Carla’s Prince

She was waiting for him to answer her. For him to say something that would ensure another violent exchange of words but instead, he hung up on her. She looked at her phone for a long time wondering how such a lovely exchange between them could have turned to be this ugly thing that had just ended up with her being a gold digger.

A gold digger.

The words were ringing in her mind as she tried coming to terms with everything that had just happened. Everything had moved a little fast as far as she was concerned. She could not help but wonder if she had actually had the conversation she had just had with Cristoff or if she had imagined the whole thing. The latter seemed more possible especially considering the outcome.

She did not know how they had gone from making wild passionate love the previous night and even spending the night in each other’s arms to him calling her a gold digger. Was she not supposed to exploit him financially first before he came to that conclusion?

She could feel her heart beating a little harder and faster as she thought about the whole thing. She would have given anything to take the previous night back and just keep things professional which was what she was supposed to have done in the first place.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not even notice that Pete had walked back to where she was.

“Carla?” he said as he waved his hand in front of her face. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine…just a little hiccup with work. That’s all.”

“Must be more than a little hiccup. You have been out here for a while.”
She put her phone in her bag and shrugged.

“It hasn’t been that long, really. Has it?”

Pete raised an eyebrow over the other.

“You have been out here for almost fifteen minutes,” he said matter of factly.

“Oh,” Carla muttered. She must have been so lost in her head that she did not even notice how much time she had spent out there.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Pete asked again. He was clearly not convinced by the act she was trying to put up.

“Yeah, sure.”

“I still have around forty minutes here. I could get you something,” he said as he led her out to the chef’s private table at the back.

“Actually, I could do with a coffee. An espresso if you can.”

“Someone’s having a caffeine crisis,” Pete said, smiling.

“If I could have a whisky, I would, but it is the freaking morning and I have to work. So, I guess a caffeine crisis is so much better than a drinking problem, don’t you think?”

Pete laughed.

“I agree.” He held the door open for her. “After all, it is not like I have ever heard of Caffeine Anonymous,” he added and she giggled.

                                                            *****

It was a little past ten when Pete and Carla pulled up in front of the vintage store. Carla was still thinking about what Cristoff had said to her and she was feeling more than a little confused. She had loved everything about spending the night with him and waking up next to him. She had even considered what life would be like if she always woke up next to him like that morning, how different things would have been for her if she had a steady relationship in her life. An emotionally stable man like Cristoff but as she had realized that morning, Cristoff was far from being emotionally stable. She could not understand how anyone could change that drastically in just a matter of hours.

“Carla, seriously,” she heard Pete’s voice making her snap back to reality.

“What?” she asked, feigning normalcy.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You have been really out of it since that phone call this morning,” Pete said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “I’m surprised you were even able to drive like this.”

“I’m fine…it’s just something Cristoff said.”

“Care to share?” he asked and Carla bit her lower lip.

“No, not really.” She pushed a curly strand out of the way. “I just want to get this drama out of the way and clear this case already.”

Pete looked up and shrugged.

“Well, we’re here.”

She looked at him and undid her own seatbelt before she opened the door.

“You’re ready for this?” Pete asked when he got out. She shook her head.

“I’m not very sure. I am usually not the one who handles the questioning part of the investigation. Well, I do but not with suspects.”

Pete looked at her and raised an eyebrow over other.

“Then why are you doing it now?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Frankly, I need the distraction.”

The look on Pete’s face said it all. He would have wanted to ask her to elaborate more but he knew that she did not want to talk about it. They walked towards the door and he opened it for her in true courteous fashion. She flashed him a brief smile before walking into the store.

“Well, this is it,” he said as they looked around.

“Yeah,” she said in a soft voice. “It truly is.”

The store was an authentic vintage store. It was kind of like a vintage fetish dream come true. She felt her heart skip a beat as she looked around. There were ancient tea sets in the shelves, Ottoman era daggers and carpets, vintage firearms…it was a one-stop shop.

“Ah, you’re back,” the store owner said excitedly when he saw Pete. “And you brought a friend.”

“I did,” Pete said, nodding. “This is my friend, Carla.”

“Welcome. You can call me Pops. Everyone does anyway.”

“Okay, Pops. Nice to meet you,” Carla said, smiling.

“So, what are you in the market for? Art? Jewelry?”

“Actually, my friend is interested in the earrings you sold me a few weeks ago. The silver red garnet tear drops?” Pete asked.

“Unfortunately, those were one of a kind. Plus, my connection told me that she did not have any more since those belonged to her great aunt but she has brought in more stuff.”

“These things that she has brought in,” Carla started. “Do you think I can have a look?”

The man frowned for a minute and looked at Pete.

“It’s okay. Carla is my friend,” he said.

“I feel there is something more going on here,” the store owner said. “This is all too suspicious.”

This time, Pete looked at Carla.

“Actually, something is going on and I think the best thing is to get you on board,” Carla said.

Pete raised an eyebrow at her as if to tell her that she was making a mistake but she knew at the back of her mind that she had to at least be honest with the store owner. It was the only way to establish trust and she more than anything needed him to trust her if she was going to get any information out of him.

“Your connection might have stolen those earrings along with some more stuff like a Chinese tea set.”

“I have a number of tea sets on display…” Pops started and Carla shook her head.

“This one would have stood out. It was not just any tea set. It probably retailed at five thousand….”

“I had one that sold for eight grand. Chinese porcelain,” Pops said, cutting her short. “But the person who sold me the tea set is not the same person who sold me the earrings.”

Pete and Carla looked at each other before she turned her attention to Pops.

“The person who brought in the earrings was a woman. She is young, maybe late teens or early twenties. She is quite the looker too,” Pops explained. “She said she needed the money for school. She looked innocent. I had no reason to doubt her.”
He shook his head and Carla took a long deep breath.