The Royal Love Triangle

19: Good Night Princess

Callie's POV

“Hey, I have to call you back later… No… I’m fine…” with that I quickly hung up the phone and stared at Clara.

Her mouth was wide open, staring at me like I had just committed murder and she had caught me in the act. I was frozen in place. I couldn’t move and I didn’t want to say anything else. I don’t know how long Clara had been standing there.

“Oh. Hey Clara. What’s up?” I tried to act casually.

“Who were you on the phone with?” Her eyes narrowed. I was starting to get more nervous. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked me up and down.

“My mom. The one back in America. Why’s that matter?” I put my hands on my hips. I didn’t want to give away that I was nervous.

“Oh, it doesn’t. I just thought it would be Prince Gabriel. But I can see now that I was mistaken.” We just stared at each other. Neither one of us had said a word for a few moments.

“So… You want to be with Tessa?” She smiled. It really looked like she was up to something. Probably something my mother put her up to.

“I didn’t say that. I said that I liked the sound of that.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shrugged.

“Very well, Princess. I just wanted to bid you good night. We don’t have very much planned for tomorrow, so you may sleep in.” With that she curtsied and walked out of the room.

Very soon after that, I crawled into bed. Just like every night, I texted Tessa goodnight. My phone buzzed when she texted back.

Text from Tessa received 10:15: Good night Princess. Sweetest dreams. With a smile on my face, I soon drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, when I finally woke up, I headed downstairs to get some breakfast. The palace was quiet, except for a few of the maids. When I got to the dining room, it was empty. It didn’t even look like there was anyone there today. I sighed. I quickly grabbed myself some yogurt and headed back to my room. Once I had finished eating, I decided to get myself ready for the day. I quickly showered and changed. I was in my ‘commoner’ clothes, as my mother called them.

Once I was dressed, I made my way over to Tessa’s room. I knocked on the door a few times and no one answered. That’s weird. So, I knocked a few more times, just louder.

“Tessie? TESS! Open up! It’s Callie!” I stood outside for a few seconds with my ear against the door. The room was silent.

I opened the door to her room and went inside. The room was empty, and Tessa was nowhere to be seen. All of her personal belongings were gone. It’s like she vanished, but she wouldn’t leave without telling me goodbye. Tears started streaming down my face as I made my way over to the bed. There was an envelope with my name on it. It was Tessa’s hand writing.

“Callie,

I’m so sorry. But I couldn’t stay any longer. Living in the castle and seeing you with Gabriel was just too much for me. I no longer want to stand in your way. You’re destined for great things and I don’t want to hold you from that.

I never loved you Callie.

Things between the two of us would never have worked out anyway.

You and Prince Gabriel are supposed to be together.

Forget about me and move on with your life.

Please don’t try and contact me.

Tessa”

I sat on Tessa’s bed in disbelief. Was she lying to me this entire time? Tears were falling from my eyes. I ran back to my room, rushing past Clara and Marcus in the hall way. Marcus did his best to follow me, but I slammed the door in his face. I needed to be alone. I grabbed my cell phone from my night stand and called Tessa a million times. It just rang. I threw my phone against the wall and melted into a ball of tears on my bed.

When the phone hit the wall, Marcus barged in and saw me. He ran over to me, doing his best to comfort me. I couldn’t tell him what had just happened, it was too painful. I handed him the note from Tessa and watched his face. His eyes darted to me and he pulled me close for a hug. What the hell was I supposed to do now?

After a few hours, I had finally calmed down. Marcus never left my side. He was just as confused as I was. I didn’t understand what had happened! Tessa and I danced together last night, and it was magical. When we went to bed, everything was normal. Where did this come from all of the sudden? Did I imagine everything from the start? Did she really never have feelings for me? Maybe I should do what the note said and move on. Marrying Gabe might not be so bad. I frowned at the thought.

“Stop thinking like that.” Marcus said. He sounded kind of annoyed, but I didn’t say anything.

“Stop thinking like what?” I played dumb. I knew what he was talking about.

“Tessa wouldn’t just leave like this Callie. Something must have happened for her to leave like that. Besides, I know for a fact that Tessa was head over heels in love with you. She told me herself.” He smiled down at me.

“Then why won’t she answer my calls or texts?” I wiped a few tears away from my eyes. I was hurting a lot more that I wanted to lead on. Marcus and I had both been calling and texting her over the last couple of hours. She didn’t answer either one of us.

“She isn’t answering me either. I don’t know what to say Cal. All I know is that Tessa loves you. I’ve seen the way you look at each other. The way either one of your eyes light up when the other walks into the room. You two are meant to be together.” The thought of the memories with Tessa made me smile.

I made Clara cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the day and for tomorrow. I told her that I was ill and needed a few days to get back to 100%. I just needed some time to think about everything.

I spent the rest of the night in my room. I texted Tessa’s phone a few hundred times. I didn’t get a response. I called her phone a bunch more. She still didn’t answer. Gabe tried calling me a few times but, I ignored him. I know that this wasn’t his fault, but I needed some time to myself.

A few hours later, Marcus came back to my room to check on me and make me eat something. He spent the evening with me. We talked about the night before and if anything had seemed off. Nothing really stood out to either one of us.

After a few moments of silence, I remembered seeing mother whisper to Clara at the ball. I mentioned it to Marcus, but he told me that it was normal. I sighed in defeat.

“Thanks for being here tonight Marcus. I’m really tired and just want to be alone for a little while.” I let out a big sigh and looked to the ground. Marcus stood up and gave me a big hug.

“See you tomorrow, sis.” With that he was out the door.

I made myself a blanket fort, like the ones Tessa and I used to make together when we were growing up. I made myself comfortable and slowly drifted off to sleep.