Chapter summary: Everybody thinks Alice is the shop-queen, well, I have a thing to say about that, too. Nothing like dropping a few bills to soothe the nerves. But wait … Ooh! That little manipulator Alice! She planned this! Now she's really going to get it!

The flight was uneventful, and that's because I chose a separate seat from Alice. It would have been eventful if we did sit near each other, because the conversation would escalate to the point where I'd have to throw Alice through the hull, and at the learjet's cruising altitude of twelve thousand meters that wouldn't hurt Alice — she'd just reach terminal velocity and leave a crater in some stupid farmer's cornfield … it would piss her off, however, as she'd have to raid clothes from some homestead in middle America (oh, the shame for Designer Alice!) — but then the instant decompression in the plane would probably kill the stewardesses as they were sucked out into the near vacuum, and the pilot and copilot would have to redirect to a highway for an emergency landing, leading to all sorts of questions.

I hate it when people ask me questions.

So I chose instead to sit apart from my dear chipper sister and read some romantic drivel like Sense and Sensibility or some such nonsense. I can't believe anyone would waste their time reading such foolishness.

But it did help disappear the bulk of the flight, and if the silence was uncomfortable between us siblings, at least it was filled.

I did read Ibsen's Hedda Gabler after that to clear my head. Now that's reality. Anybody who reads the romantics like that Edwardian Austen or the Victorian Charles Dickens should free their minds with a healthy dosage of either the Greek tragedies or Kafka or maybe even Goethe.

I could see that going over well at Forks High School, however: First, learn German, then read Goethe's poetry.

"Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn?"

What? That was part of my formal education: every young girl's education included French and German … and aren't people of this 'modern era' supposed to be more advanced and educated than the people of my age? Learning German should be a snap then, if the people of today are so far superior to my contemporaries.

But one cannot discuss such things with children of these days, because they are too busy 'texting their friendies' about their latest 'u-tube vid' … whatever the Hell that means.

But these thoughts left me after we deplaned and were whisked away by the limo. Of course, with Alice, we had to shop, and, of course, we had to go to Barneys New York first and then Henri Bendel.

Alice loves her edginess. And she loves seeing her work on display.

But then she went for softening me up, because next up: Madison Avenue.

Okay, her softening up worked a bit.

And then it worked a bit more when we ended up at Bergdorf Goodman.

They love me at Bergdorf Goodman. And they love making me use my expense account.

But there were some new Diane von Furstenberg dresses I simply had to have. I pointed. 'Oh, I like that one,' I said, causing the assistants to fly to the racks, and I got to try each of them. I got to try all of them, actually.

Alice may be known as a shopper, but at Bergdorf Goodman, Rosalie Hale is known as a buyer.

After that, and after my new acquisitions were boxed and appropriately labeled and disposed for shipping, Alice and I decided to indulge a bit.

Now, everybody goes to Tiffany's, and I'm sure that's so romantic with the song and the movie, but Alice and I have a little secret place we go to not far from there and much more intimate: Van Cleef & Arpels. We bought our husbands timepieces: Alice bought Jasper a Féérie watch, undoubtably to remind her husband of the little fairy he married, not that he needed the reminder, and I bought Emmett a manly Latérale. Maybe this watch would last him longer than the last one, but you just can't spike the medicine ball as if you were playing volleyball and expect things not to break. I don't know how many times I have to tell that big lug, but my Emmett does like to demonstrate his prowess, doesn't he?

Then we bought gifts for ourselves. Alice selected an amber butterfly necklace and I myself looked at the Organdi, but the problem with diamonds is that they may be a girl's best friend, but if that girl is a vampire, they don't stand out against our chalk-white 'skin.' I then looked at the Farandole Necklace, but it was emerald-themed — not so much to my taste — there were several ruby pieces that caught my eye.

I do so love red.

Alice kept her patience with my selection, the dear, but she could do that: vampires don't get tired on their feet. And it was she that suggested they commission a piece for me like the Farandole but with rubies as the settings instead of the pear-cut emeralds.

Now this was a happy compromise. Smiles all around (mine closed-lipped, I didn't wish the scare the poor humans to death before they completed the work), and we had a resetting of the ruby blossoms from the magnolia rings for my new necklace.

That Emmett would give to me.

So thoughtful of our husbands to give us these perfect gifts, and the note inside, written in Emmett's hand: "For Rosalie, beauty for my beauty, Emmett" … ?

You couldn't ask for better. Our husbands could be so solicitous when we picked, wrapped, and shipped the gifts that they would (eventually) give to us.

Being partners to a billion dollar hedge fund does have its perks, but noblesse oblige: somebody had to keep this depressed economy going, so I was doing my part to help out by buying these luxuries.

Alice browsed a bit more and even bought me a gift, a dragonfly hair clip of pink sapphires. I tried not to look pleased, but then she also bought another clip of blue sapphires.

Given her unmanageable spiky-short hair, that couldn't be for herself, nor for Jasper.

"Are you getting that for Esme?" I asked curiously, and admired her thoughtfulness.

But blue just didn't work with Esme: caramel-colored hair and yellow eyes? Besides which, Esme didn't like to pin her hair back as Carlisle always admired her long brown wavy locks.

Instead of answering, Alice just smiled a private smile.

Alice is just so mysterious, isn't she?

By the time we finished there, you could say it was pitch black outside, because that's how it would be anywhere else in the the world, but this was Fifth Avenue in the city that never sleeps. There was vibrancy, life, and light in the air, and the feeling was electric.

Alice turned to me and beamed. "Shall we go clubbing, sister dear?" she asked, all chummy.

I responded coolly: "I suppose…" and added a martyred, "if we must."

I didn't want to let on that Alice's shopping plan had worked: my mood had improved.

I'm not happy about that. I'd been manipulated by the manipulator.

I had to hand it to her: Alice worked hard at suppressing her victorious smile. And we took our time, walking slowly (for us) here and there through the avenues and streets of the city, letting its electricity seemingly pulsing in the very air vibrate through us.

We finally ended up back on Fifth Avenue at a place called "Ginger's Bar."

Alice looked at me cautiously. "How about this, Rosalie; shall we give this place a try?"

I looked at the façade: there was an outdoor patio and the clientele were mostly women. Must be "Ladies' Night." Good. That means I would be less likely to be hit on by some drunken idiot smelling of Scotch.

Royce's drink.

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly at Alice and offered a disinterested "Sure."

We hadn't been to this place before, but Alice was always trying new places, so nothing seemed out of line.

Or so I thought.

Chapter End Notes:

[1] Recall from the canon that, ahem, somebody looks really good in blue? I wonder whom Alice chose that blue dragonfly hair pin for? And if she'll wear it to prom?

[2] Now I feel a little bit like Bella. I mean, if I were invited to shopping with those two and Alice would say, "Here, try this on"? And as I'm blushing to death wearing a diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet asking how much it is because there's no price tags anywhere, and Rosalie's like, "Excuse me, isn't it rude to ask about the cost of a gift?" And then I'd be doubly embarrassed and say I couldn't accept something that has a value matching the GNP of more than a few countries and they'd be like, "Well, tough, because this is just the first gift in the first store, and …" Well, I'd so feel like Bella because how could I possibly give them anything back as a gift without borrowing money from them or refinancing what? Going for my Ph.D. and instead of taking classes use the entire school loan as the first down payment?

So, just now, I finally got how hard it must have been for Bella, who can't afford to buy clothes or even a heap of a truck or barely even spare parts for a dirt bike having to accept gift after gift from the Cullens and having no way to give anything back but herself. And if she's anything like me (or I'm anything like her), then just feeling so inadequate in the face of all that brilliance and beauty.

God, Bella's so amazing and so strong, just standing for herself, being just who she is in the presence of all that magnificence. Do you see how taken for granted the Cullens have in relation to their massive wealth? And how perplexed they are with Bella that she keeps refusing little gifts that mean absolutely nothing other than an expression of their friendship and love? But now I finally see it from Bella's eyes. I live in a flat and work at sbux. If I were jetted off to NYC and told 'Oh, we don't go to Tiffany's … we prefer a place that's a bit more exclusive' and then being ushered into a private viewing room? How often did that happen for me last week? Would I be cowed by such ease around such privilege? Yes. But Bella wasn't: she let them be who they are, who they've always been, but also demanded they take her as she is, and take her as an equal.

*Shakes head* You go, Bella.

[3] Alice and Rosalie like to go clubbing. They do a bit of people watching, 'living' a bit vicariously through the lives of still living people out at the club to have some fun. So Alice invited Rosalie to "Ginger's Bar" because those two go clubbing. Nothing unusual in that invite. Nothing at all. La-di-dah.