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The Lunatic Cafe :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 94 из 234" With thatinscrutable answer he sat down on the edge of the bed and poured a glass of red wine. He cut his meat, which was raw enough to bleed in the center.
"Please tell me my steak isn't bloody."
"It isn't bloody. You like your meat well dead."
"Ha, ha." But I sat down. It seemed odd sharing a meal in Edward's hotel room, like we were two business people traveling together, just a working dinner. The steak was well done. Thick house fries suitably spiced took up almost as much room as the steak. There was a side order of broccoli, which could be slid to one side and ignored.
The Coke came in a chilled wineglass, which seemed a little excessive, but it looked nice.
"The movie's going to start near the end. I don't think you'll have any trouble picking up the plot." He hit the remote control, and the TV screen flickered, jumping from a game show to a bedroom.
A woman with long brown hair lay on her back in a round bed. She was nude, or at least what I could see of her was nude. Below the waist she was hidden behind the furiously pumping buttocks of a dark-haired man.
"This is pornography." I didn't even try to keep the disbelief from my voice.
"It certainly is."
I glanced at Edward. He was cutting his steak with neat, precise hand movements. He chewed a bite of steak, sipped his wine, and watched the screen.
I glanced back at the "movie." A second man had joined the couple on the bed. He was taller than the first man, with shorter hair, but beyond that it was a little hard to tell, mainly because I was trying not to look.
I sat on the edge of Edward's bed with our nice steak dinners, and for the first time felt awkward around Edward. There had never been any sexual tension between us. We might kill each other someday, but we'd never kiss. But I was still in a man's hotel room watching a porno movie, and good girls just didn't do that.
"Edward, what the hell is going on?"
He hit the remote control. "Here, a face shot."
I turned back to the screen. The frozen image stared out at me. It was the second man. It was Alfred.
"Oh, my, God," I said.
"You know him?" Edward asked.
"Yeah." No sense denying it. Alfred was dead. Edward couldn't hurt him anymore.
"Name?"
"Alfred. I don't know the last name."
He hit fast forward. The images on the screen moved at a furious pace, doing intimate things that would have been obscene at any speed. At fast forward it seemed sadder. Ridiculous as well as degrading.
He hit the pause again.
"Please tell me my steak isn't bloody."
"It isn't bloody. You like your meat well dead."
"Ha, ha." But I sat down. It seemed odd sharing a meal in Edward's hotel room, like we were two business people traveling together, just a working dinner. The steak was well done. Thick house fries suitably spiced took up almost as much room as the steak. There was a side order of broccoli, which could be slid to one side and ignored.
The Coke came in a chilled wineglass, which seemed a little excessive, but it looked nice.
"The movie's going to start near the end. I don't think you'll have any trouble picking up the plot." He hit the remote control, and the TV screen flickered, jumping from a game show to a bedroom.
A woman with long brown hair lay on her back in a round bed. She was nude, or at least what I could see of her was nude. Below the waist she was hidden behind the furiously pumping buttocks of a dark-haired man.
"This is pornography." I didn't even try to keep the disbelief from my voice.
"It certainly is."
I glanced at Edward. He was cutting his steak with neat, precise hand movements. He chewed a bite of steak, sipped his wine, and watched the screen.
I glanced back at the "movie." A second man had joined the couple on the bed. He was taller than the first man, with shorter hair, but beyond that it was a little hard to tell, mainly because I was trying not to look.
I sat on the edge of Edward's bed with our nice steak dinners, and for the first time felt awkward around Edward. There had never been any sexual tension between us. We might kill each other someday, but we'd never kiss. But I was still in a man's hotel room watching a porno movie, and good girls just didn't do that.
"Edward, what the hell is going on?"
He hit the remote control. "Here, a face shot."
I turned back to the screen. The frozen image stared out at me. It was the second man. It was Alfred.
"Oh, my, God," I said.
"You know him?" Edward asked.
"Yeah." No sense denying it. Alfred was dead. Edward couldn't hurt him anymore.
"Name?"
"Alfred. I don't know the last name."
He hit fast forward. The images on the screen moved at a furious pace, doing intimate things that would have been obscene at any speed. At fast forward it seemed sadder. Ridiculous as well as degrading.
He hit the pause again.