While Lili and Eli were joy-riding through the countryside, Levi was standing before his bathroom mirror looking at his beard with a sigh. Lilith had managed to leave a small bald patch as well as scratches on his cheek. This was not a disaster though. Carefully he trimmed the thick hair back before lathering it up. Taking up his safety razor he moved swiftly through the whiskers, shaving with smooth precision until within the space of a few minutes he looked at least five years younger. Too bad for the scratch along his cheek from Lili's nails. Still, for his age, he was fairly handsome and kept himself in fine physical form. The only thing missing was the dark-haired, green-eyed beauty by his side. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the front door and footsteps on the hardwood floors. Jeza had come home. He looked once more with satisfaction at himself in the mirror before stepping into the hallway.
The Preacher-man could not recall that he had ever loved Jeza. The fact of the matter was that Levi had never really loved anything beyond himself and his ambition. Growing up, he had sat in the front pew of a small-town church and watched his father preach the gospel. Gabe Sethos was a passionate speaker who truly believed in his calling and it reflected in his life. He loved and was dearly loved by his wife Sandra as well as his three children. He never spoke a cross word and was friendly and loving to everyone he met regardless of lifestyle, race, religion or creed. If you needed a dollar he was likely to give you five just in case. 'Do unto others' was more than just words in a book and when he died the entire town turned out to mourn his passing. The Preacher-man was a superior speaker to his father and far more charismatic. Although he was wildly successful beyond all expectations he never recognized what had made his father a great man and wrongly assumed that he had surpassed him. Even in seminary school he was driven and believed firmly that he would be acclaimed and revered. He also believed that standing beside him through it all would be his ideal vision of womanhood.
Of course, this belief had not stopped him from dating for fun. In fact, it was the only reason he had taken Jeza out. She had been attractive at the time and they had shared a lot of laughs together. Unfortunately, youth and shared kisses in the back seat of his car quickly spiraled out of control. The day she told him she was pregnant he was sure that all his future plans were ruined. Everything in his world seemed bleak, but his parents offered to help him so he could stay in school and ultimately the idea of a child of his own gave him a reason to keep going. In the end, he married her but there was never any love between them. One week after exchanging vows he came home from school to learn that she had miscarried. He was devastated at the announcement, but Jeza didn't seem upset at all. She cooked his supper and began talking about her plans with friends over the coming weekend. Over the years he had wondered many times if she had not lied about her pregnancy just so he would have to marry her. They never had children and Levi's profession prevented him from divorcing her no matter how much he despised her.
Over the years he and Jeza became masters at putting on the persona of a loving devoted couple. They put on their best toothpaste smiles and held hands before the cameras and euphoric, adoring crowds, but in private they barely spoke to each other. In his eyes, Jeza seemed more plastic than flesh. She spent hours working out so she could maintain the 'perfect' body. Well, some of that was devoted to her personal instructor Ty and his very 'hands-on' approach. She had been under the knife a few times getting breast implants, facelifts and tucking anything she deemed saggy. After so many dye jobs, perms and constant styling products, her hair felt like straw.
Jeza had just put one foot on the staircase when she noticed Levi watching her from down the hall. Immediately she posed and tried to look as alluring as possible. It was always fun to let him see what she would not allow him to have. She was surprised to see his beard gone and was rather glad of it. It had been a long time since she had seen him clean-shaven. Certainly long enough that he had clearly cut himself rather badly along his cheek. Obviously, he was trying to impress her by making himself look more youthful.
It was always a boost to her ego to know that he wanted her. She never looked into her mirror without seeing herself as beautiful and worthy of every man's lust. The proof of this was her personal trainer, Ty. Devilishly handsome, he had only just turned forty, but his over six-foot body was well-muscled and he boasted a head full of dark curls. Nothing gave her more pleasure than running her hands along his perfectly tanned skin (a feature which came from a spray can if he were honest) or feeling him kiss her with just the right amount of scruff on his fine chin. Most importantly, he managed to satisfy her in every physical way possible and she was certain that he adored her.
The truth was not so flattering. He enjoyed the extravagant gifts and large sums of money she lavished on him, not to mention the nice apartment she rented for him so they could carry on their trysts. He accepted the arrangement and why not? It wasn't as though he had to be her escort anywhere and he made certain never to use any words of love or affection. As far as Jeza knew, Levi was none the wiser and there was certainly no reason to let him in on the secret.
"Are you hoping that I'll invite you in so you can satisfy your husbandly desires?" she asked, turning to her husband in a sultry manner and smirking.
"Don't flatter yourself, I haven't desired you in over forty years. I'll leave it to your trainer Ty to stoop to that level." At the insult, her face twisted and she glared daggers at him. "Careful, Jeza, you almost wrinkled your forehead. It would be a tragedy if you needed to go in for an emergency Botox injection." Levi smirked at his wife then retired into his own room.
Levi couldn't stand the greedy, vain and plastic woman his wife had become. He longed for a real, caring and gentle companion. It was this desire that had led him into his numerous affairs only to lose interest as avarice took hold of each mistress. The last woman to catch his eye was a young twenty-something-year-old model named Vivienne Parvana. They had met while appearing on a late-night talk show together and despite his age, he managed to charm her over a cup of coffee in the green room. She knew he was married when they met but she quickly fell for him because he had a way of weaving the illusion that they would end up together without ever uttering a single promise or even hinting at his intentions. He set Vivienne up in an apartment, gave her a generous allowance, lavished her with jewelry and gifts making her feel like a queen. They often dined together in her flat and occasionally took trips to his secluded cabin in the Ozark Mountains.
For a while everything between them was good, but then things started to change. It soon became evident that Levi Sethos was not the man he presented himself to be at the pulpit. At first, it had seemed like nothing, Levi had noticed a small butterfly tattoo on the lower center of her back and became completely aroused. He wanted her to get more and even suggested an intimate piercing or two, all of which he was willing to pay for. To his disappointment, she declined on the basis that as a model she often had to walk the runway in little more than underwear and didn't want to spend her time being airbrushed before a show.
Levi then began to up the ante in other small ways, first requesting that she wear a long black wig along with her normal lingerie, then asking her to switch to black lacy teddies and garter belts. Eventually, he brought her intimate apparel in black leather which he liked even better. He sold her on the idea as just a bit of harmless role-playing that hurt no one and he was right. She went along with it because it was his 'thing' and sometimes it was fun to pretend at being someone she wasn't, like a true 'bad' girl. He didn't tell her about the cameras he had placed in the apartment he had given her.
