Split Up At Split

(I am a solo traveller, flying from England to Split in Croatia. To get there, I have to transfer at Zagreb. On the flight to Zagreb, I’m sat next to two Croatian ladies. One of them is also going to Split and, seeing that I’m anxious about the transfer, says that I could just follow her. Once we’re off the plane, she makes sure I’m in the queue for passport control behind her. We don’t speak apart from this and she seems a little annoyed by me. When I get through passport control, I can’t see her but think nothing of it and carry on to the gate. She stands near me on the bus between the gate and the plane but doesn’t acknowledge me so I say nothing, thinking the offer for me to follow her hadn’t been entirely serious. Instead, she chats to a guy in Croatian. Suddenly, she turns to me:)

Lady: “Wait! It’s you! You’re here!”

Me: *laughing* “Um… hi?”

Lady: “Oh thank God! I turned around after passport control and you weren’t there. I’ve been telling this guy here that I lost you and you weren’t going to make the flight. I thought I’d just abandoned you in Zagreb airport.”

Man: “She’s mentioned you at least six times in the last fifteen minutes.”

Me: “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t see you when I got through but then I spotted you in the queue behind me. I thought you’d seen me so I said nothing. But, uh, thanks for letting me follow you.”

Lady: “But I didn’t. I lost you!”

Me: “Well, until passport control anyway.”

Man: “You’re here now and that’s the important thing.” *looks at the lady’s relieved expression* “I think she’s going to be able to sleep tonight.”

(If you happen to be reading this, while I know I ended up not following you, I deeply appreciated you offering to help and your concern over a foreign stranger actually made me less anxious about my solo holiday!)