"Bradley Denton - We Love Lydia Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Denton Bradley)

WE LOVE LYDIA LOVE
By Bradley Denton

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SHE KNOWS ME, AND SHEтАЩS happy, and sheтАЩs not asking how or why. SheтАЩs
clutching me so tight that I canтАЩt keep my balance, and my shoulder collides with the
open door. The door is heavy, dark wood with a circular stained-glass eye set into it.
The eye, as blue as the spring sky, is stating at me as if it knows IтАЩm a fraud.

From down the hill comes the sound of the car that brought me, winding its
way back through the live oaks and cedars to Texas 27. Daniels didnтАЩt even stay
long enough to say hello to his number-one recording artist. He said heтАЩd leave the
greetings up to me and the Christopher chip.

Stroke her neck. She likes that.

Yes. SheтАЩs burying her face in my shoulder, biting, crying, Her skin is warm,
and she tastes salty. She says something, but her mouth is full of my shirt. Her hair
smells of cinnamon.

тАЬLydia,тАЭ I say. My voice isnтАЩt exactly like ChristopherтАЩs, but CCA has fixed
me so that itтАЩs close enough. She shouldnтАЩt notice, but if she does, IтАЩm to say that
the plane crash injured my throat. тАЬI tried to get a message to you, but the village
was cut off, and I was burned, and my leg was broken тАФтАЭ

Not so much. WeтАЩre the stoic type.

The whisper sounds like itтАЩs coming from my back teeth. IтАЩve been listening
to it for two weeks, but that wasnтАЩt long enough for me to get used to it. I still flinch.
I told Daniels that I needed more time, but he said Lydia would be so glad to see me
that she wouldnтАЩt notice any tics or twitches. And by the time she settles back into a
routine life with me тАФ with Christopher тАФ IтАЩll be so used to the chip that itтАЩll be as
if itтАЩs the voice of my own conscience. So says Daniels. IтАЩm not convinced, but IтАЩll
do my best. Not just for my sake, but for LydiaтАЩs. She needs to finish her affair with
Christopher so she can move on. The world is waiting for her new songs.

And as a bonus, theyтАЩll get mine. Willie ToddтАЩs, I mean. Not Christopher
JenningsтАЩ. Christopher Jennings is dead.

You are Christopher. Right. I know.


SheтАЩs looking at our eyes. She thinks weтАЩre distracted, and she wants our
attention. Her lips are moist. Kiss her.
 You bet. IтАЩll concentrate on being Christopher.

Being Christopher means that Lydia and I have been apart for ten months. She
has thought me dead, but here I am. She kisses me hard enough to make my mouth
hurt. Her face is wet from crying, and she breathes in sobs. The videos make her