"College, huh? I only got two years in Communications at Northwest Iowa CC myself," Connie chuckled. "Most of my education recently has been at the school of hard knocks." Tonight, school was very much in session. But likewise, her real degree was in making lemonade from life's lemons, and this seemed like a good start. Molly had a cute pixie-ish vibe going for her, and Riley carried themself with a fluid femininity that was intensely attractive in its own right. There seemed to be a grumpier brunette nearby as well whose icy demeanor was starting to melt as they arrived, only to reform again as they hit a speed bump. Oh well, if Connie couldn't bring a smile to her face at some point, she was hardly worth her wings. So, she vowed that if she got the chance, she'd give it a good try. In the meanwhile, she met two new friends at least. "Well, glad to get squished with you both. Welcome to Dallas." She shrugged apologetically as the courtesy van rolled to a stop.<br/><br/>As the passengers filed out, Connie took the rear of the line, "It's going to be pretty tight at the hotel too, so try and get to the front desk as soon as you can." She could have, and probably should have followed her own advice, but she put great value on professional courtesy, and that meant stopping, introducing herself, and thanking the driver, wishing him a safe return home once this endeavor was over.<br/><br/>The scene inside the lobby was as chaotic as she had feared. Those same passengers who had vented their anger on the gate agents (and her) for circumstances painfully beyond their control putting a damper in their vacation plans, were now just as insistently haranguing the overextended front desk staff to claim their birthright of a non-smoking 2 queen bedroom for the night. It took only one look for Connie to conclude that she'd be better off waiting in the hotel lounge a while before trying to apply that old Meadows charm. She slumped into a seat at the mahogany bar and waited for her server to arrive. "Hi Honey! Hell of a night isn't it? Could you get me a sea breeze? And if you can, please be generous with the Smirnoff. It's been that kind of day."