“Nope. Not your brother,” Darius interrupted.

“Sure! No worries! Darius, you look like a guy who works out a lot. Right? Football at UNC, you said. Awesome team, my broth—uh, man! But are you feeling a little tired these days?”

“No,” said Darius. “Can’t say that I am.”

“Ken, maybe this isn’t the time,” Sarah said. “Actually, it’s definitely not the time. For whatever it is you’re about to do.”

“Like I said, it’s five minutes that will change your life.” Ken touched the keyboard. A logo floated onto the screen. VitaKetoMaxo in pulsing letters, along with images of very fit people working out behind it. Bicycling, lifting weights, running, leaping through the air.

“VitaKetoMaxo is more than a protein shake,” Ken went on, his voice rhythmic.

“Stop,” said Sarah, her teeth gritted. She was mad, Josh deduced. Kind of interesting, her face getting blotchy that way.

“It’s a way of life,” Ken said. He clicked, and more fit people appeared on-screen, now all drinking from green bottles.

“Jesus Christ, are you trying to sell us something?” Jen asked, a little late to the party. She scratched her arm vigorously. “Dude. Fuck off.” She grabbed her wineglass, polished off the last bit and handed it to Darius. “Hon, could you get me a tad more?”

“You’ve had enough, haven’t you, babe?”

“No. Babe.”

“In that case, yes, my queen.” Darius got up and got the bottle.

“You might think I’m trying to sell you something,” Ken went on. “But I’m not. I’m trying to give you something. A new way to look at the world.”

“Like, from the deck of the Death Star?” Jen said. “Obi-Wan, are you going to blow up our planet?”

“Just for the record, the real Obi-Wan Kenobi would never do that,” Josh said. Star Wars had been very important to him during his adolescence, and loyalty was important in these matters.

“Oh, God, Ken,” Sarah said. “You’re trying to sell us a nutrition drink, aren’t you?”

Ken was lit with a zealous passion, his pasty skin turning pink. “Oh, my gosh, babe, it’s so much more than that!”

“I thought we agreed not to use babe just yet.”

“Do you know why we’re all here, Obi-Wan?” Jen asked. “Because my sister died. Joshua’s wife. We’re in fucking mourning, okay?”

To be honest, Josh was kind of enjoying the show. It was better than thinking about loneliness. On the computer screen, people were doing cartwheels across a meadow. “Tell us more, Ken,” he said, earning a dismayed look from Sarah.

“Thanks, Joshua, man! It’s about lifestyle. It’s the chance you’ve been waiting for. The opportunity to build a new life filled with riches.”

“I’m itchy,” Jen said. “Is anyone else itchy?”

“Maybe we should go,” Darius said. “You’re kind of flushed.”