Chapter 103: Dinner and a Threesome

It was over an hour after Martin left before Lois called me to dinner. When I entered her apartment, I just knew that dinner was going to be wonderful. The place smelled like the best Italian restaurant I was even inside.

Since I was the first to arrive, Lois asked, "Would you like a glass of wine while we await Sarah Beth's arrival?"

"Sure, I have been known to drink almost anything with alcohol as the main ingredient." I replied After looking around her living room I added, "It looks as though everything is in place. Does your Cable work?"

"Yes it does and I wanted to say thank you again for your help," Lois said.

"Well, I let it get out of hand, but at least it got installed. The up side is that everybody else can get cable just by calling the office. It was supposed to have been that way from the get go," I informed her.

The knock on her door was Sarah Beth. "Wow something really smells good in here." she said.

"Thank you," Lois replied. "Are you allowed to drink wine?"

"I have had wine, but I would prefer a soda," she informed us both.

"Good for you," I said with a big smile. "And you are right the place smells like an Italian restaurant. I just hope I will be able to sleep tonight with that wonderful smell in the air."

The conversation was good, and the food was excellent. "God I wish I could cook like that," I said.

"It isn't worth the effort," Lois informed me. "That sauce is an all day affair. Then I will have to throw away half of it."

"Like hell, give it to me and I'll freeze is. That left over sauce and a cheap mac and cheese box dinner will make a couple of excellent meals for a old chick who can't cook for shit." I said to her.

"It really is the best sauce, I have ever eaten," Sarah Beth agreed.

"Just to change the subject, before I gain even more weight, Sarah what are you planning to take in school?"

"I just don't know. I'm torn between a couple of things." She said with what was likely her standard well rehearsed answer designed to put most people off quickly.

"Oh really, what are your thoughts at the moment?" Yes I was pressuring her. I wanted to know that she wasn't some kind of pervert living next door. One pervert in the complex was enough. I wanted to know as much about her as possible.

"Something in medicine I'm pretty sure. There are several tech courses taught at the community college." she suggested.

"Do you like desk work?" I asked.

"No, but it isn't all desk work," she informed me.

"No of course not," I admitted. "Tell you what, one night I'll take you to the Cop Out Club. There are lots of nurses, med techs, and EMT types, who come in there. You can get a chance to talk to a bunch of different technicians. Maybe we can even work out an on the job visit for you."

"Wow that would be great." She paused then said, "Well I have to get to bed early, I am opening the store tomorrow. I do hate to eat and run, especially as good as that dinner was.

After she had gone Lois said, "She is a cute little thing, damn it. I used to be cute like that once." Then she laughed.

"I never was cute like that, sad to say," I said it with a laugh.

"Okay, I was never that cute, but I was cute damn it." Lois said.

Lois and I finished the bottle of wine and got right chummy. I had promised myself that I would not hit on any of the tenants, so the slightly overweight Lois was safe. I would never hit on her. However, if she got me drunk and hit on me, all bets were off. That being the case, I left early as well.

As I walked just the few feet to my own door, I discovered that it was really cold outside. I was happy that the boiler worked as well as it did. The thermostat was in my apartment, but it heated the units all to the same temperature I had been told. It did as long as I had the valves set right. The valve for my place was set at number 8 on the open scale. I planned to set the others the same. I could lower or raise the number depending on the desire of the tenant. That was about all the control they had over it. If it got too hot, crack a window, if you had a cold spot try an electric ceramic heater. I bought one of those for each unit. I had them stored in the utility room. They were for those folks who wanted a cool apartment but a warm bathroom for showers. That was actually my preference.

I watched cable TV, while I awaited Irish Martin's call. I also gave some thought to my two tenants. I had promised myself not to get involved in their lives and I planned to stick to that, well as much as possible. Still there was the question of Lois and her tomato sauce. She did promise to give me the excess.

I actually planned to pass at least some of it along to Helen. I knew that Lois needed some time to just do nothing. I had needed that, but I didn't take it. What I did was to start a business which gave me lots of time off. I worked my way into a new life slowly. Lois would have to find her own new life, but if it happened that she could help Helen in the process, so much the better.

I still had to find Helen a building. Truth is once I put the bug in her ear, I am sure she and Jack were out looking for a place. Still, if I came across something, I planned to pass it along.

The black box on the end table roared out Mag7 and I lurched for it. How much was to shut it up and how much was anticipation, I didn't know. "Hello," I said into the phone.

"Hello," I was surprised that the voice was Kate's. "How would you feel about Martin and I coming over for a visit?" she asked.

"That depend on how you feel about it?" I commented.

"To be honest I'm not sure. Yesterday I would have said no way,. Today, I'm asking aren't I?"

"Yes you are asking, but is it what you want or what you think you have to do?"

"I'm confused, but I'm not being forced," she said.

"Then bring some Coca Cola to mix with Canadian Club. Oh yeah and the Canadian Club as well. I am pretty sure we are all going to need a drink." I said.

"Right," she said in agreement. "I'll call again from the gate."

Since the ice machine from the motel days still worked, I had it moved to the storage room. I had access to it, but no one else did. I went out my back door and into the storage room. I put several scoops of the cubed ice into a clean grocery bag salvaged from a previous Wal-mart trip.

The next thing I did was go to the web site hosting my cameras. I set the surveillance camera covering my apartment's living room to save. I didn't have one in the bedroom and that was fine. I didn't want any problems later as far as who did what to who. Since I had the only password to change the setting, I didn't have to worry about anyone downloading the file. Someone might stumble on it, but they couldn't keep it. Odds of even that happening were a million to one.

When her call came, I looked at the online image of her standing at the gate. Martin was there as well but with his face turned away from the camera, of course. I opened it for them and they walked through. I took a good look to be sure the gate was closed. The locking circuit also verified that the gate was closed.

"Come on in," I said to Kate who was the one at the door. Since I hadn't seen Martin's face at the gate, I kept the .38 handy until I was sure that it was indeed him at my door.

As he passed me he saw the pistol and smiled. I knew that he had expected no less from me. We began drinking the CC and Coke almost immediately. Kate filled me in on her day.

I noticed that she did not talk about EMT Eddie, so I didn't mention his call. She was still pretending there was something more than sex between her and Martin. So she thought that she was juggling two men. It was probably a new sensation for the only slightly chubby, but ordinary looking Kate. She just needed time to come to grips with who she really was.

Martin on the other hand knew exactly who he was, and what he was doing. He wasn't just getting it off with us, he was checking me out. He and Swamp Thing wanted to know how far I would go, and how much did I really care what a relationship was based on. Was truth, justice, and the American way, really all that important to me. People always say one thing, but are almost always willing to compromise, when the shit hits the fan.

I understood that it was best for Swamp Thing to know, if I had an understanding of real life, or not. With women, sexual encounters are a good way to find out how much is facade and how much is real.

I talked at being morally liberated and willing to do anything to further the cause, but was I really willing to go the distance. That was what the evening was all about, and nothing more. I knew that, but I wondered if Martin knew, that I knew.