Carry My Baby

by Shanade White

  Marketa threw her head back and cackled. They had always made snarky remarks to each other, but Marketa was one of Virginia’s richest clients, and Virginia was Marketa’s favorite designer.

  “So is it true?” Marketa linked arms with Virginia as they walked towards the elevators. Virginia knew just what she was referring to, but she decided to play dumb anyway.

  “Is what true?”

  “Is he really a mysterious Russian spy who swept you off your feet and stole you away from that model hunk. I mean the new guy is cute, but you know I much prefer blondes.”

  A Russian spy? People would say anything nowadays.

  Virginia rolled her eyes and stepped out of the elevator when they had reached the floor that her office was on. She waited until she and Marketa were inside before speaking.

  “Marketa, my husband is not a spy.”

  Marketa had already made herself comfortable. She had taken off her coat and tossed it on the arm of the settee that she was now sitting on. Her legs were crossed, and she was flipping through a magazine that had been on the coffee table. She responded with a look of sheer boredom. She wanted to know the full story. Marketa was keen on gossip and she would say anything to anyone if it meant finding out the truth about something.

  “Disappointing. It would have made you seem less dull,” Marketa said. Virginia was the antithesis of dull. If her personality didn’t show it, then her designs certainly did.

  “So, what is it that your mysterious new husband does? Why does nobody know anything about him?”

  Marketa sounded like she was conducting an interview for a sleazy magazine spread. She leaned back on the settee and rested an elbow on the arm. She looked like she was planning on being there a long time if Virginia didn’t spill something interesting.

  “Marketa, do you want to talk to me about some designs for Spring, or are you here to talk to me about my husband?”

  “A bit of both,” Marketa admitted. Her tone was still one of boredom. Virginia hadn’t given away anything yet, and Marketa was beginning to think that this meeting was going to be strictly business.

  “Spring is next year darling, let’s talk about what’s happening right now. Come. Sit,” Marketa patted the empty space on the settee beside her like it was her office.

  Virginia sighed internally but joined Marketa.

  “We like to keep our relationship private…”

  “Private or secret?”

  “Not secret, Marketa. We have nothing to hide. Dmitri and I met and it’s been a whirlwind romance,” Virginia was being as honest as she could be without having to give away the whole story.

  “Ah, he has a name. And what is it that Dmitri does?”

  “Dmitri is an artist. A brilliant one at that.”

  “That is most fascinating. I am opening up a gallery next week. I’ve been looking for some artists to showcase their work. If he’s any good then I’d love to do a feature on him. He can get a full thirty days just because we’re such great friends,” Marketa beamed. She was getting the inside scoop. Knowing his name and knowing that he wasn’t a spy who had stolen Virginia away from her model ex-boyfriend was enough to satisfy her. Marketa was in the loop while the rest of the world was not.

  “That would…wow, that would be lovely Marketa. I’ll let him know and we can keep in touch with you.”

  “And that is why I am here. I need a fabulous outfit for the grand opening. Something bright and never seen before.”

  If Marketa wasn’t born a socialite, she should have been a Broadway actress. She had such an animated face and personality, even after countless plastic surgeries and Botox. She had opened up a wildlife conservation center in Upstate New York, a photography studio on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and even had two vineyards; one in California, and another somewhere in Northern Italy. Her latest endeavor was art. She had an extensive collection that even Virginia couldn’t match.

  “I will send you the details, and you…” she poked Virginia on the nose, “you will have your husband call me, ok?”

  Virginia nodded. Marketa stood and took up her coat. Virginia followed her to the door to let her out. As Marketa walked out, Nancy walked in.

  Nancy didn’t look too pleased.

  “Uh oh. I know that face,” Virginia said. She didn’t know if she could take any more bad news or any more surprises. She had been surprised enough over the last month to last her a lifetime. She wanted work to be the only thing overwhelming her.

  “I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Nancy said. She had two cups in a holder in one hand, and a plastic bag of food in the other. She had brought lunch for the two of them.

  “Is everything ok?” Virginia was concerned.

  “I have no idea,” Nancy walked over to the large table to the left of the room and set the plastic bag and drinks down. “Ordered some Chinese. I got your favorite: chicken in black bean sauce with some shrimp lo mein and Chinese steamed buns with barbecue sauce in ‘em even though it’s not morning anymore! And I got a lemonade and a peachade. I don’t mind what I have, but I’m kind of hoping you say you want the peach.”

  “Well, I guess I want the peach,” Virginia laughed. Even though Nancy was distraught, she had a way of maintaining her composure and ensuring that all around her remained copacetic. If she was feeling off, and the world around was feeling off, then Nancy’s day would be thrown out of whack. It was a lot better when Nancy felt like she could handle everything. That was something that Virginia taught her. Nancy had to remind Virginia that sometimes if either of them was in a slump.

  “Anyway,” Nancy stuck a straw into her lemonade and took a sip. “I was antsy last night. I thought it was because of the Metamorphosis show coming up next week because this is our first year, but even for new shows I don’t get so nervous. I could tell that there was something up, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, ya know?”

  Nancy took a fork and pierced a piece of sweet and sour pork. She stuck it in her mouth and closed her eyes to enjoy the flavor before continuing.

  “But then there was something in my brain that was like ‘Nancy check your email’, so I did. And in my junk mail was some message from an anonymous person saying they knew the truth about Dmitri.”

  “What?” Virginia’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah. It just said that they knew about Dmitri, and they called him a mail order husband. Then they said we’d all be sorry. So of course I couldn’t get any sleep after that. I was up all night wondering who the hell it was and how it was they got my email address.”

  Virginia was too stunned to speak.

  “I mean at first I thought it could be you, like some kind of a sick joke…but why would you do that? I don’t know anyone else who knows besides me, you, and Dmitri.”

  “And of course that creep who took pictures of us after we got married. God I’d like to get my hands on him.”

  “Have you checked your email lately?”

  “Only my work email. I’ve been so swamped with all of the work we’ve been doing that I haven’t checked any personal messages.

  “Think you should?” Nancy asked. She mentally crossed her fingers in the hopes that there was nothing in Virginia’s email. Like Virginia, she was hoping if she ignored it and just went through the motions that it would eventually fizzle out and whoever was behind this would get over it and move on.

  Virginia had ignored her main course and was already chewing on a soft piece of the steamed bun. She put it back down and walked towards her computer. She never kept her personal email on her phone in case something happened to it.

  She logged onto her email and perused. There were over 1800 new messages.

  “The one that I found was in the junk mail folder because it was some lame domain created email address,” Nancy pointed out.

  Virginia opened up her junk mail, and Nancy pointed to the screen right away.

  “That’s it. The one with the subject that says I Know. That’s the same one that was sent to me
last night.”

  Without another word, and with a shaky hand, Virginia opened the email. What could the person possibly want from her? What were they hoping to accomplish? Did they just want to scare her or get a rise out of her? Was this some kind of revenge? What lengths was this person going to take to make their point? Whatever it was, Virginia and Nancy were scared, so whoever it was was making their point quite well.

  “Virginia Maxwell. I know about you and your mail order lover. I know it is a sham marriage build on lies. He is after a green card and you are trying to restore your good name after showing the world that you pay people to get your way. No one will believe your love or your lies. I am going to tell EVERYONE.

  Since you have no problem throwing money away, the only way to have peace is to pay me off and to get rid of your fake husband. Everyone will know the truth. You have one week to pay $250,000 to this address. I know more than you think. I know more about you. And I will reveal everything.

  There is NO escape from this.”

  “Oh my God. I am so pissed off!” Virginia practically roared in her office. The audacity of someone resorting to blackmail in a situation like this. Blackmail was one of the lowest things that anybody could do to another person. This person didn’t care what happened either way, they just wanted their money and to have Dmitri leave.

  “I know right? They typed ‘build on lies’ instead of ‘built’. Whoever wrote this is an idiot.”

  “Nancy, don’t joke,” Virginia groaned. Nancy snickered a bit but apologized.

  $250,000 was nothing to someone like Virginia, but there was no way she would give in and pay off somebody to keep silent. She was worried that people would find out she married someone she barely knew, but it would be worse on her conscience if she gave into the demands of someone who could so easily blackmail her.

  Nancy’s expression suddenly turned serious. She scowled at the computer screen and then looked at Virginia.

  “You know what we have to do right?”

  Chapter 8

  “What do we have to do?” Virginia was curious.

  “We need to find out whoever did this and destroy them,” she growled. “No one messes with my best friend, and then drag me into it. Like why send me something too?”

  “Because whoever it was wanted to prove to me that they could get access to the people in my life. The person knows who’s close to me. I’m sure if I had even remotely given anything away about Dmitri then they would have found a way to send him one of these things too.”

  “How are you so sure that they haven’t?” Nancy pointed out.

  “You could be right. I don’t want to call him or worry him though. I don’t know who to trust or who it could be,” Virginia tried not to let her worry or rage consume her. She needed to find out who it was and what else they knew about her.

  “You should tell them that the money is ready. Lure them out of their hiding spot and then get the cops on them.”

  “I’m a black woman in New York City, and you want me to trust our cops?” Virginia shot Nancy a look. She was trying to make light of the situation, but there was a bit of truth in her words.

  “No cops Nancy. We just have to find out who’s behind this and see what we can do about it to shut them up.”

  *****

  Virginia was having dinner with Dmitri. He cooked while she was at work and they were on the opposite ends of the dining table. This whole fiasco with the paparazzi made Virginia pull away again. She was more committed, but she was worried than any step they took could be monitored. She didn’t know how to move forward from this until the person responsible had been found out.

  “Is there something on your mind?” Dmitri asked. Virginia was poking her food and barely eating. She had all sorts of thoughts running through her mind.

  “Work,” she said solemnly. “And other things.”

  “I’m here for you if there’s anything that you’d like to talk about,” Dmitri said patiently. “It helps if you’d let me in. I want to be here for you not just with you.”

  “I know you do,” she sighed. “It’s just. I’m so swamped, and what’s going on with the media. I hate that I keep you locked away like this.”

  “Well it’s not a dungeon,” Dmitri laughed at how dramatic Virginia was being. “I get that you want to keep me out of sight until this has been sorted. It gives me time to paint and focus on my work.”

  “Paint. Oh Dmitri that reminds me! One of my clients wants to take a look at some of your work. She has a gallery opening. If she loves what you’ve done then she says she can give you the venue for a whole month.”

  “Oh…you told someone about me?” his voice was curious, but Virginia couldn’t tell if he was happy about it or skeptical.

  “One of my clients asked me what it was that you did. Can you believe some people think you’re a spy?”

  “Who says I’m not,” Dmitri’s expression turned very serious. That made Virginia’s eyes widen, and Dmitri couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a spy.”

  “You’ve got the wearing black down pat,” Virginia finally put a whole forkful of food in her mouth. Dmitri was an excellent cook. She took a few more bites while she laughed. She loved these few moments of love and laughter with Dmitri. It almost made her forget that she was nervous about the whole situation.

  “Black is my color. Makes people think they shouldn’t mess with me. It also works with the ‘pained artist’ look that I’m going for.”

  Dmitri making her laugh put her mind at ease for a bit. He made her laugh as much as Nancy did.

  “Anyway, my client Marketa Versace wants to see your work. She got excited when I told her you were a brilliant artist.”

  Virginia got up from her chair and moved closer to Dmitri. She sat in the seat next to him and they continued eating.

  “Well I would be honored for her to see my work. Thank you moy milyy,” Dmitri kissed Virginia on the cheek.

  “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” Dmitri said. Even though she was sure that it wasn’t going to be that personal, Virginia still appreciated that he asked her. She nodded.

  “Why do you live in such a cozy apartment? Most billionaires like to have huge houses with a million rooms that they’re not using.”

  “You know? No one’s ever asked me that,” Virginia started. “I guess it’s because of my mother. She was so hell bent on me and my siblings becoming rich that when it happened she expected us to therefore act accordingly. She wanted the big house and cars and for everyone to know that she was my mother. I wasn’t about that. I just wanted to take over the world with my designs.”

  “Something that you have no doubt already accomplished before your 30th birthday,” Dmitri said with a smile.

  “After a few years of arguing, pestering, and not so subtly asking to be remunerated for birthing me…I cut off my mother. I barely see Troy or Maralynn. I try to see Jade a few times a year. I was going to ask her to do a jewelry collection with me. It’s hard feeling like the people around you want you around them for their benefit, and not just because they want to be around you.”

  “Is that why sometimes you’re unsure of us?”

  “That’s more than one personal question,” Virginia said jokingly. She was pained having to think about it, but maybe it was a good time to talk about it. She wasn’t too good with expressing her emotional side to someone as informal as a therapist. Who better to tell than her husband?

  “Fair enough. I don’t want to change your mind. I want you to open up and figure out your path. And I want to be there through it, if you’d let me. Whatever wall or news report, we will climb over it and meet each other on the other side. I want you, and I want you to want me because we like to be around each other.”

  Dmitri had completely calmed Virginia’s nerves, even after bringing up a touchy subject like her family. She almost forgot that there was somebody around that was looking to sabotage them.

/>   Almost.

  *****

  “I found out who it is!” Nancy said the next morning. She met Virginia in the lobby at work. There were racks full of clothes coming in and out of the building. They were getting ready for Metamorphosis.

  “Really? Who? How did you find out?” Virginia’s words poured out of her.

  “It’s Julian. That bastard!” Nancy hissed in a hushed voice.

  “What?”

  “Think about it. You humiliated him, got someone new, didn’t even answer his calls. His career is tanking and he was always a little opportunistic asshole if you ask me.”

  “Gee thanks.”

  “What can I say, you didn’t really know how to pick ‘em until Dmitri came and actually swept you off of your feet.”

  Virginia thought it over for a minute. It was possible that it could have been Julian.

  “But…”

  “And Julian would have access to both of our personal emails. You spent enough time with him for him to know that. To double check, I hired a hacker named Lance to check out the IP address of the person who sent the email.”

  “But even if it is Julian, what are we going to do to stop him?”

  “Julian doesn’t have anything on you.”

  “He knows the truth about Dmitri,” Virginia pointed out. She didn’t know how he could have had access to information like that and get someone to take their photos.

  “Hell hath no fury like a model scorned. I dunno. He probably only knows that you’re both married and it’s too soon. The fact that Dmitri is Russian could have just made wheels turn in his head. It’s just to scare you into giving him what he wants,” Nancy spoke fast, but Virginia caught every word. She had no idea how to thank her. Even if it wasn’t Julian, she felt more at ease knowing that something could be done about this. She just wanted the lies and rumors surrounding her and Dmitri to stop.

  “I’m not even gonna wait for that hacker guy to find anything. I’m gonna call Julian the second I get upstairs,” Virginia was letting the anger get the better of her, but she wanted to approach this rationally and calmly.