“He’s way too old for her,” Jenn protested.
“How old is he?” I had to ask.
“Same age as me,” Dex said quickly. “And he’s a douche.” He picked up his straw and angrily chewed on the end. It was a change from his compulsive Nicorette chewing.
“And you know if Dex is calling someone a douche, he must be a real douche,” Dean said, grinning at us all.
“He is not a douche,” Jenn said with a disgusted grunt.
Rebecca laughed. “Well not to you, dear Jenny, of course not.”
I couldn’t tell if there was a thread of vindictiveness or something in her voice, since her accent made picking up on subtleties more difficult. But there was an odd, brief hush to the table, as if everyone noticed anyway. There was something weird going on, and because I was the outsider in the group, I didn’t know what it was.
“Why do you think we’d make a good pair? Or were you being sarcastic?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
“When isn’t she sarcastic?” Seb said.
She yanked on his ponytail one more time. “Be that as it may, I do think Perry should meet Bradley.”
“She’ll meet him on Friday, at the party,” Dex said. “That will be enough.” And the way Dex ended that sentence signaled that no one would be talking about Bradley anymore.
~~
After lunch wrapped up, Jenn drove us back to the apartment and dropped us off. She apparently had someplace to be and that was music to my ears. I had needed some time to just be alone with Dex, time to breathe.
“Wanna come for a walk?” he asked me as he opened the bathroom door and Fat Rabbit came bounding out, peppering us with excited woofs. I did, despite the weather.
Outside, the rain had slowed down considerably, making a sporadic patting sound on the roof of my umbrella. Dex pulled up his grey hoodie over his head, having refused an umbrella of his own, and we took off down the street with Fat Rabbit leading the way, straining against the leash.
I observed the apartment buildings and chain hotels around me, the Pink Elephant carwash nearby, the gloomy urban sprawl. Dex was silent and popped a piece of Nicorette in his mouth. With his slouchy walk, eyebrow ring, dark eyes and dark jacket, he looked like an essential piece of the Seattle scenery. I couldn’t think of a city that suited him as much as this one did.
“Does the dog need to be taken for a lot of walks?” I asked, avoiding a few puddles hidden beneath a mask of dead leaves.
He chewed a few times, his lips twitching sheepishly.
“Probably not. I’m just used to going out to smoke. Now I just take Fat Rabbit here to clear my head, distract myself. Old habits, you know.”
“I’m proud of you,” I blurted out.
His eyes shot out to the side, looking down at me quickly, puzzled.
“For quitting smoking,” I continued. “I didn’t think you’d do it.”
“I still don’t think it’s going to stick.”
“But you’re trying.”
“Yeah. I’m trying,” he said, and then sighed, sounding vaguely melancholy. “I’ve even cut down on this gum a bit. I’ve found that if I chew more than one piece at a time, I can get quite excitable.”
“No kidding,” I teased him. We rounded a building and suddenly the Space Needle was right in front of us. We stopped at a set of lights and I craned my neck at the towering icon.
“You been up there?” I asked, even though it was probably a stupid question since he was a Seattle-ite.
“No, actually. That’s too f**king high for me.”
“You’re afraid of heights?” I asked, surprised. Dex didn’t strike me as being afraid of anything. After the last couple of times with him, he earned his place as the bravest person I know.
He shrugged. He’s also one of the quietest people I know. The light changed and we crossed the road. We walked past a crazy-shaped building that was the Experience Music Project and a Science Fiction museum and I made a mental note to try to check out at least one of them before the week was over. Of course, that all depended on what Dex had planned for us.
“So do we have a work schedule for the week?” I questioned as we walked past an arts theatre and stopped and stood at a grassy patch where Fat Rabbit could run around a bit and tire himself out.
He brought out his gold lighter from his pocket. He flickered it on and off a few times, watching the flame as the rain continuously put it out. Old habits.
“Tomorrow we’ve got a meeting with the head doctor/administrator dude at the hospital. He said we could interview him on camera and he’d take us on a short tour of the place. I’m not sure if he’s going to let us film anything on our own but we’ll figure that out. We’ll find a way.”
“I’m surprised you don’t have a pile of homework for me to do. Unless that’s your plan for tonight, get me to hit the books.”
He flicked off the lighter and put in his pocket and pulled sharply on the leash as Fat Rabbit made a dash for a nearby pooch. He choked for a second against the collar, then trotted back to us, tongue hanging out of his mouth.
I adjusted my grip on the umbrella and raised it slightly so I could get a better look at Dex. He hadn’t said anything. I didn’t even know if he heard me. His eyes looked troubled and were searching the scrawny, depleted trees that lined nearby pathways. He almost looked…afraid.
“Are you OK?” I stepped forward and gently placed my hand on his arm.
He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. His brows furrowed close to each other, deepening the permanent crease in between them. My grip on his arm tightened. “Dex?”
“Yup,” he said, keeping his eyes shut. “I’m…thinking.”
Finally he opened his eyes and smiled. It was a sad one. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
I took my hand off him and gave him a quizzical look, hoping to find out what just went on inside his head. His expression was blasé, his lids sleepy and uncaring. Once again, he was just too inconsistent, too hard to read.
Fat Rabbit stopped in between us, sat back on his white haunches and alternated looking at both at us. What’s the holdup? he seemed to be saying. Why aren’t we walking?
“Is it your medication?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry this is so weird.”