Chapter 20: Friends

Dexter waited for Samantha to turn her back to him. She was busy talking to a woman who was working out on the Stair Master. He moved the rowing machine four inches closer to the center of the room.

“I saw that!” Samantha shouted.

She spun around and pointed a finger at him.

“What?” Dexter asked trying to look innocent.

“You moved that rowing machine,” Samantha said.

“I did?” Dexter asked wide-eyed.

“Don’t play ‘innocent little boy’ with me. I watched you move that machine in the mirror,” Samantha said.

The woman on the Stair Master giggled.

“Damn!” Dexter said. “Busted.”

Samantha said, “It’s been driving me crazy. Every other day, that stupid rowing machine has been moving across the room. At first I thought there was something wrong with it to make it move like that. Then I realized someone was moving it.”

“Occam’s razor,” Dexter said. At her puzzled expression he said, “The least complicated explanation is usually the best explanation.”

“Yesterday I sat down, and came up with a list of suspects.”

Dexter asked, “How many names were on the list?”

“One,” Samantha said.

The woman on the Stair Master had to stop exercising, because she was laughing too hard to stand upright.

“You could have put at least one other name on it, just to make me feel better,” Dexter said.

Samantha laughed at the pitiful expression on his face.

“You’re the eccentric uncle I never had.”

“Is that a compliment?” Dexter asked.

“Yes,” Samantha said.

“That’s good,” Dexter said.

He sat down on the rowing machine and started rowing.

Fidgeting nervously, Samantha said, “I’ve got a date, tonight.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Dexter asked.

“Calvin,” Samantha answered.

“That’s nice,” Dexter said.

Samantha said, “Amber doesn’t like him. She thinks I should take a chaperone with me.”

“Really? That’s not good. She’s really people smart,” Dexter said.

“She’s coming with me on the date,” Samantha said.

Dexter said, “That’s really nice of Amber. There’s nothing worse than being the third wheel.”

“She needs a date,” Samantha said looking at Dexter.

“She’s an attractive young woman. She’ll have no problem getting a date,” Dexter said.

“She doesn’t want a date, date ... she wants a date,” Samantha said with an odd emphasis on the last word. It was almost like it was in quotes.

“Huh?” Dexter asked.

Samantha looked over at the woman on the Stair Master. She said, “Dexter is in the process of getting divorced from his wife. He hasn’t been on a date in twenty years.”

“That explains it,” the woman said.

Dexter said, “Oh. You want to know if I’ll be her date, right?”

“Yes,” Samantha said.

“It’s not a real date, is it? I’m not divorced yet, you know,” Dexter said.

It was strange, but Dexter didn’t feel comfortable going out on a date until his divorce was final. He didn’t have any problems with guilt concerning his visits with prostitutes in Nevada, but that was just sex. A date kind of promised more.

“No, it’s not a ‘real’ date,” Samantha said.

“Okay, then I’ll go,” Dexter said.

Samantha looked relieved and said, “We’ll be at your apartment around six to pick you up.”

“Okay,” Dexter said.

“You don’t know how much I appreciate this. It’s been so long since I’ve had date, and then Amber kind of spooked me,” Samantha said.

The woman on the Stair Master asked, “When was the last time you were on a date, Sam?”

“A year and a half ago,” Samantha answered.

“I don’t stand a chance,” the woman said.

“The men these days must be crazy. If I was fifteen years younger and twice as handsome, I would fight to have a date with you,” Dexter said. He paused in rowing long enough to mimic a fighting mime with his hands. Then he added, “Of course, you’d have to swing by the hospital to get me after the other guy finished beating me up.”

The woman on the Stair Master laughed again.

“It’s tough getting a date. The good ones are all married. The bad ones aren’t worth dating. The ones in between are working on their careers,” Samantha said.

Dexter said, “I do know a little about that. I’ve had several young men tell me that they can’t date because they have no free time. Getting a business call in the middle of a date really kills the chance for romance.”

“The last guy I dated got called into work in the middle of our date. Never date a systems administrator. They get a call and they drop everything,” the woman said.

“Calvin is a sys-admin,” Sam said.

“Are you talking about the Calvin who lives above me?” Dexter asked.

“Yes,” Sam said.

Dexter said, “He’s a nice guy.”

“Hey, Calvin,” Dexter said.

“Hi, Dexter.”

“Are you looking forward to your date, tonight?” Dexter asked.

Calvin was pacing around in front of the apartment. He was dressed in slacks with a sports coat. He was actually wearing a tie, which surprised Dexter, as he didn’t think young men did that anymore. Calvin’s black leather shoes were polished to a high shine. He looked pretty sharp. He also looked pretty nervous.

Calvin said, “I don’t know. It’s a double date.”

“I know,” Dexter said.

“How do you know?” Calvin asked.

“Amber and I are going with you,” Dexter said.

“She hates me,” Calvin said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dexter said. “You’re a nice guy.”

Mary, walking from the parking lot, greeted the pair of men, saying, “Hello.”

“Hello, Mary,” Calvin said.

“Hi,” Dexter said, increasing his distance from her. He was ready to run if her hand went anywhere near her purse.

Mary said, “I’m not going to mace you.”

“That’s nice to know,” Dexter said warily.

“I’ve been getting some help with my problem,” Mary said.

“That’s good,” Dexter said. Charlie had already told him that.

“That’s great,” Calvin said.

“I want to thank you for dropping the assault charges,” Mary said.

Dexter shrugged his shoulders. There had been a lot of reasons behind his decision. Learning that she had been gang raped had made him feel like she was a victim in that whole mess as well. He could understand her being a little skittish, particularly after having had someone try to kill him.

Charlie had told him that she was getting some treatment so that she wouldn’t be so quick on the trigger with the pepper spray. Charlie said that she often returned to work from her therapy sessions with red eyes from crying and emotionally exhausted. Dexter didn’t know if that was a good thing, but it did sound like she was making some progress in dealing with past issues.

Dexter could also imagine the press having a field day with this. He could just imagine how some of the pundits who disliked him would report it. He’d be cast into some sort of sex crazed madman who stalked innocent women trying to get into their apartments. He couldn’t imagine going through that.

Another reason that convinced him to drop the charges, was that he just didn’t want to bother with going to court. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the time. He just didn’t want to spend all day sitting around a courthouse.

Calvin said, “That was nice of you, Dexter.”

“I didn’t think going to jail would help anyone,” Dexter said.

“I’m really sorry,” Mary said. “I just didn’t have a chance to thoroughly check you out on the sex offenders list, before you surprised me that morning.”

“What?” Dexter said.

Mary said, “Well, I ran your name through the system, and it came up blank. Then again, you never know if people are using their right name.”

“Why would you suspect someone living here, of being a rapist?” Dexter asked.

“There are two men in this apartment complex that are on the sex offenders list. I make sure that I stay away from them,” Mary answered.

“There are two men on the sex offenders list living here?” Dexter asked shocked to learn that little piece of information.

He couldn’t believe it. It seemed like a pretty nice apartment complex.

“Yes. One was convicted of sexual assault. That’s a polite way of saying rape. The other was a teacher who molested a young girl in one of his classes,” Mary said.

Her eyes flicked over to two different parts of the apartment complex.

“I had no idea,” Calvin said.

“You can’t choose your neighbors,” Mary said.