land--"

"Di, oh my God, so listen, our flat is totally flooded--"

"What?!" Dianne raised her voice, shooting an apologetic look toward the woman in front of her who jumped and glared over her shoulder.

"Something about a cracked pipe? And then the water valve got stuck and Johannes couldn't get it to stop and oh my GOD, it just kept flowing out all over the floor...down into the flat below...the whole place is under water."

"Shit..." Dianne breathed, her heart beginning to hammer in her chest as the realization of what Oti's words meant for her. 

"I'm so sorry, the landlord said it's unlivable so we're moving out...repairs will take up to eight weeks. I'm SO sorry," Oti rambled, repeating her apology multiple times. 

"What...where should I go? What should I do?" Dianne mumbled, her voice rising to a panicked squeak as she approached the Customs agent up ahead. "What am I supposed to tell Customs? I have to give them my new address...I don't know anyone else in the city--"

"Hey, listen, take a breath," Oti interjected. "Tell Customs our address. They don't know it's underwater. And you WILL be living there...once it's fixed, anyway. Johannes and I have a few friends we'll be staying with...other dancers. I'm just waiting until it's not so ungodly early to call and ask if they have a spare bed. We'll find somewhere for you to stay, I promise."