Chapter 3: The Third Degree

Dexter was working on one of the exercise machines intended to develop his upper body. He had no idea what the machine was called, but he had nicknamed it ‘The Bastard,’ much to Samantha’s amusement. It was some sort of progressive resistance thing that always made him work for that last inch of extension. He figured that Samantha must have turned the crank up on it, today, because it was worse than usual.

“So you had a date?” Samantha asked.

Dexter grunted. He hated the The Bastard, but Samantha insisted that he use it.

“What was she like?” Samantha asked.

Dexter grunted again.

“She was that nice, huh?” Samantha said.

Dexter stopped his workout on the machine and said, “Why do I have to use this stupid machine?”

“Because women like men with strong chests, and hard abs,” Samantha answered.

Dexter laughed and said, “Like that is ever going to happen?”

“Have you looked in the mirror, lately?” Samantha asked.

“When I shaved this morning,” Dexter answered.

“Well, you better spend a little more time looking at yourself in the mirror,” Samantha said.

Dexter had lost a lot of the fat that had made him look like a Jelly Roll Baby. His shoulders were broader and his stomach had flattened. His clothes were a little large, but tightening his belt had taken care of most of it. He did need to make another shopping trip to get clothes that fit a little better.

“Why?”

Samantha said, “You’re turning into quite a hunk, for a man your age.”

“Walter Brennan was a hunk, ‘for a man of his age,’” Dexter said.

Samantha stared at Dexter with a puzzled expression on her face for a moment, wondering who Walter Brennan was. It dawned on her that he was a character actor who played grumpy old men in a couple of ancient western films.

She burst out laughing, as she said, “Don’t be silly!”

“Well, he was,” Dexter asserted.

Samantha said, “Don’t go changing the subject. I was asking you about your date.”

“No, you were going to answer why I have to use this damned machine,” Dexter said.

“I answered your question,” Samantha said. “Now answer mine. What was your date like?”

“I went back to the jazz club,” Dexter said. “Have you been back there?”

“I’ve been back there a couple of times,” Samantha said.

“With Calvin?”

“Of course. He’s been practicing the Saxophone again, thinking that he might join in on those Saturday sessions. You should hear him, he sounds pretty good.”

“I’ve heard him practicing, and he is damned good. Don’t forget that I live right below him,” Dexter said.

“I forgot about that.”

“So are you getting serious with him?”

“Yes, I am.”

Dexter asked, “Why haven’t I seen you around Calvin’s place?”

“We go back to mine,” Samantha answered.

“Ah!” Dexter said, as though she had just said something significant.

“Don’t go changing the subject on me,” Samantha said. “What was your date like?”

“I told you. I went to the jazz club,” Dexter said.

Sounding a little frustrated, Samantha said, “Her! I want to hear about her.”

“She’s pretty.”

“Ah! That tells me everything I want to know,” Samantha said rolling her eyes.

“What?”

Samantha answered, “You had a horrible time on your date.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You must have. You went to the jazz club and your date was pretty. That’s a pretty poor summary of an evening out,” Samantha said.-

“What more do you want to know?” Dexter asked.

He was really puzzled by the questioning.

Samantha answered, “Well, things like how was she? What did you talk about? What did she wear?”

“I don’t ask you those kinds of things about your dates with Calvin,” Dexter said.

Samantha said, “You didn’t have to ask those questions about my first date with Calvin. You were there.”

“Well, yeah. I guess so,” Dexter said.

“Get on the rowing machine, and tell me all about your date. I want to know everything ... from when you picked her up, to when you took her home,” Samantha said knowing that Dexter was at his most relaxed when rowing.

Happy to get off ‘The Bastard,’ Dexter told about how he had picked Ann up at the agency. He had gone inside to see where she worked. It was kind of hard to tell just how successful she was by her work area. She had a nice desk that was fairly neat, although there were a few folders stacked up on one side of it. Of course, all of the desks in the agency were basically the same.

He started to tell her how they had left the agency and went to dinner, but Samantha interrupted to get a detailed description of the clothes Ann had worn. Dexter’s description of her outfit being a typical ‘little black dress’, with a low cut neckline and a hem that showed lots of leg didn’t satisfy Samantha’s curiosity. However, that was as much detail as he could remember, and he didn’t feel comfortable telling about how appreciative he was of the low neckline!

Actually, Samantha’s curiosity was greater than Dexter’s ability to satisfy it. He couldn’t remember what they talked about over the meal. He did remember that he did most of the talking. Ann had been remarkably well informed about his website. Of course, all of that was public knowledge.

He did have a feeling that Ann was a little disappointed in his choice of restaurants. He had taken her to one of those middle-of-the-road surf and turf places. It wasn’t a chain, but it wasn’t a high-end place, either. Dexter had picked it, because he felt comfortable with the atmosphere, and the food was pretty good. The service had been great.

Samantha’s interest was piqued when he talked about the visit to the jazz club. He had taken a seat in the non-alcoholic section. Dexter had had several glasses of N-A beer while Ann had had several glasses of N-A wine. Samantha’s questioning suggested that Ann wasn’t all that happy that the wine didn’t seem to affect her.