Чужак в чужой стране

           "Quiteaday,lass."

           "Yes,quite.Iwouldn’thavemissedit?andIdon’twanttorepeatit.Yougotobed,Boss."

           "Inamoment.Anne,tellmesomething.What’ssospecialaboutthewaythatladkisses?"

           Annelookeddreamyandthendimpled."Youshouldhavetrieditwhenheinvitedyouto."

           "I’mtoooldtochangemyways.ButI’minterestedineverythingabouttheboy.Isthisactuallysomethingdifferent,too?"

           Anneponderedit."Yes."

           "How?"

           "Mikegivesakisshiswholeattention."

           "Oh,rats!Idomyself.Ordid."

           Anneshookherhead."No.Somementryto.I’vebeenkissedbymenwhodidaverygoodjobofitindeed.Buttheydon’treallygivekissingawomantheirwholeattention.Theycan’tNomatterhowhardtheytry,somepartsoftheirmindsareonsomethingelse.Missingthelastbus,maybe-Orhowtheirchancesareformakingthegal-Ortheirowntechniquesinkissing-Ormaybeworryabouttheirjobs,ormoney,orwillhusbandorpapaortheneighborscatchon.Orsomething.NowMikedoesn’thaveanytechnique?butwhenMikekissesyouheisn’tdoinganythingelse.Notanything.You’rehiswholeuniverseforthatmomentandthemomentiseternalbecausehedoesn’thaveanyplansandheisn’tgoinganywhere.Justkissingyou."Sheshivered."Awomannotices.It’soverwhelming."

           "Hmm-"

           "Don’t‘Hmm’atme,youoldlecher!Youdon’tunderstand."

           "No.AndI’msorrytosayIprobablyneverwill.Well,goodnight–and,oh,bytheway?ItoldMiketobolthisdoortonight"