The next morning, Sandra called as Joe was washing up the coffee maker and his dishes.

“Need a ride?” Joe asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. Continue reading →

“How do you do that thing with your clothes and the eyes?” Jack asked, as they rode down in the elevator to the coffee shop for breakfast. Nancy considered his tailored Italian blue suit and his patterned tie.

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The day after Nancy and Jack left, Joe typed at home while Angela was there. He kept his door closed. After she left, he gathered up all his papers and rode down to the USIS Library to work on the rest of the last batch of letters. The heat of the day only began to ease as he made his way through the afternoon rush hour. Continue reading →

“Thanks, operator, I have it.” Jack hung up and wrote down the number. Then he dialled the hotel operator and asked for another international line. He listened patiently as the switches closed in Cologne, Hamburg, London, Shannon and New York. Electricity flowing over the continents and under the Atlantic. Continue reading →

The next week, Nancy had to go to Cologne for meetings with Smithson’s German subsidiary. Joe felt relieved. Jack Arland was going, too, which meant he could work late on the translations without having to come home or go back after Angela left. The USIS Library closed at 10 pm.  Continue reading →

Tuesday morning, Joe stayed home. He called Jack Arland and made an appointment to meet the next day after lunch. He spent the rest of the morning carefully proof-reading all his work. He marked up so much, that he decided to type up what he could. Continue reading →

Joe looked around the library to see if anyone was interested in him. The librarian was shelving books on the other side of the large room. A college student was sleeping head down on a thick book two tables away. A gray-haired pensioner sat in one of the armchairs with his back to Joe, reading the International Herald Tribune. Continue reading →