New York Nights - Rosénali

05 | The Mayor

Denali woke up, the headache from her hangover making her bury her face into her pillow. She groaned out in pain, staying like that for just a while longer. Eventually, she raised her head and her hand groped to find her bedside table. She clutched what she could tell was the bottle of Advil, and quickly turned to face the nightstand. Sitting there along with the medicine was a glass of water and a hot pink post it note. She quickly took a few pills and gulped down the water, praying the medicine kicked in soon. Then, she examined the post it note.

'Good morning! I left you some medicine and water, make sure to take it easy until you feel better! There's leftover pancakes in the fridge for you, and there's a letter addressed to you on the kitchen counter. Have a good day! Love, Jackie <3'

She set the post it note down and managed to get herself out of bed. Slipping on her blue fuzzy slippers, she made her way to the bathroom. After brushing her hair and teeth she made her way to the kitchen for the pancakes mentioned in the note. She found them easily, re-heating them in the microwave as she got herself some water. She grabbed the letter addressed to her on the counter and brought it over to the dining table. As she ate, she opened the envelope and examined the paper in it.

'Dear Miss Denali Foxx,' it began, 'This letter is being sent to you regarding the group of criminals you and Miss Peppermint captured last week. We have reason to believe there is something more to this case, so we are asking the two of you to have a meeting with me. Please come to my office in your hero costumes at 7:00 pm to allow me to brief you on our findings. I have told my secretary to expect you, she will take you to my office. Best Wishes, Katya Zamolodchikova, Mayor of New York City.'

Her mouth hung open in shock, "Oh shit." she muttered, rereading it again. In all her years of being a hero, she learned people only met with the mayor when it was serious. She didn't know if she was worried or excited- the idea of possibly working on such a big case filled her with excitement and determination to prove to the city what kind of hero, but it also filled her with fear and anxiety, as it was no secret these cases were often extremely dangerous, injuries and even death were entirely possible. Looking at the time on her phone, it was about 12 in the afternoon. She decided to calm herself by working on her college courses.

Did it work? Absolutely not. Did she finish all of her assignments, though? Absolutely, in fact she finished way earlier than she would've liked. Her homework was a nice distraction, but now she wasn't sure what to do for the next few hours. She briefly considered going for a walk, but the rainy weather made her reconsider. Slumped on the couch, she scrolled through her phone in hope of any motivation. That's when she noticed a missed text from Joey, a picture of her hockey team with the accompanying message 'WE WON!!!!'

Denali beamed, happy for her fellow coach. She quickly shot back a congratulations and asked when the championship was. She also sent a text apologizing for the late reply with a photo of her and Jackie at Lucky. Setting her phone down, she considered going to the rink, but at this time it would be swarmed with other people, and then by the time she could go skating she had to go to the mayor.

Go to the mayor. God, that was a sentence that scared her. Lots of people liked Katya and agreed she was a good leader, that wasn't the part Denali was worried about- she worried about what could come of this meeting. 'Stop thinking about it,' she scolded herself, 'it'll be fine. Just don't think about it, and it'll be okay.' Deciding to listen to her own advice, Denali decided to go on that walk after all, grabbing her headphones and umbrella, she headed for the park.

-

The park was honestly quite nice, even in the dreary rain. It was fairly empty due to the aforementioned weather, but she didn't mind, it was easy for her to lose herself that way. She put on her favorite k-pop playlist and wandered the brightly colored park, the plants and flowers in full bloom, not at all dulled but the rain. She didn't know how long she had been out for, having walked the park about twice over, but she didn't care- it was nice to be somewhere quiet and peaceful. Across the park, she saw two children playing on the playground, splashing around in the puddles. In her distraction, she accidentally ran into someone.