lost purse

“Hey! You’ve gonna get up, lady.”

The up-and-coming actress Andrea Silva felt a nudge along her shoulder as she abruptly brought herself to attention. Her head was pounding after a long night of partying, but she had enough of her senses to recognize she was sitting at a bar. The bartender stood on the other side of the table wearing an annoyed look.

“We’ve gotta close up, lady. Pay your tab, and get moving,” he instructed.

Andrea rubbed the side of her head as she processed his words, “Um… ok… give me a minute.”

She slid her hand down to her side reaching for her purse only to not feel it there. Confused, she looked to her other side but did not see it there either. Beginning to panic she looked along the bar for any sign of her bright red bag, but it was nowhere to be seen.

“Um… Have you seen a red purse anywhere?”

“No,” the man said with an austere expression.

Andrea was beginning to get nervous, “Well… I don’t seem to have my purse… so…”

“You can’t pay.”

“Yeah… but don't worry. I'm a pretty big celebrity. If I post about this place on my Insta I'm sure you'll get your money back”

The man stared at her for a moment with a stone-like expression. He then pulled a phone from his pocket and began dialing.

“Who are you calling?” she asked.

“The cops.”

Suddenly all sensation of a hangover seemed to drain from Andrea’s body as she leapt to her feet, “Wait! Don’t do that!”

“If you can’t pay then you’re a thief, and thieves go to jail.”

Andrea shivered at the thought of jail. She was already on thin ice for being a party animal, if she got a mugshot she'd likely be blacklisted from Hollywood overnight!

“Please! I’ll pay you! Just give me a moment!” she pleaded.

Looking along her person for anything of value, and her eyes immediately caught onto her gold bracelet. Taking it off she placed it onto the bar.

“Here, this should be worth something, right?”

The bartender stared blankly at her jewelry, “A cheap bracelet is not gonna be enough.”

Andrea stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. That bracelet was made of solid gold and probably worth more than the entire bar! Of course, she didn't try to explain this to the man as antagonizing him any further would only make things worse.

Again, Andrea looked for something to offer, and her eyes were drawn to her shoes.

Taking off her platform heels she tossed them onto the table, “What about these? They have to be worth something.”

He stared at the shoes, “Not enough.”

“Come on!” she threw her hands up, no longer able to repress her dissatisfaction, “Those have real gold trimmings and actual diamonds embedded in them!” she feverishly pointed out each diamond along the shoes.

“I don't wear high heels, so they're not worth much to me.”

“Well, I don’t have anything else to give!”

The bartender s eyes carefully drifted up and down her figure, “ What about your dress.”

Andrea's expression soured, “What?! No!”

Shrugging, he turned his back to her and returned his phone to his ear, “Hello? Police?”

Andrea's stomach felt like it was doing backflips. She wanted more than anything to be done with this stupid skirmish, but giving up her dress would be insane. After all, she wasn't wearing anything underneath it. However, being sent to jail would certainly ruin her career. What could she do?