murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

"You see what?"
"Nothing. Just "I see'," I said. "Any fires lately?"
"That was fun, wasn't it? It didn't do much damage, but
that smoke made it feel real. Great stuff." Midori gulped another glass
of water, took a breath and studied my face for a while. "Hey, what's
wrong with you?" she asked. "You've got this spaced-out face. Your
eyes aren't focused."
"I'm OK," I said. "I just came back from a trip and I'm tired."
"You look like you've just seen a ghost." "I see."
"Hey, do you have "German and R.E. "Can you skip 'en: "Not
German. I've "When's it over?" "Two."
"OK. How about going into the city with me after that some drinks?"
"At two in the afternoon?!"
"For a change, why not? You look so spaced. Come on, come drinking
with me and get a little life into you. That's what I want to do - drink
with you and get some life into myself.
What do you say?"
"OK, let's go," I said with a sigh. "I'll look for you in the Lit. quad at
two."
After German we caught a bus to Shinjuku and went to an
underground bar called DUG behind the Kinokuniya bookshop. We
each started with two vodka and tonics.
"I come here once in a while," she said. "They don't make you feel
embarrassed to be drinking in the afternoon."
"Do you drink in the afternoon a lot?"
"Sometimes," she said, rattling the ice in her glass. "Sometimes, when
the world gets too hard to live in, I come here for a vodka and tonic."
"Does the world get hard to live in?"
"Sometimes," said Midori. "I've got my own special little problems."
"Like what?"
"Like family, like boyfriends, like irregular periods. Stuff." "So have
another drink."
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