Electric Echoes: A Melodic Tango of Love and Reluctance

And I... Oop

Chapter Eleven  

June 26th, 1984

Pacing back and forth between the treadmill and elliptical, I mentally curse myself out. What the hell was I thinking? Prince is so going to kill me.

Not even ten minutes after leaving Susannah that note, the gravity of confronting his fiancée overwhelms me. I did this without thinking, and now that I have, I'm scared to death. Did I just put our friendship in jeopardy? I can't even imagine my life without Prince.

I have to leave.

Just as I go to leave the weight room, I realize it's too late. Susannah is coming, and she looks mad as hell.

All I can do is stand here stunned that she actually came. "Susannah, I—"

"Shut up! I don't care if you come from a messed-up family, the days of you thinking you can come in here and have my husband in the palm of your hand are over! Who the hell do you think you are?" She asks, getting right in my face.

As I said, I fully know that I've messed up and stepped out of line. I back up without feeding into her anger. "Susannah, I just wanted to talk..."

"Talk about what? About how you wormed your way into being MY fiancé's date tonight? I'd love to know how that happened," she spits out, trying to get in my face again.

At this point, this woman is really pushing me to my limits. I know I left the note, but she doesn't have to act like this before I can even explain or apologize.

"Well, he asked me to, so there's that..." I know, not the smartest thing to do, but we're already knee-deep in a mess at this point.

Her face deadpans for a moment. "Oh, so you think you're funny, little girl? You're causing problems in my relationship, that's not a joke."

"No, I'm merely stating that he asked me to go with him as a favor. If you're angry that he's not taking you, then you need to talk to him about it. We both know I don't make his decisions," I say, looking at my watch. I need to get ready soon, and yet here I am in the mess I created.

Susannah takes my checking the time as rude or something because she starts going off. "Oh, please! You've been manipulating him from the moment you two met. News flash, sweetie, your sob story is getting old."

"What sob story?" I ask incredulously.

That's when her whole demeanor changes. "Oh, sweetie, I know all about you being adopted. Prince told me everything... Including how your mother used to force you to starve yourself to stay thin."

That hits me like a ton of bricks. I never told him, how did he know? And why did he tell her?

"Aww, honey, you didn't actually think he was genuinely your friend, did you? He feels bad for you, but it's time for you to stand on your own two feet. We're getting married and don't need you hanging around, ruining our wedded bliss," she says with a satisfied, smug look on her face.

I glare daggers at her, and before I can stop myself, I spew, "If he really loves you, then why won't he claim you to the world? If he wants you to be his wife and share everything with him, then why is it that you can't ever get ahold of him? Why aren't you living in the same place as him?"

And that's when I know I have her.

"Oh, I know. It's because he knows that he's not serious about marrying you. And this is coming from a girl that isn't sleeping with him. I'm his best friend, I would know," I say matter-of-factly.

She stutters over her words a few times before regaining composure. "Little girl, you truly are delusional if you think that this wedding isn't happening."