"FWLS50" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

Benton nodded, and ducked inside his favorite store...
'Strange Books, Ltd.' Science fiction and whatnot. Just not my
taste, I guess. Some of the guys in there are too creepy for me
to handle, anyway.

I caught a quick glimpse of Mitch in deep conversation with
Shelly somewhere across the hall. He still had The Grin on.

You know, one thing I never got was why I never got The Grin
aimed at me. I'm not complaining, mind you -- Mitch is a serious
slimeball -- but as of yet I've never seen him turn down the
opportunity to chat up some unsuspecting female. I caught a
vague hint of The Grin the first time Benton introduced me to
him, but then that smile switched to a look of mild terror. He's
calmed down since, but still, no grin. I'd like to think he
avoids grinning at me because he respects me as an equal, but
see, that's just NOT Mitch.

"Got it!" Benton hollered, waving around the book. "I knew
they'd have it."

"Eh?" I asked, snapping out of my introspective moment.
"What?"

"This!" he said, waving the multicolored book at me. "It's
this great fantasy novel about this island and these dragons and
this one who can do strange and horrible things with a simple
mop. Funny stuff."

He pocketed the novel in his jacket. I stood up to walk
over to our next destination.

"Mitch still gone?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he'll be back to normal in a day or two. Good thing
too, I got this great idea about rocket-powered mops..."

Benton explained the idea to me as we weaved in and out of
the shoppers. A typical gag. I wasn't particularly interested,
though... I only was big on the gags we did that involved getting
away at high speeds or breaking into systems at high speeds.
They could handle anything else themselves.

Two things happened at once about then.

First, Mitch wandered back over to us. Second, Benton's
jacket rang.