Guests of lacking honour

With the clock ticking and being just a few short minutes away of getting caught by Jake in the middle of their plan, ruining the last and only shot they would have at getting a chance at revenge during this girl's week, Maria racked her brain to think of the best course of action in this situation. She needed something that wouldn't stand out to Jake and his mistress but would stand out enough for her and Laila. She planned on using the gifts that would be brought up to their room as her breadcrumbs to where Jake and his mistress were spending the night.

In the end she chose a bottle of champagne and a bouquet of roses. She figured that was both romantic and would be something that would catch their eye when it was brought out. She instructed Kenny to put the costs of the gifts to her credit card and told him that the card should say 'For Mr. Colton and his lovely girlfriend to celebrate a special day.' If either of them should ask, she wanted him to tell them that these were complimentary gifts as she wanted to do something nice for her 'friend' and not have him worry about the amount of money she had spent. When Kenny looked at her with a look of confusion she said, "You see, even though he can easily pay for it if he wanted to, he knows I don't have a lot to spend. So, if he knows how much all of this cost, he will feel bad and I don't want him feeling bad on such a happy day."

With that Kenny was convinced and he made the necessary calls to his colleagues to get everything ready. This being a high class hotel, they had the requested things available at the hotel in case they were needed by the upper level rooms. So, it wasn't difficult at all to make it happen and because of Maria's convincing act, he thought that he had witnessed a great act of friendship and added a few small touches of his own. Adding a plate of chocolate covered strawberries to sell the image of a romantic platter of goodness. Maria waved Kenny goodbye after she thanked him again and walked towards the exit as she texted Laila her impromptu plan of action. Just before she reached the end of the lobby, she glanced backwards and when she saw that Kenny wasn't looking, she deterred her path and made a left turn.

After Maria had finished her part, it was Laila's turn. She had been tasked with booking a room for her and Maria under her name, so that Maria could join her once Kenny was distracted by Laila. This task was much easier than Maria's task, so it was no surprise that Laila had no hesitation or nervousness at all as she was carrying out her task. Maria was watching Laila from a short distance, as she had hidden herself behind a group of tourists that were drinking and chatting in the lobby bar. While she was waiting for Laila to properly distract Kenny, she glanced backwards every few seconds to see if Jake was coming and to prevent herself from getting caught.

Just seconds after joining the line of customers ready to check in, Laila was up and it was go time. When she saw Laila's signal, an 'Oké' sign behind her back, Maria took her chance and snuck back through the lobby and into the hall leading to the rooms. Laila would meet her there with a room card and make them seem less suspicious if they were caught roaming through the halls. No sooner had Maria arrived at the hall or did a silver cart come out of one of the restricted area doors. The cart contained a bucket of ice with a bottle of what appeared to be champagne and twenty-six red roses, make it certain that this was their cart. Maria had chosen the same number as the age of the birthday gal, peeking it off her cake, and using that nice little detail to make her gift seem like it had indeed been prepared by the hotel as they had also arranged the cake. She knew this because she could recognize their trademark red velvet from a mile away.

As the cart passed her by, Maria tried to look as unsuspicious as possible, before she started her pursuit. As she walked down the halls, praying that the girl pushing the cart wouldn't turn around and notice her, she texted Laila to tell her what was going on. Fortunately for them, Laila had just finished checking in and saw Maria's message almost immediately after it was sent. As soon as she read the message she quickly rushed off towards the rooms and it appeared that it was not only quickly but just in time. Laila had just turned the corner into the hallway, when Jake arrived at the lobby with his tipsy and giggling date. Neither of them aware of the other's presence. While Jake was busy checking the two of them in, Laila was nearing Maria's location, fully unaware of how close she had been to getting caught and how time was narrowing down for her plan to succeed.

When Laila arrived at the floor that Maria had texted, she saw the cart, that had carried the gifts, being brought out of the room by one of the staff members. Her first instinct was to hide but then she remembered that she had booked a room and had every right to be there. So, she quickly straightened her body and face, before crossing paths with the girl walking in her direction and greeting her as normally as she could with her current level of adrenaline. Once she had walked past the hotel employee, Laila could finally breathe again. She joined Maria, behind a wall at the end of the hall, a place that gave them a perfect image of the room door and hid them out of sight, and there Laila tried to calm her heart as they waited for their unsuspecting guests of lacking honour.