Airport Read Online Free PDF Page B

Say, a Lamb Casserole.”
    He hesitated, weighing conflicting claims, then reluctantly shook his head. “I wish I could. But we’ve some trouble here, and afterward I have to be downtown.” He got up. “Let’s have coffee, anyway.”
    “All right.”
    Mel held the door open, and they went out into the bustling, noisy main concourse.
    There was a press of people around the Trans America counter, even greater than when Mel had arrived. “I mustn’t take long,” Tanya said. “I’ve still two hours more on duty.”
    As they threaded their way through the crowds and increasing piles of luggage, she moderated her normally brisk pace to Mel’s slower one. He was limping rather more than usual, she noticed. She found herself wanting to take his arm and help him, but supposed she had better not. She was still in Trans America uniform. Gossip spread fast enough without helping it actively. The two of them had been seen a good deal lately in each other’s company, and Tanya was sure that the airport rumor machine–which operated like a jungle telegraph with IBM speed–had already taken note. Probably it was assumed that she and Mel were bedding down together, though, as it happened, that much was untrue.
    They were headed for the Cloud Captain’s Coffee Shop in the central lobby.
    “About that Lamb Casserole,” Mel said. “Could we make it another night? Say, the day after tomorrow?”
    The sudden invitation from Tanya had surprised him. Although they had had several dates together–for drinks or dinner–until now she had not suggested visiting her apartment. Of course, going there could be for dinner only. Still… there was always the possibility that it might not.
    Lately, Mel had sensed that if their meetings away from the airport continued, there could be a natural and obvious progression. But he had moved cautiously, instinct warning him that an affair with Tanya would be no casual romance but a deeply emotional involvement for them both. A consideration, also, was his own problems with Cindy. Those were going to take a lot of working out, if they could be worked out at all, and there was a limit to the number of complications a man could handle at one time. It was a strange commentary, he thought, that when a marriage was secure it seemed easier to manage an affair than when the same marriage was shaky. Just the same, Tanya’s invitation seemed too enticing to pass up.
    “The day after tomorrow is Sunday,” she pointed out. “But I’ll be off duty, and if you can manage it, I’ll have more time.”
    Mel grinned. “Candies and wine?”
    He had forgotten it would be Sunday. But he would have to come to the airport anyway because, even if the storm moved on, there would be aftereffects. As to Cindy, there had been several Sundays when she had been out, herself, without an announced reason.
    Momentarily, Mel and Tanya separated as she dodged a hurrying, florid-faced man, followed by a redcap with a loaded luggage cart, topped by golf clubs and tennis rackets. Wherever that load was going, Tanya thought enviously, it was a long way south.
    “Okay,” she said when they rejoined. “Candles and wine.”
    As they entered the coffee shop, a pert hostess recognized Mel and ushered him, ahead of others, to a small table at the rear, marked RESERVED, which airport officials often used. About to sit down, he stumbled slightly and grasped Tanya’s arm. The observant hostess flicked her eyes over them both with a half-smfle. Rumor machine, stand by for a bulletin, Tanya thought.
    Aloud, she said, “Did you ever see such crowds? This has been the wildest three days I remember.”
    Mel glanced around the packed coffee shop, its bedlam of voices punctuated by the clatter of dishes. He nodded toward the outer door through which they could both see a moving, surging swarm of people. “If you think this is a big horde tonight, wait until the civil version of the C-5A goes into service.”
    “I know–we can barely