The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1936-09-10
Chapter "a
FAIRLY SAFE

FHtn6I orr :
I'LL go as soon as I've finished this
i one" said Carol. IF | quit now 1
won't be able to remember tomor
row what meant to say today" She
was aware for the first time OF
Laura's friendliness. so she said:
Thanks. anyhow. Couldn't we
have lunch together tomorrow"
Laura nodded. Suits me fine.
Well-toodle-oo."
Goodnight" She went back to the
sheet before her.
The door opened and Blake came
in and wen. to a filing cabinet He
saw her and raised an eyebrow.
What are you doing here?"
Trying not t, de-rail a train of
thought. I'm leaving now"
You'd better" He grinned sud
denly. 81 don't want the NRA on
my neck"
what abort yourself?"
"Oh." he drawled. I'm an Exec
utive. | don't count"
Il see." She slipped the sheets
into a drawer and got up stif1y.
realizing for the first time how tired
she was.
He said quickly: wait a minute
and I'll drive you home"
She hesitated. and wondered If he
thought that was why she had lin
gered. He read the uncertainty and
smiled.
"Oh. know you're innocent.
Come on"
In his car she relaxed. and re-
verted to her trick of absorbing
sights and sounds. The streets were
a cacaphony OF protesting brakes
and roaring motors and the uninteI
ligible shouts of newsboys On the
sidewalks people with closed faces
pushed and hurried like chips on a
moving stream. and in the occa-
sional eddies were lovers united. or
shop girls exchanging condolences:
"He said :. and so | said -"
The sense Of her own aloneness
pressed down or her again. filling
her with sudden despair. wonder
If I'll ever have a place hereY she
thought, and shut her ears to the
answering: The odds are all against
It -.
Blake glanced at her once. and
noticed the shadows of fatigue be.
meath her eyes. Her eyes and the
shadows were almost the same
color. He said impu!sively:
Look here. what are you going
to do when you get homer"
Get a bath. eat dinner. read q
magazine. go to bed"
Sounds like my schedule. Why
don't we stop in one OF those re-
frigerated movie temples and cool
of. then have dinner together be
fore take you home"
The suggestion was like a hand
in the dark.
at sounds pretty swell to me
Only don't spoil me: the sooner
get used to my own company the
better OFF I'll be-"
swell. you can start tomorrow
I'm sort Of fed up with my own"
She wondered again about Irms
Thornton. and decided that Irms
was either superbly confident Of
completely Indifferent Blake wasn't
the philandering type: perhaps irm.
had placed her chips on that Well
It was Irma's business. not hers
She wasn't the philandering type
either.
He drove slowly up Peachtree
Here's Carlo and Lionel Barry
more -"
Lets see Garbo."
They parked the car and plunged
into the stream. Goodness breathet
on them at the theatre entrance. ant
they went in and sat beneath hurry
Ing clouds in an improbable blu
and gilt sky.
DARKNESS had dropped on tn
~ city whsn they came out, an
the city fought the darkness wit
o barrage of colored lights. Re,
lights that winked seductively
white lights that shone steadily
green lights that chased each othe
like squirrels in a cage. The air wa
milk-warm. and the throngs ha,
thinned: had slowed their pace an
lowered their voices to match tn
sense OF time suspended that occur
:. between day and night.
Blake said lazily: "Well, where d
we eat?"
wherever you say. Let's g
where it's quiet"
Fright. The grill at the Merrima
ought to 1T"
They walked slowly to the Merr
mac. and found the grill fairly coo
and almost deserted. Carol ordere