"So was it the experience with Paula that led you to go after us well-seasoned broads?" Gloria said during a break in their next session.
Dale scowled at that description, but said, "Yes, I guess so. It just made me realize how stupid men are for leaving such wonderful creatures as herâand you!"
"That's nice of you." She had said it in her usual cynical way, but Dale could sense that she was touched by his flattery.
"So if I could step into the breach and help them out, why shouldn't I? And by 'helping out' I don't mean just providing sexual gratificationâ"
"But that's a big part of it, isn't it?"
"Maybe, but there's a lot more to it than that. Young women, especially attractive young women, don't need the attention: they get it all the time, from men of all ages. The older ladies are either bogged down in a boring marriage with someone who no longer excites them, or feel ignored or abandoned by a culture that overemphasizes youth and beauty. Many of these women are in fact quite beautifulâlike you and Paulaâbut don't feel it because no one pays them the attention they deserve. So I figured I'd go on a one-man quest to remedy all that."
"Quite an ambitious goal."
"Naturally I can't solve the whole problem all by myselfâbut if I could make a few women happy, I'd have done something worth doing."
"Yes, yes," Gloria said impatiently, "very noble of you. Just tell me who else there was."
"Well, the next one was someone I met at a grocery store in Greenwich. Since I didn't have a job, I tended to go to the grocery store at all hours, whenever it suited me; and I found that during the early afternoons the store was frequented almost exclusively by either older people or middle-aged womenâpresumably stay-at-home mothers who weren't quite wealthy enough to have maids or housekeepers to do the shopping for them. And that's how I met Rose.
"What struck me at first was that she looked so
tired.
I later found out that she was only in her late forties, but she looked a full decade older. She was ahead of me in the cashier's line, and she had quite a lot of groceries to buyâwhich led me to suspect she was buying for a family rather than just for herself."
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock."
"It was, wasn't it? The cashier mechanically asked if she would 'like some help' in loading up her purchases in her car, and she just as routinely said no. But she had a large cart full of at least five bags bursting with all manner of things, and she seemed crestfallen about the amount of effort it would take to stuff them into her car and unload them at her house. I only had a few items to purchase, so I managed to trail along after her into the parking lot.
"Predictably enough, she had opened up the back end of a large black SUV and was preparing to put the bags in there. But then, all of a sudden, her shoulders just sagged and she seemed almost overwhelmed with the enormity of the task. Even if I hadn't found her appealing, I would have lent her assistance just out of pity.
"So I calmly walked up to her and said, 'Can I lend you a hand? Looks like you need it.'
"She peered up at meâshe was only about five foot twoâand, understandably, looked at me warily. 'Thanks, but I'll manage.'
"'You sure?' I said. 'I just want to help.'
It seemed that the effort to ward me offâI'm sure she was not in the habit of talking with strangers in the parking lot of a grocery storeâwas too much for her, and with a careless toss of her hand she said, 'Go aheadâbe my guest.'
"I jumped to the task, and in a matter of seconds I had all five bags of groceries loaded neatly into the back of the SUV.
"'There!' I said, with some pride. 'All done. I hope you have someone at the other end to help you put away all this stuff.'
"She smiled out of the side of her mouth and said, 'I wish. No one home but me at the moment.'
"Then she gave me a look of alarm, and we both realized what was going through her mind.
I've just told this stranger that I'm alone at home. What if he decides to follow me and . . .?
"There was no way I was going to make her more alarmed than she already was, so I said blandly, 'Well, I hope you can take a long nap afterwards.'
"I was worried that she might think even that remark was a
double entendre,
even though it was meant innocently. With a genial smile, I began walking away to my own car. But then she said:
"'Umâyou could help me.'
"All I can say is that I take some pride in not looking like a serial killer. I think that on that occasion I happened to be wearing a bowtie and a sweater, so I was utterly unthreatening. And the woman really did seem very tired.