Black Pearl (12 page)

Devyn entered Nikola’s condo after getting off work. Devyn finally conceded and chose to ride with Nikola to the office most mornings. She was practically living with him, only spending one night or so a week at her apartment. Ordinarily Nikola would wait for her or vice versa, and drive back to his place. Tonight, Nikola had a late meeting with a few clients, so he told her not to expect him until late.

Devyn decided to use her time to wash and style her hair and then check her personal emails. Devyn sat at the large vanity Nikola purchased for her to use. She thought back on the conversation that caused him to buy the vanity. One day after she spent the night at his place, he asked her if she had cut her hair. Devyn had washed her hair and decided to let it air dry.

Confused at his question, she asked why he thought she’d cut her hair. He noted the length difference and Devyn began laughing. She realized he wasn’t familiar with Afro-textured hair. That was the beginning of Devyn explaining terms like “shrinkage,” the need for regular deep conditioning, and why she needed to sleep on a satin pillowcase or scarf. After that conversation, Devyn returned to Nikola’s condo a few days later to find a large vanity set stocked with all her haircare needs. She smiled and shook her head at the memory.

Pulling out her iPad, Devyn turned it on to check her personal emails. Today, had been an extremely busy day at the office, and she worked straight through lunch, which is when she usually checked her personal email account. Opening her email she saw a few emails from her mother and sister. One showed off her three-year-old nephew, Isaiah, at soccer practice. The ache in her heart grew at how much she missed her family. Devyn made a mental note to schedule a visit with them soon. She wondered if Nikola would be interested in going with her. He often asked about them, and even spoke to both over the phone and some Skype conversations.

Scrolling down she saw an email from an address she didn’t recognize. Thinking it was spam that somehow got through her filter, she went to delete it, but something stopped her. The email address ‘ThomasMan23’ made her pause. She knew even before she opened it this email was from Marcus. With the last name Thomas and the number 23—his old college basketball number, she knew he created a new email address to contact her since she blocked all his others avenues of contacting her via the phone or internet. Opening the email, a knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she read the short message:

You really want to talk to me.

The cryptic message caused Devyn’s heart rate to speed up. She didn’t want to look any further, fearing what she would see, but knowing she needed to see the rest. Hesitantly, Devyn scrolled down the email and immediately gasped, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

Tears formed in Devyn’s eyes as she stared at a picture of her, on her knees performing fellatio on Marcus.

The picture looked like a screenshot of a video, which Devyn knew she never consented to. Her hands began to shake as she continued to stare at the picture. She recognized the threat for what it was. Marcus was threatening to release this picture, or video, or whoever knows how many videos he had of her in their most private moments. Tears ran down her face. She knew she couldn’t get him to release these pictures or put them online.

As a burlesque dancer she understood she willingly consented to having her body on display for her audience she performed for. But these pictures were different. She did not consent to having her private moments with a man she thought loved her, put on display for the world to see. Bile rose in her throat and she ran to the bathroom emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Sitting on the tiled floor, she wondered what Marcus wanted. Why was he doing this to her? They hadn’t even been together for a year and a half. She knew there was only one person who could give her those answers. For a brief moment she considered telling Nikola but her shame and embarrassment stopped her. She would handle this on her own.

With shaky fingers, Devyn hit the unblock button for Marcus’ number and pressed call.

“I see you got my message.” Devyn closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her stomach willing herself not to vomit again at the sound of his voice. He truly disgusted her.

“What do you want?” She said in a voice just above a whisper.

“That’s all I get? ‘What do I want?’”
What did he expect?

His actions and the pleasure she heard in his voice let her know he was enjoying causing her pain. She shook her head at her naiveté in ever thinking he was a good person.

“Marcus, please don’t do this,” she begged trying to reason with him, but knew it was futile. Hearing herself beg him caused another wave of bile to rise, but she pushed it down. 

“Oh now it’s ‘Marcus please don’t do this.’ What happened to ‘leave me alone Marcus’? Huh? Where did tough-girl-Devyn go? She’s not so big and bad now, right?” He laughed getting off on the pain he was causing her.

“You think your rich boyfriend’s gonna stick by you with your pussy on display for the world? Just think of the shame it would bring to his perfect little life. He’ll drop you quicker than you can say the word ‘whore.’” Devyn’s legs went weak and she fell down on the bed.

She knew Nikola couldn’t afford to have his name associated with such a scandal as having his girlfriend’s sexual escapades going viral. She knew if that happened, Nikola’s world would be turned upside down, as well as hers.

“What do you want?”

“Leave him.” Marcus said on a sneer.

“What?”

“Don’t play with me, Devyn. I said, leave him. Tell Mr. White Boy you’re done with him and his time playing on the wrong side of the tracks is over.”

“Why? If this is about the security jo–.”

“Fuck that job! That fucker caused me not only to lose that job, but no one else will hire me! And it was because of you! You thought you could leave me and get with some rich white boy and I would be okay with that? Nah. Fuck that!” Marcus’ voice rose to a yell by the end of his tirade.

“Marcus, we’ve been over for almost two years. You barely even wanted me. Why do you care who I’m with?” Devyn was completely confused as to why Marcus would even care that she moved on and was happy. He cheated on her. Multiple times. Throughout their relationship he ridiculed her to the point she wasn’t even sure he liked her most of the time.

“It’s about loyalty!” He shouted. “You weren’t loyal to me and now you’re going to pay for it! Get rid of him by the end of the week. If you don’t, you will see all the videos of you with your legs spread wide for the internet and everyone to see. I might even sell them to one of the guys to get a video deal. I’m betting I could make a lot of money for exposing Nikola Collins’ girlfriend for the whore she is. You have until the end of the week and I will be watching.” He hung up.

Devyn sat on the edge of the bed, her whole body trembling, and tears running down her face. The thought of leaving Nikola filled her with a pain she never experienced before. The idea of no longer waking up in Nikola’s arms filled her with dread. She placed her hand over her chest and massaged where her heart already began to ache. She knew she couldn’t allow those videos to be released. It might not ruin Nikola but it would bring shame to his company and family, and hers as well. The thought of her mother or sister finding one of those videos online sickened her even more. Closing her eyes tightly she knew what she had to do. She would comply with Marcus’ demands. She would leave Nikola.

Devyn was avoiding him. Nikola could feel it. The other night when he got home and saw a note from her telling him she wasn’t feeling well, so she went home to sleep it off, he knew something wasn’t right. He called Devyn and instead of answering or calling him back, she sent him a text, saying she was okay, just under the weather and didn’t want to pass whatever it was onto him.

He thought it was a reasonable gesture, but a nagging feeling told him it was something deeper. The past two days had been more of the same, with Devyn canceling date plans and opting to stay at her apartment for one reason or another. She turned down a lunch date with him, saying she was swamped and had to work through lunch.

He was the CEO of the company; if he had time to take a lunch break surely she did as well! Instead of insisting he let it go, but he wouldn’t do so anymore. He made a dinner reservation for them tonight at one of Devyn’s favorite restaurants. He would make her tell him what was going on.

Nikola paced in front of the popular Brazilian Steakhouse, waiting for Devyn. She insisted on driving herself to the restaurant. He knew that wasn’t a good sign. He sighed. A few minutes later he saw Devyn crossing the street.

“You could have valeted. Where did you park?” He rushed to ask her, pulling her in for a kiss. She turned her head and his lips landed on her cheek. His grip tightened on her waist.

Looking down he asked, “Everything okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, I was just running a little late. I parked in the lot around the corner.” She smiled, but he knew her face well. It was a strained effort.

“Devyn, I cou–.”

She waved him off. “Nikola, it’s okay,” she pulled out of his embrace. Nikola grabbed her hand and escorted her in the restaurant.

With each passing second Nikola grew tenser. Devyn barely made eye contact with him throughout their meal. Conversation between them was stilted. Their usual banter and back-and-forth was nonexistent. He could feel the tension coiled within Devyn, as if any little thing would cause her to stand and rush out of the restaurant. He wanted to reach out and pull her into his lap, have her smile at him the way she only did for him and tell him everything was okay. He needed that.

Nikola wracked his brain to try and figure out if he had done something wrong or neglected her in some way. He knew his Devyn; she would have told him if he had been an ass.

At the end of their meal, Nikola escorted Devyn out of the restaurant. “Are you going to follow me home, or do you want me to follow you home so you can drop your car off?” He asked fully intending for her to spend the weekend with him. He noticed a look pass over Devyn’s face that made his gut clench. She dipped her head.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She stated in a low voice.

“What? Me following you? We can go straight to my place then.” Nikola knew this conversation wasn’t going to end well, but he tried to play it casual.

“No, me coming over tonight.”

“Why not?” He stepped closer and lifted her chin with his finger when she tried to step away from him.

“Devyn, what’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing. You’ve been avoiding me for days now and you won’t come home with me. What’s the matter?” Nikola’s heard the strain in his own voice. He watched as Devyn’s eyes became glassy with unshed tears.

“I just...” She hesitated. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to see each other anymore.” Nikola felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. He was speechless for a few moments.

“What? What are you saying?” His voice tight.

Devyn blew out a breath. “I think we should stop seeing each other. It’s getting too complicated.”

“Too complicated?” He was completely thrown for a loop.

Just last week everything was fine. Sure, their relationship progressed quickly, but it felt right. He believed in following his instincts and every one of his instincts told him Devyn Williams was the one for him. Nikola didn’t believe in waiting around or being patient when he really wanted something. It’s not how he was taught to do business or live his life. Once he finally had Devyn there was no way he could take anything slow. She was it for him.

“I...uh…” She sighed. “I just think it’s for the best.”

“That’s not an explanation, Devyn.” He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice.

“I just...It’s gotten too complicated. We’re together all the time. I was practically living with you. I feel like I’m losing myself.” Devyn stepped back and lowered her head.

“It was never my intention to smother you. We can take it slower if you’d like.” The words pained Nikola to say, but he would do it if that’s what Devyn needed.

“You can’t take things slow Nikola. It’s not who you are. You’re the full-steam-ahead type of person. It’s why you’re so successful. I just...I can’t do this. I’m sorry,” she took another step back. Nikola felt his anger rise.

“Sorry for what? Leading me on? Having me believe everything was great between us and then discarding what we have as if it doesn’t mean shit to you?” Nikola knew he was losing the thin thread of control he had over his anger. He felt out of his depth.

“I-I’m sorry, Nikola. This isn’t what I wanted to happen. It’s...this is for the best. Please, just let it go.” Devyn turned to walk away. Before Devyn could take a full step, Nikola grabbed her by the arm, just hard enough to halt her movement, not to hurt her.

“Devyn, don’t do this. Whatever’s wrong, we can fix it,” he didn’t care that he was begging. He couldn’t let her walk away from him. Devyn didn’t turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” she said before freeing herself from his grasp and walking away.

Nikola could hear the tears in her voice as she said those two words and his own agony doubled. With every step she took away from him, the ache in his chest grew.

Nikola didn’t know how long he stood in that spot. He subconsciously willed Devyn to return to him and tell him it was just a cruel joke. That she didn’t mean what she said and they were okay. He needed that to be the case. After ten minutes of standing there, and the valet drivers asking if they could retrieve his vehicle, he finally gave in. She wasn’t coming back. Dejected, he handed the valet his ticket. When his car arrived, he drove home in a daze.