"Stephen Goldin - Herds" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

"Almost as bad as sleeping alone," the girl sighed.

"It's by your own choice," Polaski pointed out. "You could
have almost any man in the camp."

That was no exaggeration, even though Debby was far from
what the normal person would call attractive. She tended to the
plumpish side, fifteen pounds overweight, and it showed badly
on her short body. Her face was rounded, with black, stringy hair
that came down past her shoulders. Her face consisted of brown,
bovine eyes, a glop of a nose in the center, and an overly-large
mouth with too-full lips. But the members of the commune
looked past the obvious. Debby was friendly, outgoing, easy to
talk to. She was always eager to share whatever work had to be
done, no matter how dirty, and she was the quickest person to
laugh at a joke, even if she'd heard it before. She was universally
admired and was the best friend of nearly everyone at the
commune.

"True," she said, acknowledging Polaski's implied compliment
matter-of-factly. "But I don't want almost any man in the camp.
I want you."

Polaski sighed. That was the trouble. Debby had developed a
father-fixation on him. She was still emotionally immature, and
followed him around like a puppy. Being nearly twice her age,
Polaski felt that any relationship the two of them might have
would be sloppy and emotionally damaging to her.
 "You're a nice girl, Debby," he said slowly. "And I like you too
much to do that sort of thing to you."

"That sounds Victorian!" she exclaimed, misunderstanding
him. "I'm hardly a virgin, you know. 'That sort of thing' has been
done to me lots of times."

Polaski picked up a just-washed plate and turned to the food
table. "That's not what I meant at all, and you know it. I happen
to be a married man…"

"Separated," Debby corrected him.

"… and a good deal older than you are. Professionally
speaking, I think our having an affair would be emotionally
damaging for you."

"Sure, pull rank on me. That'll teach me to argue with a
psychologist." There was no bitterness in Debby's voice. They
had been over the same ground before, with the same results.
She pouted slightly to show her disappointment, but otherwise