She stared past him at the wasteland extending in every direction
between the tall buildings and beyond. "It's so--so empty," she said
nervously. "I've never been out before."
"Not many workers have."
"It frightens me."
"Don't look at it."
She looked up at him, and something in her eyes seemed to melt. She
quivered spasmodically as he folded her into his arms. Her eyes were
wide as his face loomed near, but when he brought his lips to hers, the
fringed lids closed over her eyes like shades drawn against the light.
And suddenly her hands were strong and hard on his back, urgent and
demanding....
* * * * *
The sun, invisible to them now behind the building, touched the
horizon. The bleached earth turned brown, and its surface, apparently
flat before, shaped itself into small, shadowed rises and ridges. The
air was cooler.
"I saw you leave the Research Center this morning," Hendley said.
"Where were you going?"
For an instant something like dismay was naked in her eyes. "You must
have seen somebody else," she said quickly.
"Do you think I'd mistake anyone else for you?"
Her face was pink, and now she didn't meet his eyes. "Oh, I--I don't
really work there." The words spilled out in a rush. "I was--afraid
of you--and I didn't know what to think. So I said I worked there. I
really work up the street--I'm a clerk in a dress shop." She looked up
at him beseechingly. "I shouldn't have lied."
He was so relieved that he found it easy to forgive her. "You didn't
have to be afraid."
"I know that now."
Smiling, he caressed the round curve of her shoulder. The fabric of her
coverall, which was still open at the front, was smooth to his touch.
Her red garment had been rougher, cheaper....
"Why did you wear blue?" he asked suddenly.
"Because you do. Then if we were seen together, we wouldn't be noticed
especially. It's illegal for a 3-Dayman to go out with a girl in red.
You know that."
"It's illegal to wear the wrong color, too. Where did you get it--this
coverall?"
"From a--a friend."
"She's bigger than you are--here. I like your waist."
"She's not bigger here."
"No." He smiled. "I like that too." He regarded her objectively.
"You're very beautiful."
"Don't say that."
"Why not? It's true."
"It's what I'm supposed to be." Her mouth had a sad, reflective curve.
"What does that mean?"
"Just tell me--do you like me?"
"Very much. Don't you know, Ann?"
"Tell me that."
He told her. And the sun went down completely beyond the unseen
horizon, leaving behind a gray world. The concrete cylinders loomed
larger in the dusk, more forbidding. A wind whined across the
unprotected land.
"It's been wonderful out here," she said. "I'll never forget it. At
first it scared me, but--not now."
"You'll come out again."