第9部分(第4/7 頁)

eathing　in　the　heavy　August　air；

which　suddenly　felt　a　whole　lot　less　oppressive。

A　look　of　relief　swept　over　Greg？s　face。　？I　know　you？ll　find　somebody　special；？　he　declared　in　a

rush；　removing　his　hand　from　Dan？s　arm。　？And　I　hope　we　can　still　be　friends；？　he　added；　pushing

his　glasses　up　on　his　nose。

？Absolutely；？　Dan　enthused。　？Totally。？　He　looked　out　at　the　bustling　city　traffic　and　wondered

briefly　whether　his　？somebody　special？　could　be　right　here；　before　his　very　eyes；　among　the

masses。　Two　girls　sat　at　an　outdoor　table　in　front　of　the　Cos？　restaurant　across　the　street；　sipping

lemonade　as　they　surveyed　the　passersby　from　behind　huge　sunglasses。　Across　from　them　sat　a

guy　in　a　baseball　cap；　iced　coffee　in　hand；　reading　a　magazine。　He　looked　up　and　caught　Dan

staring；　and　Dan　quickly　averted　his　eyes。

？Soooo　。　。　。？　Greg　looked　over　at　his　closed　notebook。　？What　are　you　working　on？　Another

futureNew　Yorker　poem？？　？Hah。？　Dan　snorted；　opening　the　notebook　and　holding　up　the　blank

page。　？I？m　supposed　to　be　working　on　a　poem　for　Vanessa？s　sister？s　wedding；　but　I　can？t　think　of

a　thing　to　say。　I　mean；　what　do　I　know　about　marriage？？　Greg　wiped　his　hands　on　his　jeans。　？All

you　have　to　do　is　envision　the　person　you　love　most　in　the　world？the　person　you　want　to　wake　up

with　in　the　morning　and　go　to　sleep　with　at　night。？　He　paused；　blushing　deeply　and　running　his

hands　through　his　hair。　？Even　if　you　haven？t　met　that　person　yet？you　just　have　toimagine　them！　I

mean；　with　me　and　。　。　。？　Greg　looked　sheepishly　at　the　ground。　？I　can？t　imagine　wanting　to　do

those　things　withanyone　else；　you　know？？　？I　guess。？　Dan　stared　at　the　cracks　in　the　cement。　？I