Ria, are you ok?

Chapter 19

91 - Gwen

"Would you like a drink?" the stewardess asked politely.

"Do you have vodka?" The woman sitting next to me had apparently found my question hilarious and burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, but we don't serve alcohol on our Pakistani routes," the stewardess informed me.

"What do you mean you don't serve alcohol?" I looked down, pressing my fingers to my temple.

"Pakistan is a Muslim country. Alcohol is not allowed there," the woman next to me explained. She had fair skin, long dark hair and a fedora hat. Why she was wearing a hat on the plane was something I couldn't understand, maybe because neither me or Ria are used to wearing hats, it just seemed strange when someone else did. The hat looked really good on her though. It was obvious she had put great care into choosing it and matching it to the dark red navy suit and blue shirt she was wearing.

"Would you like any non-alcoholic beverages?" the stewardess asked once again.

I just looked at her as she served the other passenger and eventually moved on to other rows.

"Hi, I'm Terra," the girl with the fedora hat told me. I just looked at her.

"No alcohol...?" I expressed, unable to hide my disappointment. How could it be that there was no alcohol in the whole country? The girl called Terra chuckled.

"You're still dwelling on that."

"No alcohol... in Pakistan...?"

"That's right, not since nineteen-seventy."

"Nineteen-seventy..." I took a deep breath and looked down again.

"There are ways around it though, especially for foreigners."

"I'm listening."

"Well, I haven't done it myself, but I heard there's supposed to be some sort of license foreigners can get that allows them to buy alcohol. You can also buy beer or spirits at some fancy hotels. And there's are also alcohol dealers in the same way we have drug dealers in the US."

"And do you happen to know the name of some of these fancy hotels or dealers?"

"I know one that for sure sells alcohol, it's called Marriott Hotel. Here, let me give you my card just in case you need anything." I tried to take the card, "What happened to your hand, are you OK?" As she asked me that, I felt a faint bond forming between me and Terra.

"Oh, it's nothing." After that Terra took out a paperback and spent the rest of the flight reading it. I wanted to know what was it about but was too shy to ask.

92 - Ria

"Good morning. Marriott Hotel. My name is Alayna. How can I help you?" the welcoming receptionist's voice greeted me, as I dialed the number of one of the hotels that sold alcohol to foreigners.

"Good morning, Alayna. My name is Karen Brown. I'm calling from the Canadian embassy in Islamabad," I replied, impersonating the girl from the embassy I had called minutes before to ask if they were open today.

"What can I do for you, Karen?"

"I'm calling to request an alcohol ban on two Canadian citizens, their names are Gwen Martel and Ria Lynn."

"Alright, let me write that down."

"Yes."

"All done. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that'd be all, thank you very much."

"We're glad to be at your service. Have a nice day."

After calling the Marriot Hotel, I called the Serena and the Best Western hotel to request that they refuse to sell alcohol to Gwen and me, just in case. With that out of the way, I checked out of the hotel and asked them to call a taxi for me.