At first, Elena tried to stay calm.
"This is just a delay," she told herself.
Maybe the driver was late. Maybe there was traffic. Maybe her roaming wasn't working.
She dragged her suitcase toward the main road outside the airport.
Cars passed quickly.
Everything felt fast.
In Manila, chaos felt familiar. Here, it felt isolating.
She approached a taxi stand but froze when she saw the rates displayed.
The numbers were more than half of what she had in cash.
Her budget had been planned tightly.
Agency housing was supposed to be provided.
Transportation arranged.
Now, none of that existed.
She sat on a bench outside the airport entrance and hugged her suitcase.
People passed her without noticing.
For the first time since her transformation, she felt invisible again.
And strangely…
It felt familiar.
An hour later, security approached.
"You can't stay here all night, ma'am."
His tone wasn't rude, just firm.
"I'm waiting for someone," she said softly.
"It's been hours."
She didn't argue.
She stood up and began walking.
She didn't know where she was going.
She just followed the brightest lights.
The Strip.
Even in exhaustion, she couldn't deny its beauty.
Massive hotels shaped like castles, pyramids, towers. Music blasting from somewhere unseen. Crowds laughing. Couples posing for photos.
It looked like a movie set.
But she wasn't part of the movie.
Her heels began to hurt after fifteen minutes of walking.
She switched them for flats.
Her suitcase wheels bumped loudly against the pavement.
She passed street performers, dancers, tourists holding drinks taller than her forearm.
No one looked at her strangely.
Here, beauty wasn't rare.
It was common.
She finally found a quiet corner near a closed souvenir shop and sat down.
Her body was trembling — not from cold, but from uncertainty.
"Okay," she whispered to herself. "Think."
She counted her money.
It wouldn't last more than three days if she paid for a cheap motel.
Her agency hadn't responded.
Her phone was dead.
She leaned her head against the wall.
She hadn't cried when she left home.
She hadn't cried at the airport.
But now, alone in a foreign city at midnight…
Tears slipped quietly down her cheeks.
She wiped them quickly.
"Don't be weak," she muttered.
Around 2 a.m., exhaustion won.
She curled slightly around her suitcase and drifted into shallow sleep under neon lights.