Ashling didn't like being stuck inside the hotel. It wasn't quite enough to trigger her claustrophobia, but she still disliked the idea of confinement. Being unable to leave the hotel didn't bother her so much in this respect on a normal day, because at least she got to go outside. If she started to feel trapped and her anxiety level began to rise, she could go outside and walk through the gardens or take a swim and somehow manage to convince her body that she wasn't and everything would be fine. She had no such luxury today. She had gone to the gym and tried to take her mind off of it, and was feeling a little better when she returned to her room. She took a shower, dried off, and was just changing her clothes when the power went off. When that happened, she sat on the edge of her bed and waited to see if it was going to come back on. She counted to a hundred, took a deep breath, and opened her door. That let at least a little light in. Very little.
She had a watch that lit up with the press of a button, so using her cellphone as a sort of flashlight, she went about finding it. Just as she was fastening it to her wrist, she heard footsteps in the hall. So, she headed out to see who it was. She had to admit, she was glad to see the flashlight. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the strange lighting, and another to figure out she knew that face. She ate at the Morning Star a lot. "Hey," she said, smiling faintly. "Do you know anything about the power?"