經典科幻文學:《 基本上無害 Mostly Harmless》 第2章4

She caught a cab from the movie theatre back to the Brentwood. The cab couldn’t get close to the kerb because a big stretch limo was hogging all the available space and she had to squeeze her way past it. She walked out of the fetid, goat-frying air and into the blessed cool of the lobby. The fine cotton of her blouse was sticking like grime to her skin. Her hair felt as if she’d bought it at a fairground on a stick. At the front desk she asked if there were any messages, grimly expecting none. There was one.

她從電影院出來，叫輛出租車回布倫特伍德。出租車沒法靠近人行道，因爲一輛豪華大轎車把空間都霸佔完了，她只好從車邊擠過去。她走出炸山羊味兒的惡臭空氣，進了涼快可愛的大廳。她的高級棉布襯衣像髒東西一樣粘在皮膚上，頭髮彷彿是從露天市場上買的便宜貨。她問前臺有沒有口信，不過心裏並沒有抱着任何期待。可結果還真有一條。

Oh…

哦……

Good.

好。

It had worked. She had gone out to the movie specifically in order to make the phone ring. She couldn’t bear sitting in a hotel room waiting.

成功了。她出去看電影就是爲了這個，爲了讓電話鈴有機會響起來。在房間裏坐着乾等她實在受不了。

She wondered. Should she open the message down here? Her clothes were itching and she longed to take them all off and just lie on the bed. She had turned the air conditioning way down to its bottom temperature setting, way up to its top fan setting. What she wanted more than anything else in the world at the moment was goose pimples. Then a hot shower, then a cool one, then lying on a towel, on the bed again, drying in the air conditioning. Then reading the message. Maybe more goose pimples. Maybe all sorts of things.

她開始考慮。該不該在這兒看留言？她的衣服發癢，她真想把它們全脫下來，然後躺在牀上什麼也不幹。她早就把空調一路調到了底，遠遠超出它的能力極限。現在整個世界裏她最想要的就是滿身的雞皮疙瘩。然後再來個熱水澡，然後再來個冷水澡，然後再墊張浴巾躺回牀上，讓空調把自己吹乾。然後再看留言。也許再來些雞皮疙瘩。也許再來些各種各樣的東西。

No. What she wanted more than anything else in the world was a job in American television at ten times her current salary. More than anything else in the world. In the world. What she wanted more than anything else at all was no longer a live issue.

不，整個世界裏她最想要的是美國電視公司給的十倍薪水。它比這個世界上的任何東西都吸引她。全世界。因爲她真正最想要的已經時不再來了。

She sat on a chair in the lobby, under a kentia palm, and opened the little cellophane-windowed envelope.

她在大廳一棵肯茵棕櫚底下找張椅子坐下，打開了玻璃紙的小信封。

‘Please call,’ it said. ‘Not happy,’ and gave a number. The name was Gail Andrews.

“請來電。”上頭說，“不快樂。”底下是一個電話號碼。署名蓋爾?安德魯斯。

Gail Andrews.

蓋爾?安德魯斯。

It wasn’t a name she was expecting. It caught her unawares. She recognised it, but couldn’t immediately say why. Was she Andy Martin’s secretary? Hilary Bass’s assistant? Martin and Bass were the two major contact calls she had made, or tried to make, at NBS. And what did ‘Not happy’ mean?

崔茜卡等的可不是這個名字，她不禁有些猝不及防。其實這名字還挺眼熟的，可她一時想不起來爲什麼。這人是安迪?馬丁的祕書嗎？或者希勒裏?巴司的助理？馬丁和巴司都是NBS的人，她聯繫過的，或者說試圖聯繫。還有，“不快樂”是什麼意思？

‘Not happy?’

“不快樂？”