Diana's Dark Discovery

She grabbed her wine glass with the stem between her fingers as she walked to the living room, the cold tile under feet turning to plush carpet.

She grabbed the remote control as she rounded the corner of the couch, gingerly setting herself on the cushy furniture as she pulled her legs up onto the couch and tucked them into her body. Raising the glass to her lips, she enjoyed the crisp flavor of the white wine as it cascaded over her tongue. Diana hadn't realized it before, but her mouth had become a little dry since she walked in. It was time to unwind with some wine and television.

Diana held up the remote and firmly pressed the "on" button; the room suddenly filled with the sounds of cheering and screaming as a football game popped onto the screen. Diana crinkled her nose; she watched sports sometimes with Mark, but she had honestly never cared much for them otherwise. She was certainly not going to watch alone. She pressed the channel button. Hmmm. Rachael Ray. Diana wrinkled her nose again and shook her head slightly. Not in the mood for her incessant bubbly chatter. *CLICK* America's Got Talent rerun? Eh, no. *CLICK* Ellen DeGeneres? Yuck. *Click*

This went on for a few minutes. Diana was usually not a channel surfer, but she simply couldn't find anything that caught her interest. Eventually, Diana decided that there wasn't really anything to watch and she turned the TV off. She let her head fall back onto the couch as she slowly blew a bored sigh out of her mouth.

She stared at a single spot on the ceiling. She continued to stare. She started to have a funny sensation in her head. A subtle feeling.... As if someone or something was nudging her subconscious...

She turned her head around and stared at the stairs for a moment. Diana didn't want to go upstairs and snoop through Felicity's computer again. Really, she didn't.

Honest.

Diana shut her eyes tightly and whipped her head back around, making a slight grunting sound to herself. Anyone watching her secretly might've thought she was losing it. She had to distract herself. "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop." Normally, she'd simply take Zipper for a long walk and get out of the house. But the light rain was just heavy enough to make that an unattractive idea. Zipper wouldn't like it anyway, scaredy-dog that he was.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head. "Tasting the Forbidden Fruit"! The detective novel that had been recommended to her! She had never gotten around to reading it as it slipped her mind after that fateful day. If it was as good as her friend said it was, Diana knew it would certainly keep her occupied for hours.

Eagerly, she reached out for her iPad, which she had thankfully brought with her. Turning the screen on, she quickly brought up the book and flipped to page one. She had barely even started reading before the... events... of that day occurred, so she was going to start fresh.

Diana's eyes flew across the words as she began to get into the story. Honestly, it did seem pretty good. The characters were compelling after even only a few pages, and the author was quite descriptive and good at introducing tension.

However, after about an hour of reading, things started to go a little sour. It was no fault of the books; but the meaning of the title became clear as the Diana figured out that the story was about a murder connected to a wife locked in a torrid affair with another man. Normally, this would not even be an issue. And honestly, such a sordid tale would pique the hidden sides of Diana's all-around good girl demeanor, which she was too embarrassed to even admit to herself. But at the moment, such a story hit a little too close to home for her to really enjoy it. And introducing the idea of murder to the equation was absolutely a road Diana didn't want to go down, considering that she knew Dave would be angry if he caught Felicity cheating, perhaps angry enough to murder her lover. Yikes.

Breathing a slow sigh of resignation, Diana gently set the iPad down on the couch next to her and flexed her toes as she thought about... nothing. She stared absentmindedly at the ceiling. She stared, and stared.

She slowly turned her head toward the stairway. A funny feeling was coming over Diana. She could feel her heartbeat quicken slightly. She chewed on her lower lip somewhat nervously.

Cautiously, Diana lifted herself off the couch and meandered over to one of the side tables, looking at the family photos Felicity and Dave had set up there. In one, she spied Felicity and Dave's wedding photos: wretched 90s hairstyles and all. She turned her gaze slightly and saw an old couple posing for a portrait, probably Dave's grandparents.

Diana's eyes were looking at the photos. But her mind was elsewhere: at the foot of the stairs. In fact, Diana suddenly realized she was standing at the foot of the stairs. Fancy that!

Her heartbeat quickened further. She breathed heavily and directed her gaze upwards. Huh. Stucco ceiling. That's unique.

And the dam burst. Suddenly, Diana found herself walking up the stairs. The sound of the rain echoed in her skull. Family photos passed her on the walls with barely a thought paid to them. Her legs moved one after another, stairs creaking as she went up further and further.

"Don't do this, Diana." Her conscience yelled at her as she continued, seemingly powerless over her own body. "You shouldn't do this. It's not your business. You can't do anything about it. You'll only get in trouble."

But she really was powerless. All the internal screaming in the world was having no effect. Her legs kept moving. She wasn't looking back. The other side of her was firmly in control and was not budging an inch. Diana was dimly aware of this. "If mind control is a real thing, this is what it must feel like."

Reaching the top of the stairs, the doorway to Felicity's room came into view. By now, there was no hesitation in Diana's walk. She had fully given in. She was marching as if on a mission.

The rationalization began to set in. "If Felicity is cheating on Dave, I have to know," Diana thought resolutely. "I can't go on wondering. If she's really cheating, then I'll get to the bottom of it, and it'll set my mind at ease if nothing else. I can at least know that it's happening, and not be shocked if -- when -- she's caught, or confesses. Otherwise, if I'm mistaken and it was all a misunderstanding, then I can know for sure and stop thinking about it."

Diana walked into Felicity's bedroom feeling slightly short of breath. This was really happening. She'd never really had anything shocking happen to her before. Sure, being proposed to by Mark was exciting, and nothing beat the feeling of holding her daughters for the first time; but this was different. This was an instance of true intrigue that Diana had never experienced. Her life had been pretty... well, not boring, but certainly very tame and devoid of drama.

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she looked over at the computer in the corner of the room. Hmm. No SD card in the slot. She figured it wouldn't be there this time. Slowly, Diana went over the computer desk and nearby dresser carefully, being sure to try peeking under objects when possible. Nothing.

She looked over on the other dresser and side table. Still nothing. The red SD card was going to stick out wherever it was, and she wasn't seeing it.

Diana placed her hands on her hips as she scanned a shelf. Books, small statue of an angel, stacks of papers... Hmm. Black nylon bag. Looking closer, it was obvious that this was a bag for a camera.

Diana wondered for a moment. Could it be in there? Seemed too obvious. Dave would totally find it in there. But then again, Felicity was the photographer, not Dave. Maybe she knew him well-enough to know he'd never go in there. Whatever the case, it was worth a look.

Diana reached over and carefully grabbed the bag in her slightly shaking hands. She could practically hear the song from "Dragnet" in her head as she conducted her investigation. On the one hand, what Diana was doing was slightly exciting, she had to admit. On the other hand, she wished it could be under other circumstances.

Unclasping the front buckle, she gingerly lifted the lid of the case up and over and her eyes quickly took in the contents. The first thing she noticed was a rather large and complex-looking camera. It looked impressive, to say the least. More buttons that Diana could count, without any idea what half of them did. Diana peeked around the camera and in the corners of the bag. Nothing. She did find some SD cards on the bottom of the bag, but they were all black and deep blue. Diana rifled through some of the inner pouches. Still nothing. She even lifted out the camera (somewhat terrified of ruining it somehow) and checked it's memory card port; nothing there either.

That's when Diana noticed a small pocket-within-a-pocket that she hadn't seen at first. The light just happened to catch the shadows the right way as Diana peered downward, otherwise she might not have noticed. Suddenly feeling intuition kick in, Diana slowly lowered a single finger into the small pouch and felt flat plastic inside. She gently extended her thumb inward and pulled the object out slightly. Diana's eye caught a glimpse of red. Bingo! Diana's heart began pounding and her breath grew heavier. This was it. It had to be it.

Wasting no second, Diana immediately turned and marched to the office chair. With hands shaking rather strongly, she slid the SD card into the computer. The PC happily chimed in response. Slowly, she pulled out the office chair and gently sat down while scooting up to the computer. Taking the mouse in her hand, she brought the computer out of sleep mode and into the login screen, selecting Felicity's account and typing in the password. She looked at the account icon for a moment, a stunning photo of Felicity and Dave at a beautiful tropical beach somewhere. As Diana entered the password and pressed enter, she felt rather numb. She was too wrapped into the moment to think about much else.

"Zipper41293". The account login chime played as the Windows desktop came into view. Diana almost couldn't believe what was happening; she was here, again, about to dig in to Felicity's photos. A small part of her still felt bad for snooping, but she was too resolute to care now. For the sake of her friendship with Felicity, Diana needed to know the truth.

Navigating to "My Computer", Diana saw the SD card entry on the side, just as she had weeks earlier. It was déjà vu of sorts, except much less innocent this time around. With a shaking hand and a wildly beating heart, Diana selected the SD card. Just as before, a folder came up with 9 more subfolders. This was all too familiar to Diana. Slowly and deliberately, Diana selected the newest entry, the same one she had chosen before. She was headed back to the source of her troubles, where it all began.

A number of photos popped up, along with a few videos. Just as Diana remembered. She was sure that she'd been here. This was the place. The notion that perhaps she'd opened a web browser and accidentally searched for porn was looking inconceivable by this point.

With a jittery hand, she navigated to the first photo listed, which was in chronological order. This was the moment of truth. What she would see in a moment would either prove or disprove everything that had clouded Diana's mind the past few weeks. She sat straight up with her chest out, feet nervously fidgeting under the desk, ready to finally lay the issue to rest.

She took a deep breath and double-clicked the first photo.

It caused her to freeze as it came up.

It was a photo of...a sunset?

Huh. It looked pretty nice. Diana stared for a second. Certainly not what she expected. Which was sort of a relief. But also not? Diana was feeling strange and could hardly even tell what she was feeling anymore.

It was a nice sunset, overlooking the ocean. Hmmm. It appeared to be taken on a balcony somewhere, probably in a hotel. Diana frowned slightly as she looked. Not what she expected to see. Perhaps she really was mistaken. This did not seem like an irregular photo for Felicity.

Diana pressed the right arrow key. *Next*.

The sunset disappeared. And a photo of a person appeared! Diana's heart immediately kicked into overdrive! This must be it!

And.... Something, she supposed? It was a photo of Felicity. Diana stared, not sure whether to be confused, which was itself confusing. It was a photo of Felicity in what appeared to be a hotel room; at least it certainly wasn't Felicity's bedroom or any room in her house. Felicity herself looked... gorgeous, to say the least. Diana was still a little preoccupied, but she could still take the time to admire the beauty of her best friend. In the photo, Felicity was leaning up against a wall slightly, her hip cocked slightly outward. Her arms were up in the air, one straight up against the wall while the other was up with her hand back behind her head. She was wearing a strapless white summer dress which went down to her ankles; the dress was low-cut enough to expose an enormous amount of cleavage, and the white material around her large breasts looked stretched to its breaking point. She had a smile on her face. Kind of a knowing smile. A welcoming smile.

Diana was slightly caught off-guard. She had expected the photos to be more... sexual, she thought as she blushed. So far, they weren't exactly. A sunset is a sunset. And the photo of Felicity in the dress... well, it certainly would make a man blush. Diana herself was mildly jealous sometimes of her friend's confident glamour, although Diana knew truthfully that she herself had an attractive figure and lovely smile. This photo of Felicity was sexualized, but it didn't prove anything.

Diana swallowed. There was still more to see. But was she mistaken? The first two photos had been innocuous. But the rest of the album was hopefully going to answer her question.

Diana tentatively pressed the right arrow key. *Next*.

And Diana took a sharp breath as the picture appeared. Her breath stopped. Her brain struggled to make sense of what she was seeing.

It was a somewhat dim photo... but her eyes were adjusting to the photo's lighting. She saw... a man. Diana's heart practically stopped. She saw a man... in what appeared to be a white bathrobe that went down to his knees. He was stepping out of what must've been the bathroom. Meanwhile, Felicity was seated on a chair in the room, looking at the man while smiling. She seemed to be smiling with her eyes and caught in the middle of a laugh. Looking back at the man, Diana studied for a moment while fearing the worst. This was seeming horribly familiar. The man looked horribly familiar.

The man was quite large, very tall. He was covered by the bathrobe, but his exposed calves looked extremely muscular, bulging with muscle just below the knee. Diana couldn't see his upper body or face that well, as the light of the bathroom behind him was ruining the lighting. But studying his legs, she could see how dark they were. He was clearly a black man.

Diana's heart sank as she took in the photo. It's true that this photo was still kind of innocuous. But really, this basically proved that Felicity must be cheating on Dave with another man. What on earth would a man in a robe -- a black man, no less -- be doing in Felicity's hotel room? "Perhaps he's room service or something," Diana thought weakly. But that thought was quickly thrown out. Yeah, right. A room service employee who reports to customer's rooms in a bathrobe. No way. Diana had a bad feeling about this.

Her hand shook as she reached for the arrow key. She was terrified of what she would see next... although she couldn't help but go for it. There was no stopping her.

*Next*

The next photo caused Diana's breath to catch in her throat. If the last photo was merely suggestive, this photo was... a whole lot more than just suggestive.

It was a photo of the black man and Felicity close together, facing each other. Felicity had her elbows at her side, forearms out with hands grabbing the folds of the man's robe. She was looking up into the man's face, beaming with a huge smile. The man's face was visible this time. Diana studied him with interest. He appeared... young. Diana moved her face back a bit, slightly flabbergasted. This man appeared to probably be near 25 or 26 at the oldest. He was certainly not Felicity's age. But he was much, much taller. And he stared down into Felicity's face with a smile of his own, white teeth shining brilliantly against his dark skin. He honestly looked kind of nice. Diana had always been attracted to a lovely smile, which is what she first noticed about Mark.

But the man had one hand outstretched, cupped around Felicity's luscious rear end. Diana looked with wide eyes. The man's hands were huge. They nearly gripped the entirety of her tush, like a basketball. He seemed to be squeezing gently.

Diana sat staring, her mind alternating between a mad race of thoughts of numb emptiness. Really, this was already it. There was no further question. Felicity. Was. Cheating. Diana felt... simply flabbergasted. She wasn't angry, at least yet. She was just so shocked. Diana never would've seen this coming.

Almost automatically, she pressed the arrow key. *Next*

The picture shifted slightly. It was still a similar pose between the two. But Diana gave out a low gasp as her eyes took in the sordid scene. It was amazing what just a few small changes could do to the atmosphere of an image.

The bathrobe was now almost completely off the man. It was behind his back on his arms, appearing that the photo was taken as he was removing it. His body caught Diana's eye immediately. She'd never seen anything like it outside of a modeling catalogue. The large man was very muscular in every way. His chest muscles jutted out like cliffs from his upper body, with six perfectly countable ab muscles aligned underneath. Diana had never seen such definition. She rubbed her fingers together anxiously as she examined his broad shoulders and sizable biceps; his well-defined triceps cast a shadow on the rear of his arms, and veins bulged out all the way down to his hands.

Looking back toward his torso, she followed his abs downward to that v-shaped muscle near the groin, which was also perfectly aligned. As if by design, it only served to direct the gaze further downward.

Diana smacked her lips a little. Her mouth was getting a bit dry.

She saw the man was wearing what appeared to be red --colored briefs, perhaps satin. They slightly shimmered in the dim lighting, and went down to just over the knees. As she stared, her eyes narrowed slightly and she twisted her mouth a bit in confusion. Something looked strange. The briefs didn't look normal.

And then her eyes widened. And got wider still. The boxers had an enormous... bulge. They hugged the man's hips tightly, but in the groin area, the material bulged out enormously. Stretched wrinkles were apparent in the fabric. It almost looked as if the man was wearing an athletic cup under his briefs, which was of course ridiculous. Diana stared with rapt attention, her feet nervously fidgeting under the desk. It could only be the man's... penis.

Diana swallowed, rubbing the interior of her dry mouth with her tongue. She couldn't be certain while the briefs were on, but it looked like the man's penis must be... enormous. Diana had never, ever seen anything like this. Not even Mark seemed to stick out that much.

A little voice echoed in her head. "Diana, you have your proof. Time to go." But the little voice was just that: little. It merely echoed in her head. She could not bring herself to stand. She could not bring herself to look away. She'd never felt like this in her life. So many emotions were running together while she stared at these photos: anger, shock, disbelief, denial... and other things that she couldn't identify. Something was keeping Diana glued to the chair.