The Adam & Eve Trilogy

by Paul Preston

  “What about, Stephen? He planned out the whole show.”

  “You can work as a sub to Stevie, in which case we will triple his salary for that shift, plus his share of the performer’s fee and tips.”

  “Sweet,” Stephen said.

  “Or you may work with any Dom of your choice here.”

  “I would only want to work with Stephen.”

  “Thanks, baby.”

  “Consider this, Laura. The film offers you will get, though more lucrative, will put the acts you perform out of your control with several different men, sometimes all at once. At A and E, you will have more control over the performance, the staff is regularly tested for sexually transmittable diseases, we have a top of the line insurance and dental plan, 4 weeks paid vacation.”

  “Hey, I only get 2 weeks!” Stephen said.

  “Mr. Firmin, while this offer is very sweet of you…” Laura said, smiling.

  “And I must apologize about Harry.”

  “Harry?” asked both Stephen and Laura together.

  “The Dungeon Master, for the way he treated both of you in the Green Room before the show. We’ve had this problem with him before. Mr. Williamson has docked him a month’s pay for his behavior tonight.”

  “Oh, I’m sure that’s not necessary,” Laura said, in a forgiving tone.

  “He broke a few rules that were clearly stated in his contract. It’s his second recorded warning in his personnel file, one more and he’s fired. I’m sure he will give you both a sincere apology when he sees you. Listen, the long and short of this is we want to make this your new home, Laura. The contract has room for negotiation. It doesn’t preclude you from film and video offers, you could even moonlight at our competition across town, which I think is a very fair addendum to the contract, as long as you continue to perform in the 11:00 shows Thursday through Saturday at A and E. I’ll have Mr. Williamson’s lawyer draw up the contract immediately and it will be ready for you to sign in a few days.”

  “Mr. Firmin, I don’t mean to interrupt and while this is all very flattering...”

  “Don’t make a rash decision, Laura. I know this is all very new to you. Sleep on it this weekend; get back to me sometime early next week. Will you do that, Laura?”

  “OK. I certainly will, Mr. Firmin.”

  Firmin then turned to Stephen, sizing him up in a new way.

  “And as for you, Stephen, you clearly impressed us out there. Truly a revolutionary approach, involving the audience as you did. I got some feedback from some of the women who come regularly, you looked good up there with your tight abs and you certainly went off like Old Faithful at the end. I’m prepared to offer you an immediate doubling of your salary, the extra two weeks of paid vacation you mentioned and, of course, to be Laura’s Dom.”

  “That’s a very generous offer, boss.”

  “Of course, you’ll have to work double-time as security until I can get someone trained to replace you. You can get back to me about the offer after you’re back from your personal days.”

  “No problem, sir,” Stephen said, smiling.

  “Oh, Stephen, I’m so proud of you!” Laura said, sitting up and giving Stephen a hug.

  “I’ve got to get out there. The crowd outside your door should disperse in a few minutes and you can make your way out the rear exit.”

  “Also thanks for the champagne, Mr. Firmin,” Stephen said.

  “That was a gift from the house, paid for by Williamson. He’s waiting outside and wants to congratulate both of you personally, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure. Send him in,” Laura said.

  “And thanks again for a magnificent performance. Have a good evening,” Firmin said, as he unlocked the dressing room door and left.

  Williamson entered, and locked the door behind him. He walked over to Laura.

  “Thank you very much for the champagne, Phillipe. Would you like a glass?” Laura asked.

  “No, thank you, Laura. I know you both wish for your privacy and to celebrate your great success here tonight. I will only take a moment of your time. I want to thank you for allowing me to witness the most sexually stimulating performance of my life. May I kiss your hand?”

  “Certainly. How charming,” Laura said, offering her hand.

  Williamson bent down, shut his eyes and gently kissed the back of Laura’s extended hand. He slipped a small object folded around a paper in the palm of her hand without Stephen noticing. Laura put it in her purse. Then Williamson stood back up and turned to face Stephen.

  “Congratulations on the show tonight. I don’t often admit it, but I was wrong about you. You are one hell of a proper Dom.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Williamson then addressed both Laura and Stephen.

  “And I hope you will both seriously consider the offers my associate Firmin conveyed to you,” Williamson asked.

  “Yes. Sir. We will,” Stephen said.

  Williamson offered out his hand to Laura.

  “My lady?”

  Laura extended her hand once again and he shut his eyes, kissing it reverently. Williamson looked at her with a strange sadness in his eyes, then turned and left the dressing room, locking the door behind them. Laura turned to Stephen and they looked at each other, contentedly.

  “Are you ready for our cast party?” Stephen asked, smiling.

  “Yes!” Laura said, happily.

  “Grab the champagne; I’ll sneak it into the hotel room. Let’s go,” Stephen said.

  Laura took the bottle of champagne and two glasses, while Stephen picked up the envelopes.

  “What should we do with all this money?” Stephen asked.

  “You keep it, Stephen. It’ll make me feel better about all the money you spent on me this week,” Laura said.

  “That’s very kind of you, Laura, but...”

  “No, I insist, Stephen. Keep the money. You can toss out all the business cards,” Laura said, closing Stephen’s hand around the envelopes.

  Stephen placed the envelopes in his jacket pocket and opened the door. He peeked around the corner to see if the crowd had dispersed, nodded to Laura and they snuck out of the back exit of the theater without being noticed.

  Chapter Seven

  Saturday

  The two lovers slept in late on Saturday morning. Stephen woke up first to shower and shave. He had planned out a romantic day full of surprises for Laura, their last day together. At 11:30, when Laura awakened, Stephen had set up a tray on the hotel bed. Room service had delivered a full continental breakfast, with fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh rolls and croissants, butter and jam, and steaming hot coffee. Her husband had never done anything romantic like that despite his wealth, while she knew Stephen had now maxed out all his credit cards to make her happy. She was surprised how hungry she was, despite having a late night meal after the show in their room. After brunch, Laura gave Stephen her best alluring look, hoping to pay him back for all his attention and kindness, but at 12:30 Stephen urged her to get up, jump in the shower and get dressed and packed quickly, confessing with a childlike enthusiasm that he had a big surprise planned for the afternoon. She showered, brushed through her hair quickly, threw on the shirt and sweater from her previous life over her lingerie and packed in a rush, all the while trying to get Stephen to tell her what the big surprise was. Stephen held Laura’s hand, running her down through the lobby. They hopped in their car and drove off. He pulled up on the campus of Cal State, parked at 1:50 and Stephen led Laura to the box office of Seaside City Repertory Theater, located near the Drama Department Building.

  Stephen had called the box office Friday, inquiring if it would be possible to get a seat somewhere in the theater for the same performance Laura was scheduled to see. As good fortune sometimes happens to people in love, he discovered Laura had a seat for the Saturday afternoon performance. When Stephen was told the hit show was sold out, he asked to speak to the box office manager. Stephen told the manager he was trying to get a seat next
to Laura Stinson. Since Laura still had VIP status due to the large donation, the manager released the house seat right next to her. By some miracle, Stephen’s final credit card went through. When Laura realized what Stephen was up to, she panicked, completely having forgotten she had a ticket for the performance. She frantically looked through her purse, then pictured it where she always left the tickets, tucked inside her diary in the small secret drawer of her vanity back home. Noticing her frantic search, Stephen told her not to worry, that he had already called the box office and told them she had misplaced her ticket and asked them to have it reprinted for her and held in her name at the box office window. She calmed down, smiled and held his hand, not caring if anyone saw her. When they got to the front of the will call line and retrieved their tickets in separate envelopes, Laura asked Stephen where he was sitting. She had heard the show was sold out in advance weeks ago, and though she wanted to see the show, she didn’t want to be separated from him during the performance. Stephen said he didn’t know, but was assured he’d have a seat somewhere in the theater. As they entered the lobby and stood shoulder to shoulder with the large crowd, Laura had the impulse to turn around and not waste the last few precious moments they had left sitting apart from each other in the theater, no matter how good the show was supposed to be. Just as the house lights blinked in the lobby, the usher tore their tickets, gave them their programs, and ushered them down to the center of Row D, Seats 17 and 18, where they sat down together to attend the a production of the revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Laura was in a state of disbelief. Tears filled her eyes. Stephen had somehow managed to purchase the original seat next to her, Roger’s old seat. As the house lights began to dim, Stephen clasped Laura’s hand in his, leaned over to give her a light kiss on her lips in the dark, feeling the wetness of her tears on his cheek. He gave her a handkerchief and she blew her nose quietly and wiped her eyes during the overture. Laura held on to Stephen’s handkerchief in one hand, patting her eyes as tears kept spilling out during the show, and with her other hand she held Stephen’s fingers tightly.

  During intermission they had an interesting discussion, as if they were old drama school buddies, about how spectacular they thought the show was, how the director and designers had an interesting post-modern take on the classic 70’s rock musical, how sublime the voices were, how they wished they could sing like that. They especially agreed how the acting was restrained and truthful, unlike other productions they had seen of JCS where the performances had a tendency to be histrionic.

  They left the theater and Stephen drove them over to Our Savior Presbyterian Church and parked in front of it. They silently watched the bright sun disappear into the sparkling blue ocean. As the light faded out of the sky, they knew their time together had nearly come to an end. Stephen felt melancholic, and broke the awkward silence between them by telling one last story about his life to Laura. As Stephen spoke, Laura rolled down the passenger side window and had a cigarette.

  Stephen began by telling Laura about the Presbyterian Church his family had joined when he was a boy. It was a rather old and boring church to go to, not nearly as charismatic as the Pentecostal and Assembly of God Churches he was drawn to at the time of his youth, after his conversion to Born Again Christianity. No one at the church ever said, “Praise The Lord” and “Praised Be His Holy Name” and no one was granted the gift of speaking in tongues or the gift of the ability to dramatically interpret to the congregation what God was saying that day through His Heavenly Language. But the Presbyterian minister of his youth, Reverend Edwin was a close family friend, and the best friend of Stephen’s father. He grew up in that church and always remembered how Reverend Edwin would give him a warm hug in his black robe after the service every Sunday. Sometimes he would play at church with the Reverend’s son, who was the same age as Stephen.

  Stephen told Laura how Reverend Edwin presided over his Father’s funeral, who had died of a heart attack at age 66. Reverend Edwin helped his family recover from the shock of losing their Father, and deeply mourned the loss himself. He whispered privately to Stephen at the reception following the funeral services, with sorrow in his eyes and a sunken chest, something Stephen never forgot.

  “Your Dad was my best friend,” Reverend Edwin said.

  Then a tragedy of an even more personal kind struck the life of Reverend Edwin. His seventeen year old son, on the first day he got his driver’s license, went around a turn too fast on Randolph Road, right in front of the high school the boys attended together, and died instantly in a horrible car crash. In an act of the most awe-inspiring spiritual courage, Reverend Edwin presided over the services and gave the eulogy for his own son, laying bare to the small, mostly conservative elderly parishioners his crushed faith, his anger at God. Holding his arms over his head, shaking his hands with his fists, looking up, weeping and sobbing, the Reverend shouted at the uncaring God he served in Heaven.

  “Lord God, why have you taken my son, Johnny? Why have you let my son die in vain?”

  He told Laura that this act of publicly displaying his doubt, especially in his own church, left a strong impression on him. Reverend Edwin had sacrificed his whole life to the service of God, and God had rewarded such devotion by robbing him of his son at a young age in a violent and meaningless car accident. He learned from Reverend Edwin that the leap of faith required to be a Christian could be an act of courage, especially if an inexplicable tragedy struck, causing the kind of suffering that robbed one of one’s faith. Stephen was comforted by the thought that if one’s faith could coexist with one’s doubt, perhaps then Stephen’s religious faith could coexist with his sensual nature as well.

  Reverend Edwin continued to minister to a diminishing group of elderly worshippers for many years at the Presbyterian Church of his youth. There were more funerals than marriages in the poor chapel as time went by. Once Stephen confessed to the Reverend all the sexual urges he was having in his adolescence, and how much difficulty he had reconciling these strong urges with his Christian beliefs. They prayed together about it. He asked God to descend upon Stephen like a dove and bring his heart peace about his sexual urges. The Reverend didn’t make him feel guilty about the urges or that they were wrong or bad, as the Pentecostal ministers always did during their sermons. The Reverend just told Stephen all boys have them and not to worry about it any longer.

  Years after Stephen moved away from home, he heard through his mother that Reverend Edwin had been stricken with Parkinson’s disease. While home for a holiday, Stephen went to visit him in a hospice. Seeing his tremors, his bent back and aged face, Stephen knew it would be the last time he would see his Father’s friend alive. Despite the painful shaking of his limbs, he bowed down on his knees with Stephen and asked God to give him guidance.

  Now Laura understood why Stephen held her husband in such a prolonged embrace after the service last Sunday. While in her husband’s arms, she knew Stephen was remembering how Reverend Edwin had enfolded him every Sunday of his childhood in his soft warm black robe.

  The couple sat quietly together, as the sky darkened. Stephen checked his watch and started up the car. Laura put her hand over Stephen’s hand on the ignition switch and killed the engine. Without a word, she grabbed her purse, got out of the car and walked across the street. Stephen followed. Laura got a key chain out of her purse and opened the large front door of the chapel. They walked slowly through the foyer’s shadows, hand in hand, and entered the main chapel. Stephen gave Laura his arm and escorted her down the center aisle, their heels clicking in unison on the marble tiled floor, echoing loudly through the church. They stopped to admire the 8 foot high white cross, towering in the shadows over the pulpit and the altar below. The altar had been set up with the sacrament of the blood and body of Christ for Communion Sunday. Laura sat her handbag down on the front pew, walked over to two tall candleholders, to the left and the right of the altar, each holding three tapered white candles, representing the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. She individually lit each candle in silence, then sat down with Stephen in the front pew. They watch as the candles brought the church to life, illuminating the bits of colored glass in the windows, depicting sacred biblical scenes. The large white cross was no longer quite so imposing and severe with its clean white lines against the blackness. A sculpture of Christ on the Cross appeared in and out of the flickering shadows.

  “It’s beautiful here, in the candlelight,” Stephen said.

  Laura took both of Stephen’s hands in her palms and looked him deeply in the eyes.

  “Back at the hotel, you made a confession to me about how you feel. I wanted to tell you, Stephen… I feel the same way about you. I only wish we could have met before. I want you to know I’ll remember this week for the rest of my life.”

  Stephen put his arm around Laura and held her close to him. After a moment, Laura stood up, extinguished the candles and they walked out of the chapel, hand in hand. Laura locked the front doors behind her.

  They drove back to Stephen’s apartment where she had left her car parked. They got out and Stephen put Laura’s suitcase in her trunk. She looked into his eyes and touched his cheek with the palm of her hand, holding it there briefly. She kissed him once on the bruise below his right eye and once on the cut on his forehead above his left eye. She got in her car without looking back and drove off. Stephen watched her car disappear down the city street.

  Laura got home thirty minutes before her husband was to arrive. She had plenty of time to get ready for his return. In the back of her closet where she left it three years ago, Laura put on for the first time the sexy lingerie she had bought for her wedding night, but never wore. The white sheer stockings were a little loose on her as well as the white sheer camisole that showed off her pretty breasts, but the garter belt still held up her stockings to the middle of her pale white thighs. Her panties were sheer and revealed the open folds of her sex in an enticing manner. She put on a feminine silk robe and wrote in her diary while she waited for her husband to arrive. Looking at herself in the mirror, she took off her collar and placed it in her hiding place in her vanity drawer.