Saving Lotte Sullivan | Collingwood/Carlton

139: Dubrovnik

Lotte bolted downstairs to the lobby, phone tightly gripped in her hand, wallet and passport hiding in the pocket of her shorts.

'COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!' She whined, pressing the elevator buttons over and over, like it would help her case.

Finally the thing arrived, and she rushed in - heading straight down to the lobby. She bolted out, trying to think where her friends would be, or where Danijela Krivac, and even possibly Jack Henry  - potential translators for her - could be. Eliza said they were all going to dinner. Dinner could be absolutely anywhere in the country.

'Jeste li dobro, gospodice?' one of the lobby attendants asked, standing by her computer. Lotte glanced up, like a deer caught in headlights. 'I'm sorry?' She asked.

'Trebaš li pomoć?' The confused attendant asked. Lotte figured she'd try her best anyway.

'My friends - they would have left in a big group - do you know where they've gone?' She asked, walking up to the counter. The lobby attendant, Slavica - looking incredibly confused.

'Govorim samo Hrvatski ili Srpski. Ispričavam se, gospodice' Slavica replied, the language barrier significantly getting in the way. The other attendants - the English speaking ones, were on their break. Lotte groaned and opened up google translate on her phone, typing at 200 miles a minute.

'Govorim engleski ili samo talijanski. Moram pronaći svoje prijatelje. Možete li mi molim vas pomoći?' the phone voice asked aloud, Lotte turning the screen so Slavica could see.

Slavica took the phone from Lotte, typing in her own words. 'What is your name, room number and the names of your friends?'

Lotte suddenly pulled her passport out, showing Slavica the main page - with her name on it. 'Soba trinaest, razina osamnaest!' She exclaimed excitedly, almost jumping up and down. She knew that part of the language - Danijela Krivac had already told her, in case she needed help or needed to call the police, or an ambulance. She'd given Ashlyn and Nick an earbashing about their room details too, but they didn't care.

'Your friends' names, please?' Slavica asked, through google translate.

'Oh, um...Lipinski. Patrick Lipinski. Chloe Geraerts. Krivac, Danijela'

Slavica suddenly passed Lotte a notepad and pen, gesturing for her to write their names down instead. Lotte quickly scribbled them all down.

Patrick Lipinski - soba tri, razina sedamnaest
Chloe Gerarts - soba tri, razina sedamnaest
Nicholas Daicos - soba deset, razina devetnaest
Ashlyn Addison - soba deset, razina devetnaest
Eliza Gerarts - soba trinaest, razina osamnaest
Daniella Krivach
Jack Henry
Joshua Daicos
Ashleigh Matosevic

She couldn't remember the exact room or level details of Danijela, nor Jack - even though Krivac had told her many times. She didn't know where Josh or Ashleigh were staying, and she didn't even want to acknowledge Amelia was sharing a hotel with her. And she was so sure she'd misspelt Danijela's full name, Chloe and Eliza's surnames - but she was in a rush.

Jack suddenly entered the hotel, walking back through on his own. Slavica - recognising his name, pointed over. 'Jack, Jack' she said, mispronouncing his name as 'Yarq'. Lotte looked over, excitedly seeing him.

'Thank you. Oh, um - hvala. JACK!' She yelled, bolting over. Slavica laughed at Lotte's failed attempt of thanking her in Croatian.

Jack jumped out of his skin, terrified and not knowing who was running towards him. 'Oh my god, I was waiting for one of you to return! Are Chloe and Patrick with you?' Lotte asked frantically, getting all up in his face. He uncomfortably took a step back, looking her up and down, not sure who she was or what was going on. Was a Collingwood fan harassing him, in Croatia?