Airport / Аэропорт. Артур Хейли
Читать онлайн.| Название | Airport / Аэропорт |
|---|---|
| Автор произведения | Артур Хейли |
| Жанр | |
| Серия | Abridged & Adapted |
| Издательство | |
| Год выпуска | 0 |
| isbn | 978-5-9909598-6-6 |
Again a pause, as if Roberta was thinking whether or not she could answer: So what else is new? Apparently she decided not. “Will you speak to Libby now?”
“Yes, I will. Goodnight, Robbie.”
“Goodnight.”
There was an impatient shufelf as the telephone changed hands, then Libby’s small breathless voice.
“Daddy, Daddy! Guess what!”
“Let me think,” Mel said. “I know – you had fun in the snow today.”
“Yes, I did, but it wasn’t that.”
“Then I can’t guess. You’ll have to tell me.”
“Well, at school, Miss Curzon said for homework we have to write down all the good things we think will happen next month.”
He thought affectionately: he could understand Libby’s enthusiasm. To her, almost everything was exciting and good, and the few things which were not were brushed aside and quickly forgotten. He wondered how much longer her happy innocence would last.
“That’s nice,” Mel said. “I like that.”
“Daddy, Daddy! Will you help me?”
“If I can.”
“I want a map of February.”
Mel smiled. Libby had a verbal shorthand of her own which sometimes seemed more expressive than conventional words. It occurred to him that he could use a map of February himself.
“There’s a calendar in my desk.” Mel told her where to find it and heard her small feet running from the room; the telephone was forgotten. It was Roberta, Mel assumed, who silently hung up.
Mel left the general manager’s oficf e. He carried the heavy topcoat with him.
On the main concourse[22], he headed toward the Trans America wing. Near the check-in counters, a uniformed supervisor stepped forward. “Evening, Mr. Bakersfeld. Were you looking for Mrs. Livingston?”
“No matter how busy the airport became,” Mel thought, “there would always be time for gossip.” He wondered how widely his own name and Tanya’s had been linked already.
“Yes,” he said. “I was.”
The supervisor nodded toward a door marked, AIRLINE PERSONNEL ONLY.
“You’ll find her through there, Mr. Bakersfeld.”
03
Mel knocked at the door. It opened, and he leaned in. “I was coming by,” he told Tanya.
She said brightly, “Hullo. You got my note?”
“I came to thank you for it.”
Tanya looked at him. Her eyes – a bright, clear blue – had a quality of directness. Her head was tilted, and an overhead light reflected red highlights from her hair. A slim figure, yet with a fullness which the airline uniform heightened… Mel was conscious, as at other times, of her desirability and warmth.
“I might invite you to my place today,” she said. “If you let me cook you dinner. Say, a Lamb Casserole[23].”
He hesitated, then reluctantly shook his head. “I wish I could. But we’ve some trouble here, and afterward I have to be downtown.” He got up. “Let’s have coffee, anyway.”
“All right.”
Mel held the door open, and they went out into the noisy main concourse.
As they made their way through the crowds and increasing piles of luggage, she moderated her normally brisk pace to Mel’s slower one. He was limping rather more than usual, she noticed. She wanted to take his arm and help him, but supposed she had better not[24]. She was still in Trans America uniform. Gossip spread fast enough without helping it actively. The two of them had been seen a lot lately in each other’s company, and Tanya was sure that the airport rumor machine had already taken note. Probably it was assumed that she and Mel were sleeping together, though, that was untrue.
They were headed for the Cloud Captain’s Coffee Shop in the central lobby.
“About that Lamb Casserole,” Mel said. “Could we make it another night? Say, the day after tomorrow?”
The sudden invitation from Tanya had surprised him. Although they had had several dates together – for drinks or dinner – until now she had not suggested visiting her apartment. Of course, going there could be for dinner only. Still… there was always the possibility that it might not.
Lately, Mel had sensed that if their meetings away from the airport continued, there could be a natural and obvious progression. But he had moved cautiously; instinct was warning him that an afaf ir with Tanya would be no casual romance but a deeply emotional involvement for them both. It was strange, he thought, that when a marriage was secure it seemed easier to manage an afaf ir than when the same marriage was shaky. Just the same[25], Tanya’s invitation seemed too tempting to pass up.
“The day after tomorrow is Sunday,” she said. “But I’ll be off duty, and if you can manage it, I’ll have more time.”
Mel grinned. “Candles and wine?”
“Okay,” she said. “Candles and wine.”
Mel had forgotten it would be Sunday. But he would have to come to the airport anyway because, even if the storm moved on, there would be aftereffects. As to Cindy, there had been several Sundays when she had been out, herself, without an announced reason.
As they entered the coffee shop, an energetic hostess recognized Mel and led him, ahead of others, to a small table, marked RESERVED, which airport ofifcials often used. When they sat down, Tanya said, “Did you ever see such crowds? This has been the wildest three days I remember.”
“If you think this is a big crowd tonight, wait until the civil version of the C-5A[26] goes into service,” answered Mel.
“I know – we can barely cope with the 747s[27]; but a thousand passengers arriving all at once at a check-in counter… God help us!” Tanya shuddered. “Can you imagine what it’ll be like when they collect their baggage? I don’t even want to think about it.”
Mel was amused to find that their conversation had already drifted into aviation. Airplanes and airlines held a fascination for Tanya, and she liked talking about them. So did Mel, which was one of the reasons he enjoyed her company.
“You remember,” he said, “a few years ago, when the jets first started flying – what conditions were like at airports which had been designed for DC-4s[28].”
“I remember,” Tanya said. “I worked at one. On normal days you couldn’t move for the crowds; on busy days you couldn’t breathe. We used to say it was like holding the World Series in a sand lot.”
“What’s coming in the 1970s,” Mel predicted, “is going to be worse. And not just people congestion. We’ll be choking on other things, too.”
“Such as what?”
“Airways and trafifc control for one, but that’s another whole story. The really big thing is that we’re moving toward the day – fast – when air freight[29]
зал ожидания
ягнёнок, тушённый с овощами
ей лучше этого не делать
И тем не менее
гражданская версия стратегического военно-транспортного самолёта C-5A
пассажирские самолёты Boeing 747
Douglas DC-4 – американский четырёхмоторный поршневой авиалайнер. Был разработан и серийно производился предприятием Douglas Aircraft Company с 1938 по 1947 гг.
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