BAMBI

XVIII

I sat there in silence, staring at the phone, not wanting to feel the hurt Prince unknowingly caused. Part of me was just mad at myself for even getting to a level where I would be hurt by him.

My eyes were still fixed on the phone when it rang again, knocking the thoughts out of my head. When I picked it up, I realized a little puddle of tears had fallen from my eyes, creating wet spots on my pants below.

My voice was quiet when greeting the unknown caller, hoping it wasn't Prince or Janet. Turns out, it was a representative from my bank. Apparently, my debit card had been hacked so they had to put a freeze on my account to stop any more unauthorized purchases.

That didn't worry me too much since I always kept $500 in cash hidden in my closet in case of emergencies. So I strolled up the stairs, into my room and into the closet. The little shoe box that once held a diorama project from middle school was my home safe.

When I opened it, my eyes widened. It was completely empty. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The money I'd always kept in there just in case I needed it was gone. The only two people I let into my bedroom were Prince and Janet. And I was pretty confident I could rule Prince out as a potential thief.

My face started to heat up and my hands shook as the anger rushed through me. How could she do that to me? Sure, our relationship was shitty, but to steal from the person you've been with for four years? That's an all time low.

After standing there staring into the empty shoe box for far too long, it dawned on me that it would be a good idea to check my other valuables.

Two jewelry boxes sat on my dresser. One was for the jewelry I had in constant rotation and the other was for heirloom pieces I received from my grandma and aunt when they passed away. Those pieces I only wore on special occasions.

When I looked into the heirloom box, I was relieved to find nothing missing. My shaky hand moved over to the other box. Lifting the lid, I quickly closed my eyes and lowered my head. Tears started streaming down when the feeling of betrayal hit me like a bus. Janet took most of my jewelry that was in that box. Even the diamond stud earrings I wore the day before were gone, leading me to believe I was robbed by her that morning.

My blood started to boil, but I knew there was nothing I could do at the moment. Janet was well on her way to god knows whoever's house, probably to get loaded. She was planning on being gone for the next few days, so I had to wait at least until then to confront her.

I pulled what jewelry I had left from the box, taking a mental inventory and listing the items that were missing. Knowing Janet, she probably absolved herself by only taking the jewelry that had less sentimental value to me.

As I stood in the silence of my room, trying to keep it together, I nearly leapt out of my skin when the phone rang for the third time in that hours. I rested my hand on my face as I stared at the phone next to my bed, hesitant to answer it. Who could it be this time?

"Hello?" I quietly waited to see who else was going to bring down my day.

"You are mad." His deep voice entered the receiver.

I sighed out of frustration, "Prince, I'm not mad, ok? Just please... I don't want to talk right now."

"Well I just called to say I'm sorry. After we hung up, I realized I sounded like an asshole."

"It's fine Prince."

"I do miss you though." His sincere words that rolled so smoothly off of his tongue brought a tinge of comfort to the hectic situation I was in. I remained silent while he continued. "I was thinking about when we drank champagne under the stars. It was so dark, I couldn't see a damned thing, but when I looked over at you, the moonlight seemed to shine down, illuminating just you. You looked so beautiful, I felt like I couldn't look away. I didn't want to. You know, you're actually the first girl I ever took over there."