Rebel Princelesses

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7.33pm

Cindie: I'm in a taxi, can someone order me a Cosmopolitan please? I'll be there in 10.

~

"Do you think she does it on purpose?" 

"Who?"

Rapunzel rolled her eyes, a gesture that looked out of place on such an otherwise kind and innocent face. "Cindie, obviously. She's always last to arrive. I think she just doesn't like getting the first round in."

The group broke into laughter at this, and Rapunzel chuckled as she slid her iphone back into her clutch bag and signalled to the bartender. "I mean, if I can get here on time after abseiling down the side of a tower using my own bloody hair... well, she has no excuse," she continued, tucking an imaginary stray lock into place, a teasing glint in her eye.

The bartender arrived, a little irked to have been beckoned over like some sort of pet dog, and looked expectantly at the girls seated around the circular oak table in the corner of the crowded bar. "Can I help you, ladies?" 

"We'd like to order some drinks," Elsa announced, looking up from the cocktail menu and flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Oh - you need to order and pay at the bar," he replied uncomfortably, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as Elsa surveyed him severely. 

"Or... you could take our orders here, accept my cash and keep the change," she smiled sweetly, and he seemed to shiver under her cool stare.

"Well, I suppose I could make an exception," he muttered, fumbling for a pad and pencil in the front pocket of his apron. He had learned from past experience that rich, beautiful women were better to appease than to argue with, particularly when there was a large tip at stake.

"I rather thought you might," Elsa smiled, with a satisfied nod. "I'll have a frozen strawberry daiquiri, and a vodka sour."

"A vodka sour?" Belle repeated, looking over the top of her own menu in surprise. "Are we doing shots?"

Elsa gave a wry smile. "I am. I can't speak for anyone else." She lowered her voice and leaned in towards the centre of the table, casting a surreptitious glance over her shoulder to make sure they were not overheard. "It's my coronation next month, so who knows when I'll next be able to escape Arendelle? Security will be much tighter once I'm queen, and everyone will know my face."

"But you'll still be able to come on our girls' nights, won't you?!" Snow White demanded, while Belle flashed the bartender a flirty smile as she placed her order. He smiled back at her, his eyes returning to hers repeatedly as he went around the table taking the remaining orders, and winking as he tucked his pad back in his apron pocket before disappearing in the direction of the bar. He had always been a sucker for a pretty smile.

Elsa shrugged, picking at an imaginary spot on the tabletop with a perfectly manicured nail. "I don't know. Everyone thinks I've been confined to the castle like a perfect little princess all these years. I can't have my good-girl image shattered by a reporter and a long-range camera."

The girls exchanged dismayed glances around the table. They all knew of Elsa's impending coronation, but none of them had expected it to impact their regular arrangement. 

"But Elsa," Aurora protested from beside Belle, "we're all in the same boat! If any of us got caught here tonight it would be the scandal of the century! It would do nothing for our pure, untainted reputations. And I know we're all dreaming of a handsome prince galloping in on a noble steed -"