"The Planners by Kate Wilhelm" - читать интересную книгу автора (1969)

psychologist." Lea's voice followed them. "Where are you
two?"
"What makes you say a thing like that?" Darm asked.
"Oh, when I think of how you must understand a woman,
know her moods and the reasons for them. You must know
just what to do and when, and when to do something else . . .
Yes, just like that."
His hands on her body were hot, her skin cool. Lea's
petulant voice drew closer. He held Greta in his arms and
stepped into the pool where they sank to the bottom, still
together. She hadn't gone to the Barbie school. His hands
learned her body; then his body learned hers'. After they
made love, Greta drew back from him regretfully.
"I do have to go now. You are a lucky man. Dr. Darin.
No doubts about yourself, complete understanding of what
makes you tick."
He lay back on the leather couch staring at the ceiling.
"It's always that way, Doctor. Fantasies, dreams, illusions.
I know it is because this investigation is hanging over us right
now, but even when things are going relatively well, I still
go off on a tangent like that for no real reason." He stopped
talking.
In his chair Darin stirred slightly, his fingers drumming
softly on the arm, his gaze on the clock whose hands were
stuck. He said, "Before this recent pressure, did you have
such intense fantasies?"
"I don't think so," Darin said thoughtfully, trying to
remember.
The other didn't give him time. He asked, "And can you
break out of them now when you have to, or want to?"
"Oh, sure," Darin said.
Laughing, he got out of his car, patted the MG, and walked
into his house. He could hear voices from the living room
and he remembered that on Thursdays Lea really did have
her painting lesson.
Dr. Lacey left five minutes after Darin arrived. Lacey said
vague things about Lea's great promise and untapped talent,
and Darin nodded sober agreement. If she had talent, it
certainly was untapped so far. He didn't say so.
Lea was wearing a hostess suit, flowing sheer panels of pale
blue net over a skin-tight leotard that was midnight blue.
Darin wondered if she realized that she had gained weight in
the past few years. He thought not.
"Oh, that man is getting impossible," she said when the
MG blasted away from their house. "Two years no\y, and he
still doesn't want to put my things on show."
Looking at her, Darin wondered how much more her
things could be on show.
"Don't dawdle too long with your martini," she said.
"We're due at the Ritters' at seven for clams."