"Mike, you got a minute?"
"Sure buddy. What's up?"
Israel glanced around the outer office where the two of them were standing and then silently motioned for Mike to follow him. They passed Mike's secretary and approached his office door.
"My office. Hmm... must be important," Mike bantered with a smile at Israel.
Israel shut the door behind them and blurted out, "I think I am in trouble."
"Trouble?" Mike asked, the lawyer in him immediately engaged.
"Not legal trouble - at least, not yet." There was an awkward pause as Israel searched for his next line. Mike lowered into his desk chair, patient as he recognized that his good friend and colleague was working up the nerve to speak further. "This is strictly between you and me."
"Of course," Mike echoed with a professional tone of assurance.
After a bit more of a lingering pause, Israel continued. "Damn Mike, this is awkward. I need you to hear me out."
Mike shifted in his chair as if getting comfortable, "You got it. Shifting into listening-only mode, buddy."
"You know that Lydia adores your sweet Kathleen, as do I."
Mike silently nodded, finding this a rather odd lead in, but he just listened, as he thought to himself,
what the hell did they do to Kathleen!?
"Well, you know how..." Israel's voice tailed off into an extended pause, "... how you have told me about, um, how Kathleen... has a private, um, fascination with certain things." Israel paused, making absolutely no eye contact with Mike.
Private fascination with what?
Mike thought, as he studied Israel's body language; his head in his hands, elbows on his knees.
"Well, a few months ago, Lydia asked me - totally out of the blue - if you had ever said anything to me about Kathleen and, um..." Again Israel's voice tailed off into silence.
Kathleen and what?
Mike remained true to his commitment to listening, but Israel was testing his patience now. Mike and Kathleen considered Israel and Lydia good friends. They had shared great times together. Mike and Israel enjoyed a productive partnership in their careers. The girls enjoyed shopping together and casual coffee times. As couples, they had shared a thousand laughs.
Israel kept his head down, almost mumbling now, "... about Kathleen and her fascination with, you know - hung."
Israel sat silent. Mike tried to both interpret that last word and balance his own response.
Hung? Fuck Israel, where is this going?
"I did not know what to say. I had no idea where Lydia was coming from. At first, I just ignored the question, thinking maybe I misheard her, or that maybe we would just skip it and move on."
But... fuck Israel, come on - spit it out!
"Mike, I know this is wrong and I hope it doesn't screw things up. But then, Lydia showed me a pic on her phone. Mike, it was wrong what she did. No argument. But I want you to know that Lydia meant no harm. She was just, well, just shocked at the discovery and how it made her feel."
Discovery?!
Mike leaned forward in his chair, signaling a sense of urgency to Israel.
For the first time, Israel looked up at Mike as he reached in his suit jacket pocket and slipped out his phone. He swiped a few times. He then held the phone tight. "Mike, I have to show you this, or else you won't understand what I really need to tell you."
Cryptic as fuck, Mike took Israel's words as a mixed rush of mystery, discovery, risk, and even potential threat of danger. He did not hesitate in nodding and motioning for Israel to show him whatever it was on his phone that had them both captivated.
"Lydia, admittedly wrong, had been nosing around. She told me she was looking for the brand and size of the lacey panties Kathleen had said were her favorite. Lydia wanted to surprise Kathleen with a birthday gift along those lines."
Mike nodded. He knew the panties Israel was referencing.
"And that's when she found something."
Found what?!
"And took a pic of it."
Mike's eyes now targeted Israel's hand still clutching his phone.
What pic?!
Israel slowly turned over his phone to Mike, allowing Mike's eyes to view the pic. Israel waited. Mike looked, paused, then smiled... then broke out into a laugh.
"Damn, Israel! You had me worried Lydia had found a dead body in the wine cellar!" His laugh was genuine and set Israel at ease, if only for the moment. "This is your concern? A pic of one of Kathleen's sex toys?"
Israel tried to take relief and consolation in Mike's initial response, but Israel knew what Mike did not know; this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Mike, continuing to laugh off the smallness of the moment in comparison to the build up Israel presented, said, "So Lydia got a little kinky with her camera and one of Kathleen's toys - hell - might turn into a bit of profit for you and Lydia, my friend!"
Israel winced. There was more. Mike obviously was in the dark. As Mike returned the phone and gave Israel an affirming pat on the back, he said, "No worries, buddy. So your wife is a bit of a kink. Maybe she even possesses some of her own dark secrets! Hell, she probably just gave you one, huge, HUNG, hint for what you could get her for her own birthday!" Mike laughed again. He looked Israel in the eye and with a serious vibe confidently said, "Israel - don't worry about it, man. Really, it's no big deal. Well, THAT thing is a big deal," Mike nodding at the phone as if to signal the pic, "but what Lydia did - let's just say I understand her well-meaning intentions."
Israel had to interrupt Mike. "Wait. There's more."
