SEQUEL: FIVE

Alina woke up to bright sunshine streaming in through her hotel room window. She didn't notice that someone had carefully tucked her in the night before, rolling out of bed with a sour expression.
As so as she was lucid, she remembered the details of the night before, the mess she made of her bed a loud reminder that it had happened. She pushed her hair out of her face and immediately rang for her best friend.
She didn't bother going to find her father because she knew that he was already at the conference, not to mention, for the first time in her life, she had mixed feelings about facing her Dad.
Madeline picked on the first ring, her high pitched voice coming through the phone. "Hey girl, I was just about to call…"
"Maddie, hi," Alina said quietly, sounding depressed.
"Wait, what's wrong?" Madeline immediately picked up on her mood, "Your Dad didn't agree to the vacation again?"
"You know he didn’t but that's not the reason," She sighed, a piece of paper on the dresser beside her table catching her eye.
"Then what's wrong?"
Alina scanned the paper to find out that her father had written her a note, it was so unlike him that it actually improved her mood, until she saw why he had written the note.
He wrote to tell her to keep the proposition a secret. She crumbled the paper inside a tight fist, hurling the paper across the room in anger.
He couldn't even ask how she slept or put a little endearment, the note was cold and clinical like he had always been.
She forced herself to take a deep breath however, she couldn’t blame her Dad. He had probably been in a hurry, he was so busy after all. She was sure that he would call her when he returned to find her gone from the hotel room without prior warning.
"I'm just a little down, morning blues, I'll get over it." She said dismissively, "Where are you by the way? Let's meet up."
"Huh? Don't you have to wait for that conference thing, you know, with your Dad?" Madeline asked.
"I'll leave earlier this time, it's not like he'll miss me." She tagged on, the bitterness in her voice evident.
Madeline picked up on it but she didn't address it, she could tell that there was something wrong with her friend, well, good thing she was around.
"You won't fucking believe it! I'm actually in New York right now!" She said excitedly.
Alina grinned and although the expression lacked her usual brightness, it was a step up from her previously sour look. "No way!"
"Yeah! I knew you'd be here for a couple of days so I wanted to show up and surprise you." Madeline laughed.
"Come pick me up from my hotel then? I'll be ready in half an hour, you know where it is right?"
"Of course, I do," Madeline accepted without hesitation. "Good thing I rented out a penthouse suite, we'll be roomies!" She cheered, her excitement tangible through the phone. "Now go get dressed, I know you just rolled out of bed."
Alina smiled softly as she stared at the caller ID on her phone screen, trust Madeline to always fix her bad moods. She tossed her phone on the ruined bed and immediately went to brush her teeth and take a shower.
She didn't even bother to fold her clothes, shoving her clothes haphazardly into her designer suitcase which came in hot pink. By the time she was done packing, her hotel room looked like a tornado had blown through it but she didn't care, calling a butler to take her luggage down.
She did her hair up in a very messy bun, dressing up in a leather miniskirt and a little top that showed off her slender midriff. She put on large hot pink sunglasses over her eyes and in knee high heeled leather boots, she sauntered out of the hotel.
Her suitcase was waiting for her in the foyer, her necessities put into a hot pink tote bag which was slung over her shoulder, it matched her glossy lips.
She didn't have to wait long before Madeline came driving up with loud pop music blaring. The car Madeline had driven in had the top down, and the girl in the driver's seat her the whitest most perfect smile as she slid to a stop.
Without the deafening music, they both attracted attention so it was no surprise that every single person in the parking lot and even those in the foyer of the hotel were staring.
Alina threw her suitcase in the backseat over the window and then high-fived her best friend before going around to ride shot gun.
Madeline had matching sunglasses over her cat-like eyes, her glossy more cherry than pink. She was in a simple black mini dress with a voluminous bright red fur coat thrown over her shoulders, and her gorgeously painted toenails which were encased in heels were placed right on the pedal of the car.
"God, you look gloomy," She said, looking Alina over.
Alina pulled down the overhead mirror, a tart expression on her face. "I do?"
"Don't worry, I know just how to fix it." Madeline grinned, revving her smoothly purring engine.
With that she tore out of the parking lot, the valets were unable to do a thing to slow them down. This was no surprise as the car that Madeline Gustav had ridden in was a limited edition model made by her father’s company which made luxury cars.
Alina already felt better as the cool New York air blew against her face, the loud music silencing her loud thoughts. This was the life she was used to, living life on the edge, living in the moment. She wasn't cut out for a political mating at all.
She wished she could tell Madeline about what was actually troubling her, her best friend always gave the best advice but she understood why it needed to be kept confidential. Maybe it was better this way, thinking and talking about it would only make her feel worse, she needed something something to distract her completely.
Madeline's hotel was a short distance from the one booked for the conference so in no time they had arrived at their destination.
Alina wasn't surprised by their pictures being taken the moment they drove into the parking lot of the new hotel. They were pretty popular and loud so they were the perfect lovechildren for gossip magazines and tabloids.
Sunglasses were just to protect their eyes from sunlight after all, it was also to protect their eyes from camera flashes.
Madeline linked her arm with her best friend, tossing the key of her car to a flustered valet. "Bring up the luggage in the car to my room," She ordered, sashaying forward, hand in hand with Alina.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" She directed at Alina.
Alina huffed, "I called you just as I rolled out of bed."
Madeline laughed, "I guessed. Well, we could order room service before we head out."
They were making their way across the foyer now, and although it was against the hotel's policy for media personnel to enter the hotel in a bid to protect their guests' privacy, the other guests took pictures of the two ladies who were in their own world.
They laughed their way over to the elevator, bringing bright splashes of color wherever they went.
Alina’s luggage was already in the penthouse suite by the time they got to it, and she just wheeled it in, not bothering to unpack because she didn't plan to stay in New York long.
"You mentioned heading out on our way here," Alina reminded as they got to the living room, getting comfortable on a cushiony loveseat. "Where are we going?"
"Shopping!" Madeline cheered, throwing her fur coat off her shoulders so she could go pour herself a drink from the wet bar. "The only way to get rid of your morning blues is to impulse buy, and then we could check out this really cool cafe I've heard raving reviews about, and there's this club that Iyla told me about, she said it's a must see whenever I'm in New York, and what do you know? I'm in New York!"
Alina just watched her best friend in fascination as she multi-tasked, talking without taking so much as a deep breath while drinking rosé and typing in the numbers on the landline to ring up room service.
For the first time in forever, Alina didn't feel like being a social butterfly, she just wanted to lock herself up in a room all day and listen to sad music on vinyl records.
It was more of a reason why she needed this outing, Madeline always knew what she needed so she sank into the sofa and listened to her rattle off a list of food to be brought up to the penthouse.
"How long do you plan to stay in New York?" Madeline asked while they ate their breakfast with the large television playing some random reality TV show in the background, and copious amounts of fruit flavored alcohol.
Alina’s messy bun had come undone sometime during breakfast, her bleached blonde hair framing her face, sunglasses discarded. "Honestly, I thought I'd be long gone by now." She said without mincing words.
Madeline's slanted eyes narrowed at this, her winged eyeliner making her cat eyes pop. She had natural strawberry blonde hair which she preferred to bleach a platinum blonde so that she would have more in common with Alina.
"Did you get into a fight with your Dad?" She asked insightfully, nearly hitting the nail on the head.
Alina’s laugh sounded forced even to her, "What? No! Of course not, I could never get into a fight with him, I love him."
Madeline didn't look like she believed her, "You denied that far too many times, plus there's nothing wrong with getting into a fight with the people you love, I fight with my siblings all the time and I could kill for them." She said bluntly.
"Kill them maybe," Alina murmured under her breath humorously, knowing how much Madeline fought with her older brothers.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," She quickly denied.
"Look, you don't have to tell me the details if you don't want to but as your best friend, it's my job to cheer you up when you're in a shitty mood." Madelina rose to her feet with determination, "So are you ready to have fun?"
Alina laughed again, and this time it was less forced. "Hell yeah!" She agreed getting to her feet as well. "So where do we begin, I know you already have a whole itinerary…"
Madeline had a devious expression on her face, "Oh you know I do," She agreed. "I saw that there was a Tiffany's just down the street, why don't we get you a crown for today's outing."
Alina didn't really want a new tiara, she had far too many already and it was all because Madeline kept buying them for her. Sure she was royalty but she didn't need to wear a crown all the time because of that.
However, she knew how happy it made Madeline so she gave in easily, "I'll get you a crown this time." She offered in turn.
"That's silly, Lina, I'm not a princess." Madeline was quick to turn her down, already flitting off to her bedroom.
Alina followed after her, expecting that answer because that was what Maddie always said whenever she made that offer, "I don't think it matters."
"Of course it does, you don't think it does because you're on." Madeline countered, "But if you want to get me something, then I can get a matching diamond choker."
"Then why don't we both get matching chokers," Alina argued, refusing to back down this time. Usually, she would have let her friend have a way but she had never been comfortable with the discourse they always had about crowns.
A faint dark shadow crossed Madeline's soft blue eyes which quickly dissipated. "Or we could get matching friendship bracelets," She suggested.
This made Alina breathe a sigh of relief, "That sounds stupid cute, I'm in."
Madeline made a sound, "I knew you would. Want me to help you style your hair?" She offered, already taking a brush and beckoning Alina closer without waiting for her response.