第5部分(第6/7 頁)

pment。　？Where

were　you；　anyway？？　He　tried　to　project　an　aura　of　calmness；　grabbing　a　copy　of

Dostoyevsky？sCrime　and　Punishment　from　the　nightstand　and　flipping　aimlessly　through　its

thick　pages。

Like　that？s　the　only　thing　he？s　been　reading。

Vanessa　finally　turned　to　face　him。　？I　was　filming　Ruby？s　last　gig　as　a　single　woman；？　she

explained；　stripping　off　a　pair　of　expensive…looking　wide…legged　black　sailor　pants？likely

something　Blair　had　left　behind　during　her　brief　tenure　as　Vanessa？s　roommate。　She　was　wearing

an　old　pair　of　Dan？s　green…and…white…striped　boxers　underneath。　Then　she　pulled　off　her　plain

black　T…shirt　so　that　she　was　clad　in　only　the　boxers　and　a　white　Hanes　tank　top。　Dan　had　always

loved　Vanessa？s　fashion　sense？or　lack　of　it？and　he　couldn？t　help　noticing　how　sexy　she　looked。　It

was　nice　to　see　her　wearing　something　of　his。　？Everyone　was　wasted。　At　the　end　of　the　set；

Ruby？s　drummer　puked　onstage。？　？Gross。？　Dan　pulled　off　his　army　green　Kafka　T…shirt　and

scooted　under　the　covers。

？Totally；？　she　agreed；　climbing　under　the　sheets　beside　him　and　switching　off　the　bedside　light。

Hopefully　the　darkness　would　hide　her　embarrassment　and　confusion。　They　lay　in　unfortable

silence；　and　Vanessa　couldn？t　help　but　give　in　to　her　feeling　of　total　dejection。　After　her

conversation　with　Piotr；　she？d　felt　so　。　。　。　hopeful。　She？d　thought　she　might　be　able　to　work　things

out　with　Dan；　but　if　he　was　spending　his　free　time　home　alone　reciting　romantic　gay　poetry　to

himself；　there　really　wasn？t　any　question　about　his　sexual　status　now。　She　sighed　heavily；　looking

up　at　the　dark　ceiling。

Dan　tried　hard　to　think　of　something　to　say。