Her eyes were glaring at Ino, when she finally replied, "I don't do handshakes."
Raina then turned and proceeded to speak to Chester. Ino felt somewhat disrespected. She looked at Chester. Then she looked towards Raina. The guy behind Raina shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic look. As if this was the norm for them and that this was just the way Raina's mannerisms were.
Ino didn't know how to react to Raina's actions. She was livid. At the same time she questioned if her feelings were justified. She was astonished, that someone she's never met could be so rude towards her. Ino still did not know who this person was. She did not know Chester's relationship with Raina.
Questions started flooding Ino's mind. Where was all the hostility coming from?Was Raina an extended family member? Was she an old coworker? Was she a childhood friend of Chester's whom she has never met. The way they embraced made her doubt that they were just acquaintances. Was she just a friend he met in school or was she someone he use to date? Her being his ex would explain the hostility she was showing.
Ino was having a hard time understanding why she was intentionally brushed off to the side. Especially by someone who was unknown to her. She definitely heard Chester tell Raina, that she was his wife. Why would anyone disrespect someone's spouse, especially whom they never met.
If first impressions meant everything, then Ino would have considered Raina black listed. Ino was getting frazzled by the thought of not knowing how to proceed. She could not wrap her mind around why she was being mistreated. Ino took a deep breath and thought she might be taking this all the wrong way.
Maybe, Raina meant no harm and the actions were misinterpreted. She wanted to give Raina the benefit of the doubt. Chester slowly put down his arms, in return slowly letting Raina's arms break free from their hug. Raina folded her arms together.
"It's a small world Chet. I did not think I would be running into you here. Cain and I, were just about to grab a bite to eat. Did you want to catch us up on what you have been doing lately and join us?" Raina said, in a cheerful peppy tune.
"Sorry. We just ate some ramen and beef jerky. We were on our way back to our platform to see if our pod was assigned. Maybe we could catch up next time?" Chester replied hugging her again.
"Okay, we'll catch up later. It was nice seeing you again." Raina said while walking away with Cain following behind her."
Chester eyed Ino, as if that meant let's go. Ino could sense something was a miss. The sounds of Chester's foot steps filled her ears, it was similar to the rhythm of a clock, when the seconds would tic-toc.
Ino wanted to ask who Raina was. What was her relationship to him, but Chester was quiet and seemed distraught. She figured he would explain on his own. They were walking back to the capsule tube to be transported back to their seats. They reached their platform and the attendant retrieved them.
"Your pod is ready. Follow me this way, " the assistant stated, as she walked them towards their seats.
Just a few steps after Chester's seat there was a metal latch compartment, which had a handle that folded out, and one could pull.
The assistant did exactly that. He folded the handle out. He proceeded to tell Chester and Ino, he had to program their finger prints to the door scanner.
Ino didn't even notice that there was a door there. It was the first time she had seen anything like it. The attendant had to check to make sure it was set up properly to the right passengers. One after the other, Ino and then Chester set up their finger prints to their pod. The scanner had a ring around it that turned green. Indicating access would be granted.
The assistant asked both of them, "Is there anything you two would like to inquiry about?"
They both said, "No." the assistant lead the way into their pod.
The attendant stop 5 steps into the pod. He started speaking without facing them. He held out his electronic tablet. He was reading section by section to them. The tablet had information, about Ino and Chester. Ino could not make out what it said, but she could recognize their names because it was in big, bold, letters on the top of the screen.
"I will be giving both of you, a tour of the pod. Everything will be throughly explained on how the pod is set up and works. Stop me if anything sounds amiss or have any questions. Upon entering the pod, take note that we are in the back of it. Look to the left, the door in the corner is now accessible. It has its own private bathroom for personal use," the attendant said, while opening and closing the bathroom door.
Ino was relieved. She hoped this would mean, that the chances she would encounter awkward situations, like the previous one she had would be significantly lower. Chester entered the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. He then turned on and off the faucet. The attendant waited to continue while Chester did this. Chester came out and gave the expression that it was okay to continue.
"It says here that we should have 4 pieces of luggage. The luggage was brought here in the shoot connected to the conveyer belt that runs inside the walls of the shuttle. Is this the correct number of luggage? I will need confirmation that this is yours. Chester and Ino, could you both verify this by placing your thumb here on the tablet?"
The attendant waited holding out the tablet.
Ino placed her thumb down first, without fully checking the luggage. She felt that the luggage had to be hers, because of the distinct pattern of her luggage set. This was enough for her, for verification.
The attendant waited to pass the tablet to Chester. Chester went over to the luggage and looked over the luggage tags to confirm. Satisfied with his findings, Chester also approved with his thumb print.
The attendant continued with the tour.
"Continuing on the west side, there are black, metal, storage cabinets. This is for use. On the left side of the storage cabinet it locks. There is a lock box in there for valuables, for added protection. Clothes, shoes, belongings, and other essentials may be stored in there. Let's try to open the lock box with both your finger prints," He stated.
One after the other Ino and Chester, put their finger on the finger print scanner. They both tried opening the lock box. Both times the scanner turned green, giving them access. Ino thought the black metal cabinets resembled oversized school lockers.
"Onward is your bed. It says here you both decided on a QUEEN size bed." He said emphasizing the word queen to ensure us that this is what we chose according the tablet. He stared at them, wanting the nod of approval.