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And
so she brought him home. She'd been looking at him, across
the room for about half an hour, and could see he looked
like he'd just wandered into the party from a car crash
or something. That look of numb shock on his face. She'd
seen that before, she thought. But he wasn't bad looking.
So she asked the hostess to introduce her.
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1 |
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It
was freezing out, and she apologised for the heater in
her car being so lousy, - It's only an economy-model car,
with economy-model heating, she said, - but my heater
at home works.
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2 |
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But
he didn't seem to notice. He stared out the window as
if he could see something there, while she crouched down
low to see through the small patch of defrosted glass.
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3 |
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-
I call this home, she told him as she led him into her
tiny flat, turning on the heating by the door. It was
going to be way below zero again tonight. A good night
to have somebody in bed with you, she thought.
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4 |
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-
You want a warm drink? she asked. - Irish coffee?
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5 |
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-
Thank you, he said and sat on the couch in the lounge
room. Just sat there. Didn't walk around and poke at her
CDs, didn't pull her books off the shelf, didn't look
at her prints of puppy dogs and roll his eyes a little.
Just sat there and watched her as she boiled the water.
No bloke had ever done that before.
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6 |
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And
so, after a drink or two, she dragged him along to the
bedroom. Told him to climb under the doona. — It's
called a futon, she said. They always asked about the
bed, even though he hadn't. Then she said she had to go
to the bathroom. She always got a little nervous at this
point. What might he be like when she got back? Naked
and erect and waiting for her? Hairy all over? Three nipples?
Or worse - nervous and still sitting on the end of the
bed.
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7 |
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But
he was lying under the covers as she'd asked him. She
had her nightgown on and turned off the light and climbed
in beside him. She had to reach around the bed a bit to
find him, and when she did she almost gasped. He was freezing.
Particularly his feet. They were like blocks of ice.
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8 |
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She
looked at him a moment, and then said, - Let's just lie
here a moment and warm up.
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9 |
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-
That would be nice, he said. And so she put her head on
his chest. It felt as if she had placed it into the freezer
to listen if the frozen steaks there had anything to say.
It was even colder than his feet.
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10 |
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