[Steel]

Sharath scrolled a little further down, then his eyes went wide. It felt like he had been dunked in ice water. He couldn't believe what he was looking at.

It was Laila. Unmistakably. Staring at the camera with her usually confident, toothy grin, and dressed in a fancy swimsuit under a translucent sarong, in her signature feather cut hairstyle. There wasn't even a fake pornstar name; "Laila" was printed right there next to the erotic picture.

It wasn't possible. Sharath's mouth was suddenly dry, and perversely, his cock was suddenly throbbing, tenting up the sheets. Laila had been a friend of his in college. And also the subject of a desperate, embarrassing crush for him from freshman year up through graduation. It wasn't until he met and began dating an amazing woman like Kusha after college that Sharath was able to fully get over her. Despite being utterly in love with his wife, Sharath still kind of kicked himself for not making a move on Laila during freshman year. By the time he finally got up his courage, Laila was already dating an older guy. The man she eventually married.

Right. Laila was fucking married. And had a kid. Sharath had fallen out of touch with her after her wedding, but he still saw updates from her occasionally on social media.

And, most importantly, Laila had always hated Rakesh. They had both been members of the same loose friend group, but Laila had made frequent complaints to Sharath about how obnoxious Rakesh was during college, and it may have been because of Rakesh that Laila eventually drifted away to hang out more often with her boyfriend's social circle during senior year.

Sharath clicked into the page for Laila on the porn site, feeling both oddly numb and pulsing with arousal at the same time. He scanned the short blurb with uncomprehending eyes.

"This one is close to my heart... an old friend from college! Laila could never stand the sight of me when we hung out on campus, and I've got to admit it hurt my feelings. So when I happened to run into this hot little married slut years later, I couldn't resist turning her into my personal whore. Laila started out wanting nothing to do with me, but by the time I got done with her... well, you'll just have to watch her videos to find out!"

Sharath unconsciously pressed the "Watch Here" button, but was taken immediately to a payment screen. With a grunt of annoyance, he exited the page and tossed his phone onto his nightstand. He lay back in bed, staring up at the ceiling with a new sense of panic rising in his heart.

Maybe it was a trick, or Photoshop, or something. The Laila Sharath had known was a smart and snarky woman who didn't take shit from anyone (he had always had a thing for strong-willed women). If Rakesh had somehow managed to lure or trick her into a sexual relationship, even though she hated him... Well, the parallels with Kusha were troubling.

Sharath decided to put Laila out of his mind for now. Maybe he could try to snoop on social media and see if there were any hints that she had actually been corrupted by Rakesh. Right now, he had to concentrate on things at home, find a way to counter whatever hold Rakesh seemed to have over his wife.

When the idea came to him, it felt obvious. Whatever plans Rakesh was working on, it clearly involved frustrating Kusha and getting her mentally wrapped up in the project he had hired her to work on. The best way to counteract Rakesh's plan would be to take Kusha's mind off work and reconnect with her. Break the focus on Rakesh that his former friend was trying to foster.

That was an excellent plan: a date. A chance for Kusha to unwind and unplug. And Sharath knew just where to take her. Kusha had been so tense tonight, Sharath had felt it in her shoulders. Kusha had a favorite ritzy spa she went to when the mood struck her, and Sharath knew they had couples' packages. They’d gone there for Valentine’s Day a couple of years ago, and although it wasn't Sharath's favorite thing in the world, he knew Kusha had loved it. In fact, she still occasionally brought it up to him as something they should do again sometime. A day of couples' massages and skin treatments would be a great way to soothe Kusha's annoyance and frustrations, and hopefully get her mind off that ugly douchebag trying to seduce her.