Diana's Dark Discovery

Diana narrowed her eyes a little bit as she looked at woman's left foot. There was something on the top of her foot... Actually a tattoo. Diana squinted even further as she struggled to make it out. She wasn't sure why she cared about this woman's tattoo, of all things. But something about it seemed... familiar.

Hmmm. "4/12/93...."

Diana immediately brought her hand up to her mouth with a sharp gasp. Her eyes were as wide as they could possibly go. Her heart started pounding out of her chest. She could feel her skin going flush.

"4/12/93"

Diana simply could not believe what she was seeing. She checked again. There was no mistaking it: "4/12/93".

It was the very same tattoo Felicity had on her left foot: the date of her marriage. Not just the same design; the same actual tattoo. And now that Diana looked back up the woman's body, Diana had yet another heart-stopping revelation. This wasn't just some woman.

This was a picture of Felicity. It was a picture of Felicity, completely naked, having sex. The hair, the body, what was visible of the face... And there, on the left hand, was Felicity's wedding ring. The very same.

And now something else was dawning on Diana. The man in the photo - the chiseled, large man - was not Felicity's husband. Dave was in good shape, but Diana had seen Dave shirtless enough times to know that he was nowhere near that built. Furthermore, the man in the photo was clearly much larger than even Dave.

Diana stared at the man for a second. She wasn't sure who he was. Once again, she wasn't trying to be lurid; in fact, part of her wanted to shut down the image immediately. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was still too shocked.

Diana was having trouble making the image of the man out, when another thought slowly dawned on her. The man looked dark in the photo because he was dark. He was dark-colored. Felicity was having sex with a... with a BLACK man!

The total truth of the photo was now clear. This was a photo, taken last week, of Felicity - blond, married, white Felicity - completely naked on a bed with an enormous black man, having SEX!

Diana sat shocked. Her eyes continued to take in the photo in front of her, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Felicity's normally fair complexion showed deep pinks and reds across her body. Her tousled hair was strewn half across her face, but Diana could catch a flash of brilliant white; it was Felicity's teeth. She had a broad smile on her face and seemed to be looking up into the face of the man having sex with her, which was not within the frame. Diana looked downward at Felicity's breasts: her nipples were enormous, like as large as marbles. She was clearly turned on. And looking even further down...

No. Diana came to her sense and quickly stood up, the sticky leather noisily peeling off her bare and now quite warm thighs. She started pacing slowly, nervously up and down the room, chewing on her fingernail out of habit. She stole another glance back toward the computer. What on earth was going on here? Was this really a photo of Felicity - her best friend Felicity - cheating on her husband? This simply couldn't be. Diana's mind raced. Felicity and Dave were happily married. Weren't they? There's no way that Felicity would feel the need to cheat on him. If Felicity were unhappy, she would've told Diana. Or at least, Diana would've picked up on it. She knew Felicity too well. There would've been something - some indicator. Or Felicity would've confided to Diana about it.

Diana simply could not believe that Felicity would cheat on Dave. But the evidence was crystal clear. It was all there in the photo. Did Dave know? Ridiculous. How could he know? There's no way he'd put up with that. The strain would've been obvious by now if the couple was dealing with infidelity. There's no way Dave knew about this.

From across the room, Diana nervously flipped her head back toward the computer screen. She chewed her fingernail nervously as she approached the screen again, bending slightly to view the photo.

...As Diana was seeing before, it clearly looked like Felicity was OK with what was going on here. In fact, more than ok. Felicity positively oozed sexual radiance in this photo. It didn't seem like this was forced in any way. Diana once again looked from Felicity's beaming smile, to her puffy and flush breasts, over her tiny hands caressing the man's dark chest and down her smooth creamy flank and toward her hips. And further down, in between her spread thighs...

*DEEDLE-EEDLE-EEDLE!*

Diana gave out a high-pitched yelp as her cell phone blared on the table next to her. Caught totally off-guard, Diana nearly fell over as she quickly grabbed the screaming device. Taking a hurried glance at the caller ID, Diana's insides froze. Oh shoot. Oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot!

It was Felicity!

A zillion things went through Diana's head at once. Did Felicity somehow know what Diana was doing? Was there some kind of alert on the computer that notified Felicity when unauthorized people were digging through her private files? Was Felicity somehow testing Diana? God forbid, was Diana going to turn around and find Felicity in the room staring at her angrily and just toying with her by calling the cell phone?

Diana took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and selected the answer button in her iPhone. Act casual, she nervously told herself. Act casual. She absolutely could NOT give any indication of what she was doing, or what she had seen.

"Hello?"

"Hey girl! Sorry to bother you, I figured I'd just call real quick and see how you're doing. I was thinking about much I appreciate you dog sitting for ol' Zippster.

Diana's breath held itself for a moment, before she replied in a mostly casual manner. "Hey Felicity! I'm great, I was settling down for some coffee and a book. Nothing going on here at all, Zipper has been walked and fed." Except for me finding pictures of you having sex with another man, Diana thought somewhat numbly. She was still in utter shock.

The two women talked for just a few minutes, before Felicity said she needed to head off somewhere. Diana pressed the end call button and lowered the phone slowly, staring at the ground for a moment. Her heart was still pounding as she grimaced at her own foolishness. A secret alarm on the SD card? Diana could hardly believe she had actually thought something so ludicrous for a moment. At least, she was pretty certain that nothing like that existed.

But now her thoughts suddenly went back to the photo she had seen. Diana exhaled slowly as she leaned back against a nearby dresser, the coolness of the wood soothing her hot, flush thighs. She shut her eyes in thought for a moment, before opening them slowly and looking back at the computer screen across the room.

She hadn't imagined it. The picture was still there. In fact it was almost even more vibrant looking from here; the man Felicity was having sex with... cheating with... was very black, which stood out vividly from Felicity's creamy complexion and blond hair. The contrast was stark.

A flood of guilt suddenly swept over Diana. She hung her head, held her forehead in her hand and sighed anxiously as she admitted to herself that snooping had not been the best idea. There are some things you just don't want to know; finding out that Felicity was being unfaithful to Dave was one of those things. That's what Diana deserved for snooping, she thought meekly to herself.

Diana what to shut it down. She was still shaken from the bizarre coincidence of being called by Felicity while also uncovering her... secret. Diana gathered her resolve and marched over to the computer, brushing her bangs out of her face as she grabbed the mouse and lurched the cursor over to the X button. Diana still didn't quite understand what was going on here, but she was certainly through with snooping for today. Maybe even for good. Without hesitating, she clicked the X button.

For a split second, her eyes flicked back over the image as it closed.

Felicity's smile and blue eyes. Her skin, flush and pink. A dark man, defined muscles...

As quickly as her brain began to process the image, it disappeared.

CHAPTER 2

Diana had, that same evening, seen Felicity as she returned home. Felicity greeted her with a smile and a hug, as normal. Diana tried her best to act completely casual, which seemed to work. Being an airhead, Felicity was easy to fool anyway. She chatted away as Diana tried to pay attention, doing her best to put the episode behind her. At any rate, Felicity seemed to have no idea what Diana had stumbled upon.

Days passed. Then weeks. Every day, Diana expected Felicity to pound on her door and angrily tell her that she knew Diana had snooped. But that never happened. As far as Diana could tell, Felicity really had no idea that she had seen anything at all.

That wasn't all Diana was waiting for. She had her ears tuned and eyes open for any sign of trouble from Felicity and Dave. Diana knew Dave well enough to know that he would not take infidelity lightly. As he shouldn't! In fact, Diana honestly thought Dave would divorce his wife if he found out. That's what made the whole situation so serious for Diana. She was waiting for the day that Felicity showed up on her doorstep sobbing, bringing news of an imminent divorce. How on earth would Diana react to that?

Mark and Diana had a tradition of sitting outside every evening with a glass of wine. Normally, they liked to watch the sunset and listen to the sounds of nature. But now, Diana would strain her hearing when sitting outside for any sounds of fighting, doors slamming, crying, whatever, coming from Felicity's house. But there was nothing. As far as Diana could tell, Dave and Felicity were as happy and in-love as ever.

It was especially awkward to see Dave for the first time since that day after he stopped by to drop something off for Mark. Dave greeted Diana with his usual smile and small hug, seemingly none worse for the wear. She saw him a few more times over the next few weeks, and he never seemed to be preoccupied or down about anything. In fact, when Diana had seen Felicity and Dave together a few times, she watched as Felicity gave her husband a loving kiss. It looked totally genuine, not a fake kiss from an unfaithful wife. Dave seemed to accept it as such.

As a few weeks went by, the exact memory of the find started to fade a little bit. To be honest, Diana was starting to wonder if she had been mistaken. It was possible. Maybe the woman in the photo wasn't Felicity after all. It's not like Diana had taken the time to actually compare the foot tattoo to another picture of Felicity. Foot tattoos like that were common these days; it could've been anyone. Sure, she was pretty certain the tattoo was "4/12/1993"; but it wasn't impossible for another woman to have the tattoo. And maybe that's not what it said. Maybe it was just the power of suggestion.

And maybe Diana had been mistaken about finding the photos on the SD card in the computer to begin with. Perhaps through some fat-fingering, some mistake, she had accidentally opened the web browser and inadvertently brought up some kind of porn site. It really didn't seem likely though Could she really make a mistake like that? Was that possible? Diana was not necessarily a computer whiz, so maybe it was a mistake. She'd have to accidentally search for something like "interracial sex" to get a photo like that pulled up, though.

"Interracial sex" The very sound of the term in her thoughts made her blush deeply. It was certainly not a thought that Diana dwelled on often. Or ever.

Diana really was no longer sure anymore. It all just seemed so improbable, unbelievable, and nonsensical. Nothing seemed to fit. And Felicity, nor her husband, were giving any clues at all as to what was going on. This was a complete mystery.

A complete mystery...

Diana's detective instincts were kicking in. This was, by far, the juiciest mystery she'd ever had in her personal life. Was she correct? Did she find a photo proving that Felicity was cheating on Dave? Or was it a mistake? Was Diana stressing herself out about nothing at all?

Part of Diana - the sensible, conservative part - did not want anything more to do with this. She wanted to put the whole thing behind her. It was really none of her business. She'd do best to forget about it and move on.

But there was another part of Diana: a woman fascinated by mystery, intrigue, and deeds in the darkness. Darkness... It was the darkness, the unknown and forbidden that allured Diana's mind. It was this part of her that was biding its time, waiting for her chance to return to Felicity's house for some sleuthing.

************

The light rain beat rhythmically against the big picture window. Diana liked the rain. It always felt soothing and refreshing, as if the world were getting a new coat of paint; not to mention that it somehow always made it feel cozier inside. Of course, considering the drought California was currently suffering from, rain also was a good sign. The state wasn't shriveling into desert just yet.

Diana was reclining on her couch in yoga pants and a long-sleeve Victoria's Secret shirt. This was the sort of day that Diana knew how to milk for all it was worth. She reached for her coffee on the side table next to her...

*DEEDLE-EEDLE-EEDLE*

Diana looked over at her phone inquisitively, picking it up in her hand. The next sip of coffee would just have to wait

Hmmm. Felicity.

By this time, Diana had mostly - mostly - forced herself to move on from what she thought she saw. Diana didn't even think about it some days. But whenever she saw or received a call from Felicity, she couldn't help but envision a brief flash of... whatever it was that Diana saw.

Diana pressed the green answer button and brought the phone up to her ear, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder in the process. "Hey, girlie!"

"Hey girl! I hope you're enjoying the rain!"

Diana directed her gaze outside. "Oh, you know I love it. Nothing makes the air taste fresher. Maybe I should get rain-flavored toothpaste for Mark..."

Felicity laughed. "Aw, that's such a good idea. Say, I hate to ask you this since it's already late in the day, but... I need to head out for a few hours, and I may not be back until late. Is there any way you could pretty please..."

...and Felicity/s words seemed to slow to a crawl in Diana's head for a moment as Diana instantly knew what Felicity was about to ask.

"...come over and watch Zipper tonight?"

Diana had done her best to put the whole photo-finding incident behind her. In fact, she thought she had reached a point in which she was still concerned for Felicity, but had resigned herself to the fact that it wasn't really her business.

But as Felicity was saying the words, it was suddenly like the other part of Diana - the not-sensible and not-conservative part - was swimming up from the depths of her psyche. No, not just swimming; torpedoing. Diana felt like part of her was shooting up toward the surface from the depths of her mind, the light of day growing ever brighter, hands outstretched to breach the surface...!

"Sure thing, girl. What time should I be over?"

"If you could be in by 4pm, I'd really appreciate it!"

"Yes, absolutely, I'll be there," Diana said somewhat breathlessly. Her heart was beginning to lightly pound in her chest.

"Gosh, thanks again Diana! I love you so much!"

"Love you too girl! Bye!"

"Bye!"

Diana pressed the end call button and lowered the phone slowly, biting her upper lip slightly as her eyes flicked upward and stared into the distance. A part of her - the sensible part - told her that she needed to stay away from Diana's computer when she got there. It would only get her into trouble. It's not like Diana could do anything about it. She quite frankly did not have the guts to tattle on Felicity even if they really were photos of her cheating on Dave. And how on earth would she break the news? The very thought of having to do such a thing was a nightmare to the generally non-confrontational Diana.

But that other part of Diana was... curious. Compelled. Intrigued.

She took a deep breath, slowly walked back to the couch and plopped down, bringing up her left leg to hug while resting her chin on her knee. She stared out of the window pensively.

CHAPTER 3

Diana stared out the front door as she watched Felicity's car pull out of the driveway. She listened to the sound of the automatic garage door closing behind her. All was quiet except for the patter of light rain on the windows and the intermittent sound of Zipper snorting in his slumber on the easy chair in the living room.

Diana walked to the foyer and gently kicked off her sandals with the rest of the shoes. Diana stared for a moment. Felicity really had a lot of shoes. Running shoes, high heels, sandals, casual toms, and flats all line the foyer, not to mention a small collection of Dave's various shoes...

A little voice spoke into her mind's ear: "She's gone. Go check her computer."

Diana immediately snapped out of it and pushed the thought out of her mind. She made her way to the kitchen and headed straight for Felicity's wine cabinet. Standing on her toes to reach, Diana grabbed a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the top shelf, carefully bringing it down. Arching her body over to another cabinet while standing on one foot, she grabbed a crystal clear wine glass from one of the shelves.

The thoughts of what was upstairs were crowding Diana's head. Diana really did not want to go snooping through Felicity's things again. Ever the good girl, Diana had always prided herself on being trustworthy and caring. The last thing she wanted to do was betray Felicity's trust.

But the woman was potentially CHEATING on her husband!

Diana struggled slightly with the wine bottles cork, releasing some mental tension as she tugged and twisted. Felicity was Diana's best friend, but she was potentially doing something really unthinkable: cheating on her husband! Sweet, caring, attentive Dave!

Diana reached over to a nearby drawer and pulled out a metal corkscrew, shifting her weight to one side as she jammed the pointed end of the screw into the cork and twisted with sharp, wrenching motions. She puckered her lips slightly and gave out deeper breaths with each effort.

...She wondered what it would be like for Felicity, cheating on her husband but acting like absolutely nothing is wrong, acting like she and Dave have the perfect marriage. Oh, nothing is wrong, all right. While Dave goes on about his day worshiping his beautiful wife, she goes around his back and sleeps with other men. What better situation could Felicity ask for? What more could Felicity want than to sneak out behind Dave's back and meet up with secret boy-toys for SEX!

*PHOOMP!* Diana stumbled backwards, barely catching her balance as she yanked the cork out with a firm pull of the arm. Standing still for a moment, she slowly walked toward the counter and gingerly held the bottle with both hands as she poured a few ounces of white wine into her glass, expertly twisting the bottle as she poured so as not to spill any droplets. She sighed heavily as she set the bottle back down on the table, proceeding to place her hands on the flat surface and bend over slightly as she stared downward. She mulled over the few minutes' preceding thoughts. Anger and resentment were not Diana's style. She was letting this whole episode get to her and stress her out. Really, she needed to just relax. After all, it was as she had told herself many times since then: maybe she was wrong. In fact, she was probably wrong.

Diana looked back up at the bottle of wine. Words on the label suddenly caught her eye: "Forget your troubles!". She snorted slightly in muffled laughter. Just what she needed.