Debbie and I were relaxing one night on the patio. I had just served her an espresso and she lit a Montecristo Number 2 with her new Zippo lighter. After a deep drag, she said to me, "Thank you, dear, the dinner was wonderful tonight." I had to agree – the grilled salmon had turned out very well and the side dishes had complemented the main course. I was proud of myself.
We had settled into our new arrangement and I was quite content. Deb had not abused her new power over me. On the contrary, she had been very nice, and we had engaged in multiple lovemaking sessions every day since the contracts had been signed. She told me more than once, "see how nice things can be if you do the right thing. As long as you're a good boy, you'll be a happy one."
There was nothing for me to complain about. She smoked her two cigars a day, which continued to have the same effect on me--I knew now that it always would, and that I officially had a smoking fetish. I was secretly hoping that she would one day smoke a cigar while we had sex – that would be the ultimate. But she didn't seem to want to, and I wasn't about to say anything that might get me on her bad side.
"Bernice called me today, Jay. She wants to get together this weekend. I suggested we drive out to Vegas on Saturday and spend the night at the Borgata. We'll have a nice dinner and then we can either catch a show or do some gambling, and then stay overnight."
We hadn't seen Bernice, Debbie’s college roommate, for a couple of months. She lived about 50 miles away, and we tried to do something together whenever we got the chance. Her husband Gus and I always got along, although we’re different types of guys, me being more reserved and introverted, Gus the exact opposite. He's very gregarious and quite a bit macho, in the old Italian style, and he's a lot of fun to be around. Bernice was always a shy girl who loved nothing more than to curl up with a good novel. I always wondered how the two of them had ever gotten together, but they seemed to be still in love after 15 years of marriage and two kids.
"Sure, sounds good to me." And then I remembered. "Uh, Deb..."
"I know what you're thinking Jay – sometimes you're so transparent. Don't worry, I won't tell them about our little arrangement. Honestly, I don't think they could handle it", Deb laughed.
"And neither could I," was what I said to myself.
***
When Saturday afternoon arrived, we took the Honda to Las Vegas. We had decided to meet Gus and Bernice at the Filazio Restaurant for dinner before heading over to the casino. Not having been able to get tickets to a good show on such late notice, we planned on spending the night gambling.
We arrived almost simultaneously, and with lots of hugs and small talk, we waited until we were seated at our table. Gus and I ordered steak dinners and Bernice and Debbie ordered seafood. Deb then changed her mind and decided to have steak too.
The meal was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with a couple of bottles of fine wine. We then decided to skip dessert and have our coffee. Gus asked me if I still enjoyed the occasional cigar. I started to feel a twinge of anxiety, but said simply, "Sure, once in a while."
Gus winked. "I scored some Cubans, buddy. Really good and really bigThe meal was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with a couple of bottles of fine wine – they're Partagas, which I had never had before. They’re really, really good. I think they’re the brand Arnold smokes. Want one?" I nervously glanced at Debbie, who had a look of amusement on her face. I think she was enjoying my discomfiture.
Las Vegas is one of the few places left on earth where one can smoke in peace in a restaurant after a fine meal. It's one of the attractions of the city for many people.
“Do you mind if we smoke, ladies?” Gus asked in a mock-chivalrous tone of voice.
"Do you mind if I join you?" said Deb.
"Absolutely. You ladies feel free to sit here with us if you want to," said Gus. But it might take a bit of time to smoke these big boys" he chuckled.
"No Gus," said Deb. "I meant would you mind if I had one of the cigars." Gus laughed uproariously. "Yeah, sure babe, you can have one." Deb reached out her hand to take a cigar and Gus stammered, "You're serious?!"
"Serious," she replied.
"Debbie!” Now it was Bernice's turn. "I know it's trendy nowadays for some women to smoke cigars, but you?! When did this start?"
"It's not very feminine," chipped in Gus. You're a lady, Deb. You don't need to do that."
I wanted to crawl under the table. Deb explained that she wasn't trying to be trendy, but that friends had introduced her to the pleasures of fine cigars, and she really liked them.
"It's not like I'm smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Moderate cigar smoking won't give me cancer. It's relaxing and it's fun, and, now that I've discovered them, I'm not going to stop. I love cigars, maybe, even more than you do Gus. And Bernice, you might find that you like them too if you got past stereotyping them as “For men only.” We're in Vegas – enjoy yourself. We won't tell anyone."
"I could never," said Bernice.
"That's right," said Gus. Over my dead body will my wife smoke cigars. What's the world coming to? Women getting tattoos. And smoking cigars. Women’s lib went too far, in my opinion. What's next—the man doing the wash while the woman watches football with the girls?!" He laughed heartily at the absurdity.
I didn’t know what to expect from Debbie at this point, but she said nothing. She smiled, but I couldn’t tell if she was pissed off or just amused. Probably both.
The three of us lit our cigars and we all had our coffee. Deb also sipped a snifter of Kahlua, which she said enhances the cigar and coffee tastes. Bernice kept asking Debbie what smoking cigars was like. Wasn't she embarrassed smoking a big cigar right there in public? Debbie said, "I think you'll notice that I'm not the only woman in this city smoking a cigar. It's not a big deal." And, sure enough, except for a few discreet glances, no one seemed to be taking any particular notice of her cigar smoking. This was, after all, Las Vegas.
When Gus excused himself to use the men's room, Bernice asked Deb if she could try "Just a little puff." She daintily took the cigar and took a small drag. Grimacing, she handed it right back. "I don't think I like it," she said, perhaps a bit too emphatically.
Deb replied, "That's all right, I didn't really like my first couple of puffs either. I got used to it quickly, though. If you ever want to try again, just let me know. We'll make a cigar aficionado out of you yet."
"I don't know if I ever could" blushed Bernice. "And please don't say anything to Gus."
"We won't."
Gus returned momentarily and we finished up our smokes and got ready to head to the Borgata.
"I still don't believe you, Deb," Gus guffawed. But I have to admit, you looked hot smoking that thing."
"Thanks Gus, I take that as a compliment."
Bernice lifted her eyebrows at that last statement but said nothing.
"If you only knew, Gus, if you only knew," I thought. Debbie simply smiled.
***
At the Borgata, we started out at the slots, but that quickly got boring for me. I like blackjack and said I was heading over there. Gus wanted to play craps, and the ladies decided to stroll around the casino, promising to meet up later in the blackjack area. For most of the night, my luck wasn't very good. I had allotted myself two hundred dollars to play with, and within two hours, it was almost gone. I was ready to quit when I saw Debbie and Bernice enter the room. They sat with me at the table and joined the game.
All eyes were on Deb as she requested an Ashton double corona and had it lit. She ostentatiously dangled her cigar from her lips as she picked up her cards. It was kind of fun knowing that my wife had a lot of the men at the table (including me) standing at attention, as it were. She placed her bet and it was soon apparent that it was going to be a winning night for her. Deb and Bernice were already a bit tipsy and they ordered martinis.
After Deb won a few more hands, they ordered another round. I had lost what I planned to spend that night, so I withdrew from the game. That gave me the opportunity to concentrate on my beautiful wife smoking her big cigar as she won hand after hand. When her winnings hit $5000, she insisted to Bernice that she thought she should help her celebrate by having a cigar and a glass of champagne with her. She was really egging her on. Bernice, at this point quite inebriated, said, "Why not, what the hell," and requested her own stick. "Make it big, like hers," she laughed. “I like the thick ones.” We all laughed.
"Holy fucking shit," I silently mouthed.
I didn't know exactly what would happen when Gus got back, but I was not optimistic. My suspicions were confirmed in less than ten minutes. Gus got one look at the big cigar in Bernice's mouth and practically exploded. "You look like some two-bit slut," he screamed. The sudden quiet was deafening.