Chapter 4
The Oubliette
"Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads." β Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Following the shower, Veronica and Rod met Trent downstairs for an impromptu dinner. Laid out on the stark modernist dinner table, the brightly polished stainless steel flatware glimmered in the approaching darkness.
Veronica and Rod appeared, both dressed in white terry cloth bathrobes. A clean soap smell wafted off their flesh, still hot from the recent sex in the shower. They sat down next to each other in chairs adjacent to Trent.
"So you don't own this place?" Rod asked, pouring out a heap of chicken friend rice on a black rectangular plate.
"No, I've been renting for the summer." Trent said between bites of curry pork.
"So who owns it?"
"Conroy Jameson." Trent said.
"What does he do again?" Veronica asked. She munched on a shrimp eggroll she dipped in her hot and sour soup.
"Not quite sure," Trent skewered a crab rangooon and popped it in his mouth. "Last time I heard, he was Vice President of Finance. Did some stuff with Reed Capital Investments. They've been a big partner in the recent mergers. My father sent him to Romania this summer, smooth things out with the banks over there."
"Fascinating," Veronica sighed, staring dreamily into Trent's eyes. Then she noticed how distant they were. He appeared distracted. "What's the matter?"
"Oh, nothing really," Trent said, snapping out of his reverie. "So how was the shower?"
"Something does seem to be bothering you," Rod asserted as he continued to feast. "Not business related, it is?"
"No, business is fine. Just got the call and my commission has cleared." The exciting event didn't captivate Trent, who acted despondent.
"Congratulations are in order," Rod said with his mouth full. "With a windfall that large, I can't see why you wouldn't be happy."
"The money is a welcome relief. An ample commission given the work I've done this year. It's just, well β¦" Trent's voice trailed off.
"Rod, I can't believe you didn't recognize it." Veronica smiled as she held up an eggroll to his mouth.
"Recognize what?" Rod asked, puzzled.
"I should have known." She began to laugh, trying hard to silence it by covering her mouth.
"Spill it!" Rod barked. He slid his hand beneath her terry cloth robe and pinched her nipple. She slapped his chest and arms while she pried his fingers off her tender teat.
"Fucking asshole!"
"She gets this way when she knows someone is jealous," Rod said, holding Veronica's wrists as she struggled against him. "So who's the girl? Intern at work or something?"
"No, nothing like that. Just a lady I met at the beach last night," Trent worked hard to hold back his yearning. "Gave her my number."
"And she hasn't called?" Rod said, completing Trent's thought.
Trent nodded.
"Didn't seem to bother you yesterday. Sounds like you had a grand time fucking Veronica before I arrived," Rod's voice contained no malice or rage over the incident. His utter disregard for Veronica's adulterous behavior confused Trent. "I know what you're thinking: 'Why isn't he the least bit jealous and angered over what happened?' It's a problem I've had to come to grips with myself. Here's another question: Do you think Jocasta has fucked anyone else since you two met?"
Rod's candor shocked Trent. It seemed inconceivable that Jocasta would do that.
"Technically yes." Trent knew that that was a bullshit answer.
"What do you mean by 'technically'?" Rod didn't buy that answer either.
"She said her fiancΓ© worked at Vector.
"The plot thickens." Veronica placed her elbows on the table and put her chin on her palms.
"So your despair over her adulterous fucking has no merit?" Rod asked, picking over the remaining crab rangoons. "I always thought you were a libertine? Your reputation of the French Riviera's greatest orgiast couldn't have been false. Your notorious parties even made the papers once or twice last year."
"There's just something about her I can't get out of my head," Trent sounded genuinely tortured. "And the fact that she is going to marry someone else doesn't make me any happier."
"Yep, he's got it bad." Veronica said.
"Agreed, my love. And what are we going to do about it?" Rod asked as he slid his hand down between her legs, massaging the moistened folds of her cunt.
"He's going to need a distraction." She said as she began to kiss Rod.
"It's seems like his advanced stage would need a remedy stronger than pure voyeurism. He also needs to be re-educated. Life in the business world has drained him of his base carnal urges. He's going to need to reconnect with his lusts." Rod said.
"And be reborn as a God of Fuck." She moaned, her body bucking against the table.
"He needs to be show the Oubliette."
"What's the Oubliette?" Trent asked.
"It's the owner's little playroom. All manner of darkness and depravity can run rampant in there."