High Heels in New York (19 page)

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Melissa flung her purse on the antique foyer table and took off her shoes. As she let down the bun on her head, she replayed the last three hours in her head. She couldn’t believe so much had happened in only a matter of days.

Her lips still tingled from Claude’s kiss. She couldn’t believe she let him
kiss her
and that she kissed him back. Even after he admitted that he knew about Jonathan he didn’t stay away. She wasn’t sure if it was because he really liked her or maybe
since she wasn’t emotionally available to him, he was taking advantage.
Yeah, that was probably it, she thought. He knew that she was vulnerable right now and had probably planned to suck her in all along, only to spit her up when he was done with her.

Men! She screamed in her head as she
walked into her living room
.
She plopped down on the big taupe couch in her living room and for once this week was thankful that
the television
remote was close by
.
A
ll she needed to do was extend her arm to reach it.

Click.

Nothing happened.

Click. Click.

She pressed the ON button a few more times.

Still nada.

Looked up on the wall where the Forty-two inch flat screen had been installed, she screamed so loud that she was sure the neighbors heard her. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at. It was an empty wall. The flat screen was gone. She quickly grabbed her cell phone.

“Angie! It’s gone!” She cried.

“What’s gone?” She could hear the sleep in her voice.

“Only the best invention made by man!”

“Someone stole your vibrator? That’s nasty.”

“
Eww
.
No.
My television.
It’s gone.” She couldn’t believe it. How does a television just go missing? Her heart was hurting again. She spent all winter saving up for this television. It had a picture in picture feature so that she could watch two shows at once and even let her surf the web right from the comfort of her couch.

Jonathan never understood her fascination with this television. He rarely watched TV, saying it was a waste of time
and would much rather spend his time on the computer watching the stock market. ‘If it doesn’t make me money I don’t want it.’ He’d say. That’s why he didn’t want to pay for it in any way. So, Melissa had to purchase it on her own.

“Are you sure?” Angie asked.

“Yes I’m sure. I’m looking right at the god damn wall! It’s gone!”

“Is there anything else missing? Are the burglars still in the house? Did you call the cops?” She threw so many questions at her that Melissa wasn’t sure which to answer first. She quickly crouched down on the living room rug. “I don’t know. You’re the first person I called,” She whispered.

“Mel, get out of there and call the cops!”

“Hold on,” s
he said.

“What? Is the burglar still there?”

Melissa couldn’t remember if the front door had been locked or not when she arrived at her apartment. She did use her keys but couldn’t recall hearing the lock unlock. So, she stood up slowly, inching her way toward the bedroom. The door was slightly ajar. She peeked in. It looked as if a level ten hurricane had made the bedroom its main target. The mattress was over turned and barely sitting on the box spring, all the contents from the dresser were on the floor, her shoes were
thrown around and even her jewelry box had been emptied unto the floor.

“Wow.”

“What?” Angie asked again.

“They ransacked my bedroom!”  She said, flopping down on the carpeted bedroom floor and taking it all in.

“Did they take anything else? Get out of there!” Angie pleaded.

“I’m going to have to call the cops.”

“Great idea.
I’m already dressed and heading out to you as we speak.”

“Okay,” s
he said and hung up. Looking around, she began to feel overwhelmed with the thought of having to clean up the mess. Feeling depressed, she dialed 911 and explained to the operator what happened. She had never called 911 before. It was strange telling an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line that she had been robbed.

“A police car is being dispatched and will arrive at the address you provided shortly,” The operator said.

“Okay. Thanks,” she said and hung up the call. She paced around the apartment until she heard a loud knock at the front door. Surprisingly, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Miss De La Rosa,” a husky voice beckoned from the other side of the door. “This is NYPD.”

Slowly, she made her way to the front door and verified it was indeed the police by looking through the peep hole. If they weren’t real cops, they surely had the best fake uniforms she had ever seen. She unlocked the door and peeked out.

“Miss De La Rosa, I’m Officer Barry and this is my partner officer Lehman,” The police officer to her motioned over to another police man square to his left. Then they both showed her their badges.

“Come in,” s
he said, stepping to the side.

“Did you see them leave?” Officer Barry asked as he made his way through the apartment, gun drawn.

“Them? No. How do you know it was them? When I got home there was no one here. Is that necessary?” She asked, referring to the guns.

“One can never be too careful Ma’am,” Officer Lehman said as he followed the first officer.

She locked the door behind them and wiggled the doorknob just to make sure it was indeed locked before joining them in the living room.
When they were done confirming that there was no one in the apartment, more questions followed.

“What time was it when you left your apartment today?” Officer Lehman asked her.

“Eight-thirty in the morning.
It’s the time I always leave to work.” Melissa said.

“And what time did you arrive home?” Officer Barry asked, taking out a notepad.

“A quarter after midnight.”

“Where were you?”

“Um, with a guy,” she was starting to get nervous. “It wasn’t a date.
Even though he kissed me.”
She smiled as she remembered how it felt to kiss him.

Both cops looked at each other.

“What was stolen?”
Officer Barry asked.

Melissa pointed to the wall. “A seventy two inch flat screen.”

Both officers looked up at the wall. She could tell by the look on their faces that they felt for her loss.

“Anything else?”
Officer Barry asked, jotting something again in the notepad.

“I - I don’t know. I haven’
t really noticed,” Melissa looked
around the apartment trying to see if anything else
was
missing. She really couldn’t tell with the size of the mess the burglars had left behind.

“Ms. De La Rosa, do you know anyone who would have a motive to do this?” Officer Lehman asked.

The back and forth questions were starting to make Melissa dizzy. What? Was he implying that she knew who did this? How dare
him
. “No. I don’t,” s
he said, cocking an attitude. Then she remembered about the guy who had been following her
the day before
today. “There was this guy.”

“What guy?”

“I don’t kn
ow. He was following me all day yesterday.
I didn’t think anything of it at first because well, it’s New York and all. But, after a while, it felt creepy.” A cold chill ran down her spine.

“Most of these crimes are committed by someone close to the victim,” Officer Lehman stated looking at his partner as if they knew something she should know.
A victim?
The word felt dirty. She wasn’t a victim. Her apartment was the victim.

“Look, I don’t know who did this and I don’t know who was following me. Plus, it’s not like I was assaulted. Some destitute crack head that needed to get high stole my TV with the intentions on selling it. He’s probably already passed out in a crack induce
d coma in an alley somewhere,” s
he said screaming.

“We understand you’re frustration but are you sure you can’t think of anyone?” Officer Barry pressed.

“FREEZE,” Officer Lehman drew his gun and pointed it in the direction of the hallway. Melissa jumped off the couch and hid behind the Officer Barry.

“Unless you plan on using the handcuffs Officer, you can stop pointing that gun at me,” Angie said as she pranced into the apartment and seductively leaned against the door jam.

Melissa couldn’t have been happier to see her. And she was bearing gifts.

“It’s okay,” Melissa said quickly. “She’s a friend.
The very best friend a girl could have.
”

After they hugged, she handed Melissa a
venti
latte and a croissant and then sat down on the couch next to Melissa.

“Is there anyone else who has a key to your apartment?” Officer Barry asked, sounding irritated.

“No,” Melissa said and then she remembered about Jonathan. “Well, my fiancé. Well, my ex-fiancé. We recently broke up.” The look on the officer’s face was upsetting. “But he would never do something like this,” she added quickly.

“You’d be surprised what people are capable of,” Officer Barry said.

“No. You don’t understand. Jonathan wouldn’t do this,” She said, defending him. She didn’t know why she was defending Jonatha
n. After all he had done to her
she should be throwing
him under the bus without a second thought. Heck, she should be driving the bus repeatedly over his body.

“Just to be safe, what’s his full name?” Officer Barry asked.

“Jonathan Henry. But I don’t see the point. He wouldn’t do this.” He doesn’t steal televisions, he steals money and cheats on his fiancé, she almost blurted. Come to think of it… what if Jonathan did do this? What if shit hit the fan and he had to steal the TV for money. Anything is possible. The universe has proven this fact time and time again. It was something that Melissa was starting to get used to.

“Oh, you’re the girl from the TV,” officer Lehman said.

Angie smiled, thinking that they were talking about her but then she realized that the officer still had his eyes on Melissa. “You were on TV and you didn’t tell me?”

“I wasn’t really on TV. It was more like a picture of me,” Melissa told her.

“When?
Why?” Angie asked.

“Seems this young lady’s ex-fiancé is wanted by the FBI, CIA and IRS,” Officer Barry explained to Angie.

“Wow, I wouldn’t have thought
Jonathan to be a big time thief
,” Angie said.

“
Yeah.
He emptied out my bank account
,” Melissa
said, ripping open three sugar packets and pouring the contents into her coffee cup.

Whether it was lack of believing there was a real crime committed here or motivation to actually do his job, the officer began to focus his attention to Angie who was silently indulging in her mocha frappe.

“Where were you tonight between the hours of eight and midnight?” The officer asked
Angie who was too delighted to see men in uniform
.

“Me?
Seriously?”
Angie asked looking at her in disbelief that they were actually considering her as the burglar. Melissa shook her head and gave her a nod letting her know it was okay to answer. “Well officer if you must know, I was nursing a
bangover
all day. It wasn’t until Melissa called to tell me the horrible news that I actually regained any energy and then of course I rushed straight over.”

The officer looked confused at her reply until an imaginary light bulb lit up on top of his head. Melissa swore he was blushing. Holding back her laughter, she took another sip of coffee.

“Is there a number where we can reach you in case we need to ask you any more questions?” Officer Barry asked Angie.

“Of course Mr. Officer,” Angie said, smirking as she gave him her cell phone number.

“
Well
, Miss De La Rosa.
We have all the information we need right now. We’ll head back to the station and as soon as we get a lead we will contact you.” Officer Lehman said as he walked to the exit.

“That’s it? You’re not going to dust for fingerprints or assig
n her a bodyguard?” Angie asked in disbelief.

“The crime committed here a misdemeanor
at the least,
”
Officer Barry explained.

“We pay our taxes! There has to be something else you can do?” She shouted,
propping her hands on her hips and pointing her finger at him.

“The best we can do is talk to your neighbors and see if they saw anything. It’s a lengthy process.”