He crossed the room slowly, and sat
down on the edge of the sofa. She placed his
teacup on the table in front of him.
“There we are,” she said. “How nice and
cosy this is, isn’t it?”
Billy started sipping his tea. She did the
same. For half a minute or so, neither of them
spoke. But Billy knew that she was looking at
him. Her body was half-turned towards him,
and he could feel her eyes resting on his
face, watching him over the rim of her teacup.
Now and again, he caught a whiff of a
peculiar smell that seemed to emanate
directly from her person. It was not in the
least unpleasant, and it reminded him – well,
he wasn’t quite sure what it reminded him of.
Pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the
corridors of a hospital