"Judith Merril - Connection Completed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Merril Judith)

 Well, do you want it or don't you?
She meant the sugar, he realized after an instant's pause. "Thanks. I don't usually use it," he started to
explain, and watched the same struggle on her face that he remembered feeling on his own as he walked
into the place: the effort to suppress apparently unwarranted laughter.
He let the explanation drift off, and realized he'd done what he'd been worried about all this time:
answered aloud what he had heard only inside his ears.
In that case, she could be laughing at him just because of his confusion and insanity. She could . . .
she could be anything or anyone, but she also could be the girl who had haunted his waking and sleeping
dreams for the last six months.
"Thanks," he said again, and relieved her of the sugar jar.
You better think of something better than that. I can't keep sitting here much longer. "You're
welcome," she said. I ... imagined ... I thought about you as a sort of fluent character. Not the
tongue-tied kind ...
I don't usually have so much trouble. You're not yourself exactly, either ...

"Pardon me, miss," he asked courteously, "I wonder if you happen to know whether there's a post
office open anywhere near here? At this hour, I mean?" Pretty feeble, I know, babe, but you're
rushing me. . . .
"I don't think . . . there's one that might be open, but I'm not sure. It's just about five blocks. You turn
to the left at the corner, and . . ."
He didn't listen to the rest. He didn't need a post office for anything.
Oh, my God! her voice screamed inside his head. What am I doing now? I've never seen this man
before. I don't, I don't, I don't, know who he is or anything about him! He looks like . . . he looks
like somebody I invented, but that's an accident, it has to be! Daydreaming isn't so bad . . .
anybody who's lonely daydreams . . . but when you start having hallucinations ...
Yeah, I know! It's time to go look up a good reliable old-fashioned psychiatrist and tell him all
your troubles. Don't think you're the only one, babe.
He watched her eyes flick to the phone booth in the corner, and realized he'd meant in the directory
when he thought the words "look up."
There was a way to find out after all!
"I suppose I could call from here and find out if they're open," he said. Calm yourself, fellow, he
told himself. You could have thought about the directory after she looked that way. It's hard to be
sure about subjective time-sequence.
The thing to do was set it up ahead of time, make sure she knew what he was doingтАФor as sure as
he could beтАФand then see what happened.
"That's a good idea," she said flatly ... and began making motions at her handbag and raincoat again.
It took swering, of course, his remark about calling the post swering, of course, his remark about calling
the post office.
"Nasty weather," he said brightly. "Hate to go wandering around out there for nothing." Please
darling . . . stick it out a little longer . . . I know I'm being dumb, but I don't know much about
picking up a girl.
Well, I don't usually get picked up!
"Would you care for some more coffee?" he said desperately, rising before she had a chance to get
her things together. "Could I bring it back?" Listen, listen good, now . . . if you want to try a test of
this thing, listen good ...
She hesitated, holding the bag in her hand, her arm half-extended toward the next chair where her
raincoat was draped over the back of the seat.
Now, listen: if you want to try a test, just to find out, let me know by putting your bag in your
other hand, and then putting it down on the table ...
He watched anxiously.