Cheeky

№ 2. Double C's

I grabbed everything from the overhead compartment and slung it across my shoulder as all the passengers made their way out of the plane. It was all happening so fast, everyone was leaving, rushing, and as soon as I left the gate it looked as though every person on the planet was in London Heathrow Airport. It was jam-packed with crowds of babies, families, couples, and I was whirling around like a chicken without a head. I just needed to find the damn Luggage Return and then I could leave.

There were signs overhead at every corner and I kept my eyes glued to the ceilings until I eventually wandered over to the baggage carousels. The entire airport was some sort of  palace constructed of steel and lights and I spent many moments staring in awe. Massive arches swept across overhead and everything was tactfully designed with an innovative air.

Lines of people wrapped around the conveyors waiting, and I gently wedged myself past a throng of German students until I was next to the carousel. They didn't seem to like me very much and I kept my head down as they eyed me with distaste. They were very tall and bundled up in puffy jackets with thickly knitted scarves of yellow, red and black that strangled their throats. 

Suddenly the giant red buzzer that sat atop the carousel went off and the small mouth of the conveyor began to spew forth luggage. All I needed were two light blue suitcases and I was out of here. One step closer to freedom. After a while it seemed to be endless and every bag eventually started to look the same. This had to be a cruel joke, did my baggage not make it on the plane? It's light blue, not that hard to miss. Hell, every other piece of luggage that was coming out was either black - or black.

After fifteen minutes of standing my legs started to cramp and I looked down at my wrist to my watch. This was ridiculous, I had - finally! Two, beautiful, clean, blue suitcases rolled out on to the conveyor belt and I was prepared to shove people out of the way to embrace them. I had never seen anything more beautiful and I felt my eyes begin to water. Damn, all those Nicholas Sparks movies on the plane had me on a hormonal roller coaster. But I had to contain my excitement, after all, I was surrounded by hostile Germans.

They arrived, turning the corner of the conveyor and just as I prepared to reach for them, two pairs of hands snapped out and snatched them. My eyes went wide and every cell within my body became layered in ice as I entered bitch mode. No. Mine.

I gritted my teeth as I turned to find a girl from the group of students roughly dragging my suitcases off of the carousel and preparing to leave with her buddies.

I cleared my throat, waving my hand a little to get their attention, "Excuse me, but I think there's been a mistake. Those are mine."

As I reached out to take the luggage the brunette suddenly jerked away from me, throwing me a harsh glare as she suddenly spat rapid-fire German. Crap. This was going to be harder than I had expected.

I paused for a moment, trying to think this through. I didn''t know sign language. So I pointed to the luggage calmly and then gestured to myself, "Mine."

The brunette's friends, five very tall and very mean looking men, suddenly turned to tower over me. One of them turned to her, questioning her. Tall and equally ferocious, she suddenly cried out.

"Diese Hündin versucht, mein Gepäck zu stehlen!" and jabbed a finger at me.

German number one spun on his heel, his face suddenly stricken with anger. Oh boy - shit just got real. I had no clue as to what she said, but whatever it was, I was now in a very bad position. I became flustered as I tried to explain myself.

"Listen, I'm just trying to say that this is my luggage. You have the wrong stuff," I tried to grab for them again, catching the handle of one and the brunette flipped.