It was like a scene from the book Incompetence. Only one check-in
desk was open and the trainee manning it didn't appear to know that
everyone in the queue had been transferred from Salzburg and that
they had been told they would be flying to Heathrow even though they
all wanted to go to Gatwick. The fact that they would ordinarily now
be half way across Europe around 30,000 feet up meant that the
passengers were all getting increasingly frustrated. Had this been a
hotel, Oscar wouldn't have been surprised to see John Cleese striding
in telling them not to mention the war.
It took a long time for a senior member
of staff to turn up and explain to the trainee what was going on,
realise that they needed more man-power and call more staff in to
open another few desks. Oscar hadn't checked what time it was when
they started queuing but it was now half past one. He should have
been arriving in London in half an hour. He would then have taken a
taxi into the centre of London, in time to get a train to Bristol
before rush hour. At this rate, he didn't know if he'd get to
Paddington before the last train. He started to plan ahead just in
case, working out the scenario in his head so he wouldn't be a shock
if it happened. If he arrived too late for the last train, he would
check in to the Mercure hotel at Paddington. He would then get the
first train in the morning to Bristol Temple Meads station. That
probably wouldn't get him there until after 9 o'clock, as commuting
out of London is rare. He would have to find a quiet carriage and
conduct his first meeting over the phone. That would not be easy, so
he might have to rearrange the meeting. Would it be worth doing that
now, just in case? He did not want to inconvenience or insult the
people who had travelled to meet him where he was based in Bristol by
having to call in from a train because he could not be there in
person. The meeting had taken months to set up; he could not cancel
it now.
“Oscar.” He didn't hear Delta say his name the first time. When
she touched his elbow, he nearly jumped out of his skin. She pointed
forwards. He looked up to see that the lady at the check-in desk was
calling him forwards. He was pleased to see that she was not the
trainee. She was, in fact, very efficient. She checked in his
suitcase, handed him his boarding card, gave him a voucher to use in
any of the airport's many restaurants and bars, and told him which
gate the flight would be leaving from. As he walked away from the
desk, he checked the value of the voucher. £3 was not going to get
him very far. He was grateful that he would be able to claim lunch on
expenses.
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