Peter Benchley by Jaws

Author:Jaws [Jaws]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-18T23:39:36+00:00

There were two other cars in the parking lot, a Chevrolet Vega and a bigger car, tan. She remembered that Hooper's car was green and that it was named after some animal. She left her car and walked into the restaurant, holding her hands over her head to protect her hair from the light rain.

The restaurant was dark, but because the day was gloomy it took her eyes only a few seconds to adjust. There was only one room, with a bar on the right as she walked in and about twenty tables in the center. The left-hand wall was lined with eight booths.

The walls were dark wood, decorated with bullfight and movie posters.

A couple – in their late twenties, Ellen guessed – was having a drink at a table by the window. The bartender, a young man with a Vandyke beard and a button- down shirt, sat by the cash register reading the New York Daily News.

They were the only people in the room. Ellen looked at her watch. Almost 12:30.

The bartender looked up and said, "Hi. Can I help you?"

Ellen stepped to the bar. "Yes... yes. In a minute. But first I'd like... can you tell me where the ladies' room is?"

"End of the bar, turn right. First door on your left."

"Thank you." Ellen walked quickly down the length of the bar, turned right, and went into the ladies' room.

She stood in front of the mirror and held out her right hand. It trembled, and she clenched it into a fist. Calm down, she said to herself. You have to calm down or it's no use. It's lost. She felt that she was sweating, but when she put a hand inside her dress and felt her armpit, it was dry. She combed her hair and surveyed her teeth. She remembered something a boy she had once gone out with had said: Nothing turns my stomach faster than seeing a girl with a big piece of crud between her teeth. She looked at her watch: 12:35.

She went back into the restaurant and looked around. Just the same couple, the bartender, and a waitress standing at the bar, folding napkins.

The waitress saw Ellen come around the corner of the bar, and she said, "Hello.

May I help you?"

"Yes. I'd like a table, please. For lunch."

"For one?"

"No. Two."

"Fine," said the waitress. She put down a napkin, picked up a pad, and walked Ellen to a table in the middle of the room. "Is this all right?"

"No. I mean, yes. It's fine. But I'd like to have that table in the corner booth, if you don't mind."

"Sure," said the waitress. "Any table you like. We're not exactly full." She led Ellen to the table, and Ellen slipped into the booth with her back to the door. Hooper would be able to find her. If he came. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Yes. A gin and tonic, please." When the waitress left the table, Ellen smiled.

It was the first time since her wedding that she had had a drink during the day.

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