We're Now in Kansas, Everyone

"This is a city, right?" Jess asked Marta quietly.  Marta nodded.  "So... why does the concierge have to call for a cab?  Shouldn't there be some driving around looking for fares?"
 
"You would think..." Marta said with a shrug.  "The other not coming?"  She looked around.
 
"Mia's on her way down, as is Quatre," Jess said.  "Sage is in the workout room, Rowen's still sleeping, and Duo doesn't want to do anything that requires walking."  Marta chuckled.
 
"I understand... I was on crutches, too," she said.  "It sometimes hard."
 
"After watching Duo for the last few days, I could see how it would be."  Jess smiled a bit as Mia and Quatre joined them.
 
"So... do we know where we're going?" Mia asked.
 
"The Crown Plaza," Marta said.
 
"Isn't it Crown Center?"
 
"Plaza."  Jess blinked. Walter put out his cigarette and just shrugged.

"I'm just following you guys," he said.
 
"I don't remember," Quatre said.  "That van driver was just talking like crazy the whole trip."
 
"He mentioned that tall monument," Mia said.  "What's near there?"
 
"I have no idea," Jess said.  "Maybe the cab driver will know."

That was when the cab driver pulled up. They got in.

"So, where ya goin'?" he asked.

"The Crown Plaza."

"The Crown Center?" he asked. Marta frowned.

"No... Plaza."

"You mean the Plaza downtown."

"Oh my God," Jess mumbled.

"We want shapping place, to buy things," Marta told him.

"Oh, then that would be the Plaza," he said. "Where you from, anyway?"

"We're from Long Island, New York," Marta said.

"Oh! Well, the Plaza's like New York... Lots of shoppin' there."

"Uh-oh," Jess mumbled.

"I love how people think things are like New York," Mia said quietly. Quatre smiled.

"The shuttle said something about a Crown," Marta insisted.

"There's no shopping at the Crown," the cab driver said. "It's all at the Plaza. You know that Kansas City is the City of Fountains? We've got almost as many fountains as Paris."

Jess looked at Walter, who rolled his eyes. She leaned on the door and stared out the window.

"Not to mention we have to look like tourists in our matching outfits," she mumbled. "I so didn't want to wear my SIFE shirt and pants to go shopping." Walter coughed from trying not to laugh too hard.

"He said we could walk," Marta said.

"Oh, you don' wanna walk to the Plaza from there," the cab driver said. "It's really far. Up and over the hill... and there's lots of walkin' once you get there."

"Is it a mall?" Jess asked.

"A mall? Whaddya mean?"

"Nevermind..."

Once they determined that they were going to head for the Plaza, the group fell quiet. The cab driver complained a bit that they had taken the KCI shuttle from the airport instead of a taxi, but Jess didn't say anything on it. Marta was doing enough responding for all of them.

"We're going to need to go through our presentation again," Walter said. "We're not good on the time."

"I know," Jess said. "The thing is, we're not timing ourselves. We speaking from the hip. That's great and stuff, but it's not reliable for time. The presentation isn't organized enough."

The driver stopped. "Down that way is the Plaza," he said, pointing.

"I think we get out here," Marta said.

"You sure?" the driver asked.

"Yeah, this'll be fine," Jess said. "What do we owe you?" They paid him and got out.

"This isn't a mall," Walter said.

"We're not in New York anymore," Mia said.