This was the third time Pete had tried to call Fiona, whose phone seemed to be in the Himalayas mountains, a place too far to answer a call because the girl wasn’t picking up her phone. At a time when his heart was beating at a rate faster than normal due to fear, the least Fiona could do was pick up her phone and rid this scared man of his fears. But Fiona wasn’t going to be a saviour today like she had always been to Pete. Today, she was his nightmare. His nightmare, an ex from hell. The girl he regretted meeting and dating in the first place.
When Pete remembered how things were between them before they decided to go their separate ways, he failed to understand what could have prompted her to blackmail him in such a manner because theirs had been a great love and friendship. So, when the love ended, he knew he had a friend in Fiona, not only an ex. That was why they continued talking.
They messaged every other day to keep each other updated on how the other was fairing. Since they had so many things in common, conversations were always interesting. When Pete thought of their breakup and life thereafter, he got even more confused because all he saw in Fiona was a friend and not a masked enemy who could mess up his reputation.
“I am happy we never ended up as strangers. A break up does not necessarily mean that people become enemies,” Pete had texted her one day while they were discussing a certain film.
“You can never be sure about that, Pete.”
Pete did not expect such a response. He had to ask. “Meaning what, exactly?”
“We don’t know whether we will remain friends considering everything that happened between us,” Fiona replied.
“But we are doing just fine. We are back to being friends like we were before we started dating,” Pete texted.
“If you say so!” The lack of enthusiasm in Fiona’s text should have been a warning sign that she wasn’t on the same page as Pete.
Pete should have gotten concerned about this but he didn’t. He was stuck to the tip of the iceberg which showed on the surface without bothering about what lay in the iceberg itself. He assumed that because they were communicating everything was fine. Had he been bothered, maybe he would have anticipated the betrayal that came next, that Fiona was not on board with them just being friends.
After breaking up with Fiona, Pete stayed single for six months before getting into a relationship with Masha. He thought of healing first because leaving a three-year relationship wasn’t a joke. He thought that Fiona was also focusing on getting back to a state where she could date again because there wasn’t a day that Fiona mentioned another man in their conversations. So he assumed that she moved on.
On the other hand, Fiona was constantly thinking about how the relationship shouldn’t have ended that way. According to her, they were perfect together and what they had was solid. Leaving the relationship to die and becoming just friends was not an option.
The text she had sent Pete led to him being unsettled and scared. It made Pete realize that she had not moved on and that she thought they’d get back together with time.
“What we had was a great relationship. We were perfect for each other and we could have made a beautiful family. Waking up to photos of you proposing to another woman was the last thing I would have anticipated. Check out the video I have sent. Then decide if I’ll send it to social media or not”
To say that Pete was shaken would be an understatement. What Fiona had sent him was the last thing he could have expected from anyone, and at least of all Fiona.
Fiona sent something that he never knew existed. For how long this video had been in Fiona’s possession was unknown to him. She had just sent him a sex tape of the two of them. He wondered how Fiona could come up with such an idea that could ruin their lives. Having known each other for more than five years and dated for three before parting ways, he had never imagined Fiona as the type of woman that could do such a thing.
For the years they had been together, Fiona had been a woman with a clean heart. Apart from being loving and caring and humorous, she was very honest. If Pete told his friends what Fiona was doing, none of them would believe him because that was not the Fiona they had known for many years. Fiona and blackmail in one sentence did not make sense. For Pete to believe that Fiona was blackmailing him with a sex tape, he had to pinch himself to get out of this terrible dream.
By this time, he was sweating. He had loosened his necktie and opened all the windows to cool himself down. People in the office could not help but wonder why a person could open the windows with the cold that they were all trying to keep themselves away from. Good thing, it was his own office. But even with all the extra breeze, the sweating would not stop. He kept on wondering what his life would turn into if Fiona got to release that tape. He decided to call Dave and tell him what was going on because, at this point, this burden was too much to carry alone.
“You can’t believe what Fiona has done.”
“I can only guess; she’s engaged just like you?” Dave answered jokingly.
“Now is not the time for jokes,” Pete was speaking very fast at this time, something that wasn’t usual of him, leading to Dave’s curiosity.
“What’s up?”
“Fiona has a sex tape and she’s threatening me with releasing it,” Pete confessed.
“Do you have the tape I watch it too?” Dave joked yet again had not grasped how grievous the situation was.
“Come on dude.” Pete was frustrated.
“What does she want?” Dave asked.
Pete was so angry that he struggled to get the words out. “She wants to be the one.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Well, that’s one tight spot to be in right now, is it possible to deny that the man in the video isn’t you?”
“I don’t think so,” said Pete.
The first thing to note was that everything in the tape was clear. From the faces to the act itself. It was very clear that it was him in the video. He thought about allowing Fiona to go ahead with her plan so that he’d come out and deny but that would not work. If he went on with this plan, his family, and the family of his fiancée, should get to see things he would never have wished them to see. Additionally, his workplace would be a mess. His subordinates spend time comparing the naked and dressed Pete. This decision would unleash hell.
He tried calling Fiona once more to see if she could pick up. It would be better if she picked it so that they talk. A call seemed to be the only way to reach her because he did not know where she lived now. Minutes had passed and he was not sure whether another ten minutes would find him still seated in the office. He wanted to go to her office because every minute of waiting was like being in hell. One thing he was not sure about was whether that was a good idea. But what other option did he have?
As he picked up his car keys, a beep on his phone made him stop and check if it was Fiona.
“Pete, What do you want?” She texted.
Peter tightened his grip on his keys and tried to stay calm as he typed angrily, “Is that your reply, after what you sent me?”
Fiona replied immediately. “This is ridiculous Pete, fifteen missed calls after in an hour?
“Just pick up the phone we talk.” Peter texted.
Pete was almost going out of his mind. He wondered if it was Fiona responding to his texts because the weirdness was overboard. How could she call him ridiculous after she sent him such a scary message and refused to pick up his calls? He kept his cool when Fiona picked up his call.
He was angry and got straight to the point. “What is going on Fiona?”
Fiona laughed and told him sweetly, “You know what I want!”
“Why now, Fiona? Why now when I have made this huge step?” Pete said with anguish.
Fiona was blunt. “You should be marrying me Pete and you know it.”
Pete was shocked because he thought they had eased back into a good friendship.“But things have been good between us even after the breakup.”
Fiona sounded mad when she said, “Yes, things were good until you proposed to another woman!”
“How else were things to end kwani? We were not together anymore?” Pete could not hide his astonishment.
Pete was now irritated. He clearly did not know what the issue was with Fiona. Had she made the same step, he obviously would have wished her good luck and continued with his life but now that things were the other way round, Fiona was all of a sudden a drama queen.
“This is where we are now, Pete. So choose. If you don’t marry me I will release the tape and your reputation will be ruined.” Just like that, she hung up.
Pete decided to stay calm and think. There were only two options. If he decided to fall into Fiona’s trap, it would mean a lifetime of manipulations in their union because, to begin with, he did not enter the union willingly, but through a strategized manipulation. With this option, he will have at least saved himself from shame and humiliation.
If he refused to yield to Fiona’s demand, it would therefore mean walking with his head down for months and who knew if Masha would be his ride and die during this period? If Masha could stay even after that tape leaked, he would surely decline and persevere the shame. His family loved him and he did not doubt their support during this period.
The issue was, he would want to make a decision that he would not regret years later. Dave had told him one thing that cleared the fog clouding his judgement.
“You now know what Fiona is capable of. If Masha chooses to stick with you or not, that will be up to her, but as for Fiona, let her do whatever she wants to but let her actions not push you into making a decision you wouldn’t otherwise make.”
He knew what he needed to do and he was ready to face the consequences. He even saw how life would be in a few months. People giving him weird looks as he walked past them in the office. But that seemed better off than willingly getting himself into slavery with somebody who turned out to be different from the sweet, charming lady he had thought she was.
Here are more short stories to read
Our Love Burned Hot And I Was So Happy. I Did Not Know I Was Being Set Up For A Con
Sam Was So Jealous Of Mercy’s Success That She Decided She Was Going To Kill Her Best Friend
She Would Do Anything To Rescue Her Child Who Had Been Kidnapped
He Asked Her Out On A Date Only For Her To Realize There Was Another Agenda
The Ring Light And Colorful Wigs In Stan’s Girl Closet
Their First Date Turned Into A Therapy Session Talking About His Ex
