Ch.102Señorita! (3)

When Himena saw an unfamiliar woman pointing a strange object at her in Dexter’s house, she sighed deeply and said:

“…First of all, could you please put that coat hanger down.”

“Oh.”

Only after Himena pointed it out did Jesse realize what she was gripping tightly with both hands.

Since anyone would find it strange to be holding a coat hanger as if it were a weapon, Jesse placed it on the floor.

“Anyway, who are you?”

If criminals—past or present—have a special talent, it’s being able to tell whether someone is a government official or not just by looking at them.

Jesse had this talent, and she immediately sensed it when she saw Himena’s attire and face.

‘She definitely looks like a federal agent.’

Especially in a hot place like Nevada, people who wore black suits were uncommon.

Jesse, who harbored resentment toward all government officials except Dexter, looked at Himena and said:

“…And who are you to just walk into Dexter’s house?”

‘Well, well, look at this.’

Himena, seeing Jesse standing with folded arms and displaying clear hostility, was also scanning Jesse from head to toe.

‘Cheap-looking clothes, dry and brittle hair, rough hands, pale skin that doesn’t look like it’s seen sunlight…’

Himena also figured out Jesse’s identity.

‘A place without sunlight, where self-care is difficult… prison? Could she be from Honeygood Prison where Mr. Dexter works?’

The delinquent gaze directed at her gave off a distinctly decadent vibe.

Assuming Jesse was a recently released criminal, Himena immediately picked up her phone.

“What, calling for backup?”

“…No, I’m calling Mr. Dexter.”

“You even know Dexter’s phone number?”

Jesse looked at Himena with what seemed like disappointment.

‘What’s with that reaction?’

Though puzzled, Himena went ahead and called Dexter.

-Yes, this is Dexter. What can I do for you?

“Hi, I came to your house to drop something off, but there’s an unfamiliar woman here.”

After she said that, all that could be heard from the speaker was the sound of someone gulping, followed by silence.

“Mr. Dexter?”

When Himena prompted him to respond, Dexter spoke in a cautious voice.

-…Are you busy today?

“No, I think I can leave work on time today. Why?”

-Then could you come to my house after work?

Himena had never heard Dexter use this tone before, and she tilted her head in confusion.

“Sure. But who is this woman in your house?”

-I’ll explain when you get here. Please pass the phone to her.

Though Dexter’s reaction was strange, Himena handed the phone to Jesse as requested.

“Here.”

“…What is it?”

“Mr. Dexter wants to talk to you.”

Taking the phone from Himena, Jesse immediately shouted loudly into it:

“Who is she?!”

-…Keep it down. I thought you would have figured it out by now.

Jesse whined at Dexter’s response.

“I can understand a woman, but it’s different when she’s a government agent!”

-What? Have you two already introduced yourselves?

“I don’t even know her name.”

-Then how did you know she’s an agent?

“Is she really an agent?”

-……???

Dexter was silent for a moment before speaking again.

-Hey, somehow talking to you, Jesse, is making my head more complicated. Anyway, since you seem to have guessed, try to talk it out. She’s a nice person, so don’t be hostile just because she’s an agent.

“…Is she really an agent?”

-Yes, she is. I’m on patrol now, so I’ll talk to you in person when I get off work.

After Dexter hung up, Jesse handed the phone back to Himena and said:

“…He says he’ll talk when he gets home.”

“I know that too.”

Himena took the phone back from Jesse.

“…Should I offer you some tea?”

“No, I was just going to drop something off and leave. I need to get back to work.”

“O-okay…”

The two fell silent for a moment.

“……”

“……”

It was awkward.

The awkwardness when a relationship hasn’t been established yet is indescribable.

“Well, I’ll come back later.”

“Y-yes, let’s do that.”

Both Himena and Jesse were equally dying from the awkwardness.

As Himena left first, Jesse quickly closed the front door and watched through the window as Himena drove away in a black Cruze.

“Seriously, leave Dexter alone for a bit and women just multiply around him?”

Even though Jesse was well aware of her own situation, learning that there were three women involved—including herself—left her with mixed feelings.

“I can understand myself and Emily, but how does he manage to meet women so easily outside of prison too?”

As she thought about this, Jesse recalled Dexter’s face and physique.

‘With that chiseled face like a sculpture, those rock-solid muscles… and even his voice is good. Plus, he’s big…’

Jesse’s face suddenly turned red, and she raised the corner of her mouth slightly as she muttered to herself:

“…Well, with that face and body, it would be stranger if he didn’t have women. If he didn’t, he’d definitely be gay.”

In any case, this wasn’t an issue Jesse could resolve alone.

It was a problem that required the presence of Dexter himself. If Jesse and Himena tried to resolve it between themselves, a bloody outcome would likely await.

Having decided to leave brutal, bloody fights behind in prison, Jesse sat on the sofa to wait for Dexter to return from work.

Since the dramas, movies, and TV programs available in prison were extremely limited, Jesse decided to pass the time watching TV on the sofa.

After diligently retrieving a bag of potato chips from the kitchen cabinet, Jesse practically sprawled on the sofa and started watching TV.

“TV dramas in the outside world really are different… This is what TV should be like…”

Several hours passed.

Jesse was completely immersed in a drama about a male con artist and an FBI agent working together to catch criminals, almost to the point of entering the TV screen.

“Ugh, you idiot! You shouldn’t do it like that! Is he really a con artist?”

Jesse had jumped up from the sofa and was hurling insults at the actor on TV.

“…Are you sure you just got out of prison?”

“Ahhh!”

Jesse screamed and dropped the potato chip bag on the floor.

Dexter, in his correctional officer uniform, had appeared and was looking at her with a disapproving expression.

“Y-you scared me… When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

Behind Dexter stood Himena, looking at Jesse with an embarrassed expression.

“Um, that… that actor on TV kind of resembles Mr. Dexter.”

“Himena, what are you suddenly talking about?”

“Oh, you’re right. That actor does look like Dexter.”

When Dexter looked at the TV, there was indeed an actor who somewhat resembled him, rolling around on screen.

“He looks more delicate than me. How are we similar?”

Dexter, who believed men should have a wild charm, shook his head, but both women objected.

“No, he looks a lot like you.”

“Right? It’s amazing there’s an actor like that. I’ll have to make sure to watch this drama.”

Thanks to the two suddenly revealing their similar tastes, Dexter was momentarily confused, but decided to just turn off the TV.

“It’s getting chaotic, so let’s turn off the TV. Both of you, please sit on the sofa. Jesse, clean up the potato chip crumbs you spilled.”

While the two were tidying up, Dexter brewed three cups of tea, distributed them, and sat down.

“First, this is Himena Libero.”

Dexter gestured toward Himena.

“We’ll explain Himena’s job a bit later… And this is Jesse Blueberg. As you can see, she’s a former inmate from Honeygood Prison who was paroled today.”

As Dexter introduced Jesse, she and Himena awkwardly shook hands.

“N-nice to meet you.”

“Likewise…”

Dexter watched the awkward pair, scratching his chin before finally speaking.

“I was planning to talk about this after some time had passed, but since you happened to meet today, I’m not sure what to say…”

Jesse stared at the helpless Dexter for a moment, then carefully said to Himena:

“It’s not like Dexter did anything wrong. It’s his face and body that are to blame.”

Though her words were harsh despite her careful tone, Himena agreed.

“That’s true. There are so many people after Mr. Dexter at work too.”

“Oh, it’s no joke in prison either. He’s just walking around, and the inmates are openly saying the government should encourage the spread of Dexter’s genes.”

“Is it like that there too? We have someone in our department who’s always begging me to introduce them to Dexter…”

‘This feels familiar somehow.’

The two were talking to each other, completely excluding Dexter.

“Hey, wait. It’s fine for Jesse and Himena to talk, but what about me…”

Just as Dexter tried to interject.

“Dexter, we’re talking, so go to your room.”

“That’s right. We’ll handle this ourselves.”

‘Strange, I feel like I’ve experienced this before.’

Himena and Jesse had somehow bonded and were glaring at Dexter as if he was interrupting their conversation.

It was similar to parents telling a child to go to their room during an argument.

As Dexter went to his room with a bewildered expression thinking ‘This isn’t right,’ Jesse leaned back on the sofa and sighed deeply.

“Don’t you think he’s a bit childish sometimes? Despite his mountain-like build.”

“Exactly. And he loves playing pranks so much.”

Himena nodded in agreement with Jesse’s words.

“You know too, Himena… He doesn’t realize that his casual actions are actually seducing women.”

As Jesse pointed with her eyes toward the room Dexter had entered, Himena nodded vigorously.

“Right? It’s not just me who feels that way? He seems completely unaware that his small acts of consideration are actually attracting women.”

“Exactly. And you know that expression he makes when you approach him, like he doesn’t know what to do?”

“Wow, did that happen to you too, Jesse? Looking at what he does, he seems experienced, but sometimes I wonder if he’s deliberately acting that way.”

While the two were engrossed in gossiping about Dexter, his bedroom door cracked open slightly.

“…I’ll kill you if you eavesdrop.”

Jesse, noticing that Dexter was trying to listen in on their conversation about him through the door crack, spoke to Dexter’s eye visible through the gap.

“Hey, it’s about me, so why am I excluded?”

“We said we’d handle it ourselves, didn’t we? Are you going to close that door?”

“This is so unfair. Really.”

As Dexter reluctantly closed the door again, Himena and Jesse snorted in exasperation.

“It’s because you let him live alone, honestly. Without someone constantly by his side, he has this air of… craving affection?”

“Right, he likes hugging and is secretly fond of physical contact, isn’t he? He doesn’t mind being touched.”

“Getting excited over things like that… ugh…”

The two felt a sense of kinship about their situations.

Neither Himena nor Jesse had ever experienced a proper romance.

The first time they developed romantic feelings was because of Dexter, but ironically, Dexter himself wandered around unaware that he was flirting, which was frustrating.

However, neither woman was willing to give up on Dexter.

Jesse didn’t want to lose Dexter, the first person who had ever loved her, and Himena thought she couldn’t let go of someone who was already in her grasp.

Moreover, giving up on Dexter would mean one woman could possess him completely, which was highly unlikely given Dexter’s personality.

Both Jesse and Himena were well aware of this aspect of Dexter’s character.

The two stared at each other.

“What if we make a clear agreement?”

“About what?”

“Given Dexter’s personality, this kind of situation is bound to happen again.”

Jesse nodded, thinking of Emily whom she hadn’t yet mentioned to Himena.

“That’s true…”

“We can’t change the deep relationships that have already formed, and given Dexter’s personality, he won’t easily push away people who are close to him.”

Himena wasn’t sure how many seeds Dexter had sown so far, but she was certain it wouldn’t end with just one or two people. Her decision was this:

“So, we need to form an alliance. You don’t plan to give up on Dexter either, right, Jesse? Neither do I. Instead, we should keep him under close surveillance to prevent him from attracting more women, binding him tightly.”

Jesse thought Himena’s words were harsh, but not impossible.

“Well, that’s the only option. Otherwise, he might end up getting stabbed by someone.”

There were several inmates in Honeygood Prison who had been imprisoned for killing their boyfriends or husbands out of jealousy.

“We need to do our best to prevent Mr. Dexter from adding more women.”

At Himena’s words, Jesse smiled awkwardly and said:

“Um, Himena? There’s actually one more person who isn’t here…”

Himena’s eyes widened at Jesse’s words.

“S-see? I told you we can’t leave Mr. Dexter alone! We should tie him up or something…”

Seeing that another person had already been added, Himena was flabbergasted, while Jesse, who knew about Emily, tried to defend Dexter.

“This situation is a bit different… There’s a girl named Emily. She figured out the relationship between me and Dexter…”

“…While you were an inmate?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit complicated…”

Inside the room, Dexter was anxiously waiting, while the two women shared with each other everything that had happened with Dexter so far.

For quite a long time.