The Man In The Seventh Row by Brian Pendreigh Read Free Book Online Page B

blond. There is something slightly dangerous about him, as if he has just walked out of Reservoir Dogs , or maybe just something ever so slightly sleazy.
    He has been watching her, hoping she would not sit at his table, and then hoping she would. She moves elegantly between the tourists, with her cup of coffee balanced on its saucer. Her brown eyes sweep the bar area, ascertaining there are no tables free. Her hair is cropped short and tinted with henna. As her face turns to him he notes the suggestion of a smile, not quite a smile, not nearly a smile, just a suggestion. She is younger than him, early thirties, maybe even late twenties. The brandy wants her to sit down.
    'Is this seat free?' she asks Roy.
    Her voice is matter of fact. He says nothing, but nods, and gestures with his open palm towards the empty chair. She sits and sips her coffee and watches Roy sip his beer. He sips his beer and watches the Mexican couple chatter over the Rough Guide.
    Roy never knew what to say to an attractive woman he had never met before. What would Bogie say? Woody Allen had written an entire play with Bogie as the ultra-cool role model for picking up babes.
    Roy racks his brains, but all he can remember is Bogie telling a dame that when he slaps her she will take it and like it ... Bogie's most memorable lines are not exactly small talk. He never seemed much good at opening conversations with women, or indeed relationships, just ending them. He packed Ingrid off on a plane in Casablanca and buggered off down to Brazzaville with Captain Renault, for a beautiful friendship. And, offered romance with Mary Astor at the end of The Maltese Falcon , he turned her over to the cops to face a murder rap instead. Of all the bars in all the world she had to walk into mine.
    Roy lifts the Rolling Rock to his lips. She watches him do it and still says nothing. His bottle is almost empty. He stops a passing waiter and requests a coffee.
    'How would you like it?'
    'Espresso, please.'
    'Certainly sir,' says the waiter, as he moves off towards the bar.
    It is Anna who eventually opens conversation.
    'You're English,' she says.
    He is about to speak, but she raises her hand to stop him, reconsidering the way he had rolled the R of espresso momentarily on his tongue before letting it go.
    'No, not English ... Scottish. Like Sean Connery.'
    'We grew up in the same street,' he says. 'Same street, different time ...'
    'I knew Scotland was small, but I didn't know it was that small,' she says.
    He thinks the joke sophisticated for an American, displaying a knowledge of geography beyond that of most of her compatriots. Her lips carry the faintest trace of lipstick and the merest hint of a smile.
    'Glasgow? Or was it Edinboro, that he came from?'
    'Edinburgh.' He pronounces it almost as if it might rhyme with 'hurrah', but not quite.
    He is not unattractive, she thinks, the youthfulness of his blond hair and blue eyes offset by the stubble on his face and a world-weary air.
    'I love Sean Connery's movies,' she says and quickly realises she is indulging herself in that most American habit of overstating enthusiasms.
    'I love movies,' he says. 'It's almost like a compulsion for me. Bond movies, good movies, bad movies. I've always loved films, the whole experience.'
    'I love it too ... though I'm not exactly a cinephile ,' she says and she almost smiles. 'I've just come out of an old movie that was wonderful. I'd never heard of it … DOA ?'
    'Yeah, yeah,' he says, his eyes lighting up in recognition and enthusiasm. 'I want to report a murder,' he says.
    'Who was murdered?' she responds.
    'I was,' he says.
    'It must be about the best beginning to any movie ever,' she says. And they both smile at a shared enthusiasm.
    'About the best,' he says, thinking of beginnings. But she beats him to it.
    ' The Godfather ,' she says. 'The first words when the screen is black: "I believe in America". The guest at the wedding who wants Don Corleone to avenge the assault on his