Prometheus [3] - After the Will

“And what prompted your relationship with Leo?” he accused.  “You knew he was a family man.”

A laugh sprung from my chest.  “When has it been any of your business?” I countered.  “And what kind of a family man sleeps with another man half his age?”

“Oh, don’t make it sound like some cheap affair–“

“It wasn’t?”

“It certainly was not.  This wasn’t just about sex.”

“But it was mostly about sex,” I enticed.

“The sex was nice, I admit, but we really connected–“

I chuckled under my breath, “Yes, I do admit that you guys had a language all of your own.  Trying to follow your conversations during meetings was cryptic at best.”

After a brief silence, he asked quietly, “And what was your involvement with him?  Did he…?  I mean, did you guys ever–?

“Take it easy, Randy,” I said, reassuringly.  “While we enjoyed intimacies, it wasn’t as explicit as you’d like to think.” 

The confusion on his face prompted me to continue.  “Ours was more of a teacher-student relationship.”  His determined silence and expectant air forced me to relent.  “He was largely my mentor in the ways of life.  And, yes,” I admitted to the accusation about to roll off his tongue, “in the ways of love.”  I paused.  “But we’ve never had sexual intercourse, per se.”

“So, you’re telling me you guys fucked without having fucked.”

“Oh, that’s nice, Randy.”  I leaned back in my chair, folded my arms, and punctuated the silence with my own obstinacy. 

After what seemed like a painful few seconds for him, he conceded almost sincerely.  “I’m sorry.  Go on.”

I hesitated before unfolding my arms and opening back up to the conversation I had to lead.

“He instructed me on the art of romance,” I began.  He rolled his eyes only slightly as I continued.  “He was a very attentive lover as you likely know, but could not, in good faith,” I raised my own eyes heavenward while reciting one of Leo's most pronounced concepts they had discussed, “forsake his family and break vow by having intercourse with a woman who was not his wife.”

“Break vow?” Randy repeated to himself with a sudden, and slightly confused, perception.  “Do you know what that means?” he asked, looking out of the corner of his eyes at me, becoming smug in thinking that I didn’t know, but not wanting to pique my curiosity enough to elicit questions.

The same thing I would do if I were in his position, I thought.  Which I wasn’t.

“As a matter of fact,” I said leaning forward again and resting my arms back on the table between us.  I looked directly back into his eyes, “I do.”

Once again, silence permeated the space between us, but this time it was more of an unspoken and mutually understood conversation that only passed for silence.  I knew him enough to know that his guarded attempt at opening, yet evading, this well of knowledge only proved that he knew of its existence while not understanding the full capacity of what he was attempting to guard.  True to the vow I had also taken, I smiled inwardly as I stood and extended my hand to him, knowing and anticipating the full effect my next word would have on him.

“Prometheus.”