“Her hands are like icicles on the horizon,” he said and took a drag of coffee. She nodded blankly at him, barely registering the observations that swayed his tongue and flavoured his mouth. “Do you see how she’s shaking?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the porcelain doll ordering dinner across the room. He fumbled down distractedly to the table, found his plate, and devoured a fry in the half-reflective way that dressed all his actions.
“她的雙手就像遠處地平線上矗立的冰柱一樣?！彼呎f邊喝了一口咖啡。她茫然地對他點點頭，幾乎沒有注意到他舌尖正在嘴里有滋有味地攪動?！澳憧吹剿窃趺次帐值膯幔俊彼麊柕溃抗馐冀K沒有離開餐廳那頭正在點餐的那位長得像餐瓷娃娃一般的女士。他的手摸索到桌邊，找到自己的盤子，若有所思地吞下一根炸薯條，想要掩飾自己的一舉一動。
To this, she murmured a vague, “Mmhmm…” It was enough of a reply to fill the empty space he controlled over the table, enough for him to be noncommittal and inattentive. She reached through the mess of their cups and plates to spear a French-fry from his plate. She shifted her weight. The chair rocked under her, threatening her already uncertain balance and attempted grace in one blow. She moved the feet of the chair, hoping to find some sort of equilibrium, but again the seat rocked under her, still precarious.
看到這一幕，她低聲哼道：“嗯......”這一句回答足以彌補他只顧桌上的餐食而不顧她時的尷尬，足以應對他的不置可否與漫不經心。她從一片狼藉的杯子和盤子中找到了他的餐盤，用叉子叉了一根薯條。她調整了一下身體的重心，但椅子還是在她身下晃來晃去，讓她很難保持平衡以及優雅的姿勢。她動了動椅子腿，希望能找到某種平衡，但椅子還是在她身下搖晃著，絲毫沒有穩定下來。
“Look at the angles to her face,” he went on, working his words around mouthfuls. His eyes never wavered in their stiff critical stare of wonderment and interest. “There’s just something about her that screams vulnerability.”
“你看看她臉上的棱角。”他繼續說著，同時不停地把食物塞進自己的嘴里。他的雙眼始終直勾勾地盯著那位女士的方向，目光里充滿著好奇與興趣。“她文弱的外表背后一定有讓人驚嘆的故事?！?br /> “Hmm.” She swallowed the hot, gritty remains of her tea. Her cup clunked as it hit the table, jolting the settled objects, but his attention never strayed from the other woman across the room. She picked up her croissant, then lowered it back to her plate seeing the tanned lines of her knuckles holding her fingers in place. She turned her palm up and followed the lines that traced her destiny.
“嗯。”她囫圇咽下了杯子中粗糙的熱茶底。然后，當的一聲，她把杯子重重地放在了桌子上，桌子上擺放的物品都被震了起來。但，這并沒有讓他的注意力離開餐廳那頭的另一個女人。她拿起羊角面包，又把它放回盤子里，眼睛看著自己指關節被曬得黝黑的紋路。然后，她把手掌翻過來向上，用眼睛追尋著手掌上的命運線。
“You really have to wonder about people like that,” he continued in the silence. “How they think, how they feel, how they see the world. Don’t you ever just wish you could go up and introduce yourself to a stranger and learn their entire life story?”
“你真的得關注一下那樣的人，”他打破沉默繼續說道，“他們是如何思考的；他們是怎樣去感受的；他們又會如何看待這個世界。難道你不希望自己能夠走上前去，向陌生人介紹自己，并了解他們的人生故事嗎？”
She took her croissant again and took a voice-saving mouthful, nodding her head disjointedly to glance at her tongue-trapped partner on the other side of the table. She sneakily slid her feet out of her shoes and flexed her toes in their freedom under the tablecloth-tiered table. The ache wrenched in her bones, and her thoughts drifted to the woman he kept talking about, and instantly she felt the emptiness and pain of rejection.
她再次拿起那個羊角面包，咬了一大口，把嘴塞得滿滿的，同時慌亂地點了點頭，然后瞥了一眼桌子對面嘴一直沒閑下來的同伴。她偷偷地將雙腳從鞋子里滑出來，讓腳趾自由地在桌布下伸縮。此時，她骨頭酸痛，思緒不自主地飄向她的同伴一直在談論的那個女人。就在那一剎那，她感受到了被拋棄的空虛與痛苦。
“I guess it’s time to go,” he said finally, still not moving his unblinking eyes or shifting his stranger-struck body. She mumbled affirmative and followed through with her purse. The crowded bag jostled against her hand in the fruitful search for cash. Dumping the entire contents out for the finding and usage of a pen, she scrunched up her eyebrows, figuring the total into halves.
“我想是時候離開了。”他終于說出了這句話，但他的眼睛仍牢牢地盯著那個女人，身體依舊保持著被那個女人吸引的姿勢。她咕噥著表示贊成，同時拿出了手提包。她的手在塞得滿滿的手提包中摸索著尋找足夠現金。然后，將包里的全部東西都倒了出來，找到了一支鋼筆，皺了皺眉頭，將賬單總額分成了兩半。
“Mind getting this one for me?” he asked, raising himself up to gather his belongings before heading out the door. Still his attention wandered over to the daisy, blooming at the opposite table. “This was fun. Let’s get together again sometime soon, OK?”
“這頓飯就你請了，不介意吧？”他問道，然后振作了一下，收拾好自己的東西，出門離開了。但，他離開的同時，他的注意力依舊徘徊在對面桌子旁那朵“綻放的雛菊”上?！昂苡腥?。我們不久再找機會聚一次，好吧？”
She fell back in her seat, drowning in the whirlpool of inattention. Establishing their funds, she turned to see herself in the shadowy glass window reflection, and saw herself slipping away.
她倒坐在椅子上，陷入被忽視的漩渦之中。她付了賬單，轉身看著玻璃窗中自己模糊的倒影，然后加快腳步離開了。