【时间旅行者的妻子】75

Clare is going to kill me for this. “I’m a friend of Clare’s parents. They were worried about her taking the car to a party where there might be alcohol, so they asked me to go along and play chauffeur¹ in case she got too pickled to drive.”

　Helen pouts². “That’s extremely not necessary. Our little Clare hardly drinks enough to fill a tiny, tiny thimble—”

　“I never said she did. Her parents were just being paranoid.”

　High heels click down the sidewalk. This time it is Clare. She freezes when she sees that I have company.

　Helen jumps out of the car and says, “Clare! This naughty man says he is not your boyfriend.”

　Clare and I exchange glances. “Well, he’s not,” says Clare curtly³.

　“Oh,” says Helen. “Are you leaving?”

　“It’s almost midnight. I’m about to turn into a pumpkin⁴.” Clare walks around the car and opens her door. “Come on, Henry, let’s go.” She starts the car and flips⁵ on the lights.

　Helen stands stock still in the headlights. Then she walks over to my side of the car. “Not her boyfriend, huh, Henry? You had me going there for a minute, yes you did. Bye bye, Clare.” She laughs, and Clare pulls out of the parking space awkwardly and drives away. Ruth lives on Conger. As we turn onto Broadway, I see that all the street lights are off. Broadway is a two-lane highway. It’s ruler-straight, but without the streetlights it’s like driving into an inkwell.

　“Better turn on your brights, Clare,” I say. She reaches forward and turns the headlights off completely.

　“Clare—!”

　“Don’t tell me what to do!” I shut up. All I can see are the illuminated⁶ numbers of the clock radio. It’s 11:36.I hear the air rushing past the car, the engine of the car; I feel the wheels passing over the asphalt, but somehow we seem to be motionless, and the world moves around us at forty-five miles per hour. I close my eyes. It makes no difference. I open them. My heart is pounding.

1 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

2 pouts   

n.撅嘴，生气( pout的名词复数 )v.撅（嘴）( pout的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• "Now, none of your pouts, Miss. "好，别撅着嘴生气了。 来自飘（部分）
• I don't like to see you in the pouts. 我不喜欢看到你闷闷不乐。 来自互联网

3 curtly   

adv.简短地

参考例句：

• He nodded curtly and walked away. 他匆忙点了一下头就走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The request was curtly refused. 这个请求被毫不客气地拒绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

5 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

6 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市