Stanley looked at the girl. She returned his gaze. Neither showed any emotion. The air was warm and humid, despite the efforts of the fan that whirred frantically to their left. Outside, a red vintage motor car slowly chugged past. He could see the image of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in her eyes but she said nothing. Earlier in the day it had been raining heavily and the pavements still glistened with the reflected lights of the street lamps. Stanley could see a black man slowly strumming a guitar on a farm in Arkansas. The year was 1926 - a very long time ago. Now just an illusion, like so many other things. Tonight the Moon was full. The sky had cleared and the moonbeams glistened on the branches of the trees. Yesterday there had been so many spring flowers blooming in the water meadow. It would be dark there now. Their outlines would be shadowy and barely visible, just occasionally catching a shaft of moonlight. The clock ticked on relentlessly. Her facial expression had changed, but he was not sure how. He raised an eyebrow quizzically. She said nothing. Stanley began to drum his fingers restlessly on the table. An eighteenth century Gate Table. He wondered what it was doing here. He wondered what anything was doing here. He considered asking her, but he didn't. He had a letter in his pocket. The stamp was not the correct value, but it hardly mattered, there was no address on the envelope. Her expression had changed, he was sure of it - but he could not say how. Stanley took out his wallet. He considered money to be like Monopoly money - of no real value. He frowned slightly. This was Monopoly money. He carefully sorted the notes out into different values and placed them in neat piles in front of the girl. She seemed indifferent. He took a pen out of his pocket and wrote on one of the highest value notes - 'This is Monopoly money'. Then he carefully replaced it on the pile. He had not seen her do it, but now she was wearing dark glasses. He wondered if she did not wish to be seen of if there was something she did not wish to see. Time passed slowly. It was a time of waiting. The moonlight caught her face. It gave her features an unreal, ephemeral look. It was possible that she was not real, merely an illusion, like so many other things. She began to toy with her American Express card. It was well past its expiry date. He wondered if she knew.. He looked at his watch. The face was blank. The battery was drained. Now he no longer knew when the right time would be. Her face was blank. His face was blank. He wondered if he should be serving, if she should be serving. She was gone. He would go soon, when the waiting was over. |