Princess
Monday | 6:30pm
The hot waterrained against my back like it was trying to scrub off the last few days, and I let it. I leaned forward against the marble wall of the luxury suite’s glass-enclosed shower, eyes shut, heart still dragging. The bathroom was bigger than my old bedroom.
Gold fixtures. Thick white towels with the hotel’s emblem embroidered in navy thread. Everything was pristine, and still, I couldn’t relax.
Steam swirled around me, but my thoughts felt heavier than ever. My mother was safe at my grandparents' house, and I was safe. But what the hell did that even mean when the man who took me still hadn’t left my mind? When I could still feel his voice in my chest? Feel him inside me. I just dragged my hands down my face, trying to wash him off.
The bathroom door swung open, and Mora, my best friend since freshman year of college, started yelling. “Bitch! Are you gonna tell me what’s going on? You’ve been in the shower for almost an hour!”
I stayed behind the glass, frozen mid-rinse.
“Nah, don’t even try to ignore me like any of this is normal. The church was closed. Your parents weren’t telling me anything. You haven’t posted on any of your socials. Andthennnn… you wanna hit me with one dry ass text saying ‘come to the hotel’ afterdaysof silence. Now you’re in here showering like you didn’t just disappear?”
I turned the knob and shut the water off, wiping my face as I stepped out, trying to find my words. “I’m sorry.”
She crossed her arms, lips pressed tight. “You better start explaining.”
I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me slowly, the weight of her presence dragging me out of the fog. “I was with a man named Nyce,” I said finally, voice low.
Mora’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
I didn’t move. I just stood there, soaking wet, heart pounding harder now than it had during the whole damn ordeal. “I need you to sit down,” I said. “Because it’s a long story. And I don’t even know where to start.”
She backed out of the bathroom, her eyes still locked on me like I’d lost my damn mind. I brushed my teeth, even though my mouth still tasted like regret. Then I walked out in my towel to one of my suitcases and pulled out some fresh panties, a soft ribbed tank, and gray sweatpants.
By the time I was dressed and finished spilling everything that happened, Mora was on the couch in the suite’s living area. She had her arms crossed, face tight, but her foot was tapping like she was barely holding it together.
“So, let me get this straight. You were with the biggest gangsta in all of Havencrest? The preacher’s daughter?” she asked. “Princess, are you hearing yourself right now?”
I collapsed onto the edge of the king-sized bed and sat there, staring at the floor. “Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Two days.”
Mora stood up. “Girl, what the hell?”
I looked up at her. “I didn’t have my phone. I didn’t have anything.”
“So you were…kidnapped?” she asked, voice going quiet. “Like… for real?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes. At first.”
She blinked. “At first?”
I rubbed my hands over my face again. “It’s not that simple.”
“No, it’s exactly that simple. Either you were taken against your will, or you weren’t.”
I sighed. “It started that way, but… it changed.”
She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice like she was trying not to snap. “Princess. You mean to tell me this niggasnatchedyou off the street, and now you got survivor’s guilt or something? Why the fuck are you speaking like y’all had a vacation?”
“Because it wasn’t a vacation,” I said, sharper than I meant to. “It was… something I can’t explain. And I’m still trying toprocess all of it. But Mora, you weren’t there, and you don’t know the full story.” I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, my body sinking into the mattress.
Mora’s voice cracked. “Oh, friend. This is fucking crazy.”
