Love Trust and Betrayal

Chapter 11: The MMS

11:11 PM.
Ashley, as usual, was lying on her bed and waiting for Nick's text. She usually avoided Whats-app during night because she wanted to concentrate only on Nick and also because the conversations in the college Whats-app group seemed idiotic for her. She would just browse through the chats in the morning and reply if any msg was intended for her. But tonight Nick was not online yet and she was getting worried. In order to distract herself, she opened Whats-app and was surprised to see 534 unread messages in the college group. She opened it to check what was the commotion all about. There was a video. She downloaded it. What she saw turned her world upside down.

It was a MMS video of that senior girl (one who danced with Nick). She was dancing erotically and stripping her clothes off for someone, who was filming it. What shocked Ashley was not the girl in the MMS but the background behind her. She recognized those wall patches and the Indigo coloured Quartz analog clock hanging on the left side. It was Nick's room. She was damn sure about it. She froze and trembled. She did not want to believe what she was seeing. Is this the reason why Nick is not online yet?

Ashley could not sleep that night. She did not want to believe thatNick was the one who filmed the video. She did not want to believe that Nick was cheating on her. He was the most understanding and honest person she ever met. Was it all a lie?

Next day. 7:00 AM.
"Good morning Shizuka. 😘 I had some urgent work yesterday. That's why I could not come online. Sorry. 😓 BTW. I'm not coming to college today. Let's meet up at Cafe-de-Costa, at our usual time, after your classes. 😊"

Ashley replied "Okay." and went offline. She was not in a mood to chat. She wanted to talk face-to-face with Nick and get things cleared.

6:00 PM.
Ashley drive slowly towards Cafe-de-Costa. She wanted to know the truth but she was not the kind of person who liked confrontation. She hated conflict. Ashley parked her moped and took turtle steps towards the cafe. Nick was already there, sitting on her favorite corner seat and browsing the menu card. He smiled on seeing her. "A smile? Really?", Ashley thought. She took the seat in front of him, eyed the menu card on the table and wondered how to start the conversation.

"What do you want Shizuka?"

"Nothing." replied Ashley, a bit annoyed.

"What happened? Why is your mood off?"

Ashley was now boiling up inside because Nickwas calm. There was not even a speck of nervousness on his face. It's impossible that he did not know about the MMS video. Or did he really not know? Ashley wanted to scream and demand an explanation. But she can't.

"Explain this."

Ashley handed over her mobile to Nick and turned ON the video. Nick looked or rather acted surprised. He quickly fast-forwarded the video and gave back the mobile.

"Wait! Do you think it's me?"

"I don't think anything yet. I'm asking an explanation for why she is in your room."

"Because she was my roommate's girlfriend."

"What?"

"Yes. They studied in same school and were couples since high school. She used to come home to meet him. We switch rooms every year. So maybe this was taken last year before they broke up. It's not me. You don't trust me?"

The story sounded too good to be true. Ashley inquired more about their relationship. Nick gave answers to each questions quickly. He sounded genuine. He was not fumbling nor fidgeting. There was not a chance that he was lying. No one can craft such a convincing story within seconds. Ashley was finally convinced by his story.

"I'm sorry. I trust you a lot. I didn't know what to think when I saw the video." said Ashley tearing up.

"It's okay baby. I love you." Nick said and held her hand.

"I love you too a lot."