Kevin accepted the proffered Padron and struck a wooden match to light it. He took a few contemplative puffs and sent three smoke rings toward the ceiling, one after the other. James, his host, cut the wax seal on a dusty bottle covered with Napoleonic ciphers and applied the wine key. They were in for a treat tonight and Kevin wondered what was the occasion.
James wasn't in a hurry to fill in the blanks. He poured out two measures of the antique brandy and lit up his own cigar. They put their feet up on the coffee table and smoked and sipped and admired the books and rich furnishings of the study. Kevin was thinking of asking to borrow James' copy of "Brideshead" when the older man came to the point.
"We've been friends a long time, yes?" He asked.
"Good friends," Kevin replied. "Best friends, I'd say."
"If I told you something shocking... would it damage our friendship?"
"Well, it depends on how shocking, obviously." Kevin swirled his brandy in the fishbowl-like snifter. "But if something needs saying then it needs to be said. If it damages our friendship then maybe I wasn't so good a friend to begin with."
James took a swallow and refreshed their drinks. "I was good friends with your father, as well."
"Yes, I remember. Peas in a pod. Kind of how you and I are now."
"He was my mentor, my friend. We were very close." James sighed and pursed his lips as if reluctant to speak. "I was close to your father and also your mother."
Kevin laughed. "I knew about that, if that's what you're worried about. You and John may have kept the secret but Kate never could."
Relieved, James joined in his laughter. "Well, it's a relief to get it off my chest."
"Yeah, it was an understandable situation. I know you weren't betraying him."
James picked up the remote and weighed it in his hand. "That will make this a little easier for you to grasp, then."
"There's more?"
He pressed the power button and the television came to life. A video was already playing as the picture came up, a scene from a pornographic movie, a woman performing oral sex on a man.
"You find my wife attractive, don't you?" James asked in the tone of voice he might use when asking if you play chess.
"Is that... is that her?" Kevin managed to choke out, well knowing the answer already.
"That's her."
"And... that's not you."
"Sadly, no. This was posted anonymously on the internet by a man she met at a party."
The video appeared to be playing on a loop, an animated gif. The woman, James' wife, was kneeling in front of a man. She was dressed in an olive green blouse and a necklace of chunky turquoise stones. She wore silver earrings shaped like a star and a moon. Her striking bronze hair was worn short and swept back and her face was made up as if for an occasion.
But the thing about her that drew Kevin's eye was her mouth, which was lovingly wrapped around the penis that jutted out from under the man's t-shirt. He watched in fascination as she bobbed on the man's penis several times, glanced upward up at him, then shut her big blue eyes and pushed herself down, down, all the way down until her nose was buried in the nest of his pubic hair. And back up to repeat.
"Well, shit!" Kevin exclaimed when he was able to tear his eyes off the lurid scene. "Do you want me to help you track this guy down?"
"Oh, no," James replied, still watching the video with analytical detachment. "Rita's taking care of that. I almost feel sorry for the guy when she does. Almost."
James poured himself another brandy, offering the bottle to Kevin who politely declined.
"Kevin, my friend, there was a time when your father could no longer take care of all your mother's needs. He wanted better for her than he could provide so he asked me to stand in. I didn't want to do it. I had a great deal of love and respect for them both, a brotherly love. But I knew if it had to be done it could only be done with a friend. Ultimately, we all three benefited from the relationship. Now I am asking you, sincerely, to do the same for me."
"You... want me to... have sex... with your wife?"
"Oral sex," James corrected him, pointing at the image on the television screen for emphasis. "And lots of it."
*****
Kevin carried his glass out to the kitchen where he found Rita sitting on a stool at the island counter. She didn't look like a Jezebel, dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt bearing the logo for the local baseball team. She looked up from her crossword puzzle and smiled at him, indicating the stool across the corner from her. He took a seat and put his hand on hers by way of greeting. She was warm and, now he knew, she was willing.
"Did James fill you in?" She asked him.
"He did," he replied, meeting her eyes calmly despite his nervous tension.
"And how do you feel about it?"