“Her hands are like icicles on the horizon,” he said and took a drag of coffee. She nodded blankly at him, barely registering the observations that swayed his tongue and flavoured his mouth. “Do you see how she’s shaking?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the porcelain doll ordering dinner across the room. He fumbled down distractedly to the table, found his plate, and devoured a fry in the half-reflective way that dressed all his actions.
“她的双手就像远处地平线上矗立的冰柱一样。”他边说边喝了一口咖啡。她茫然地对他点点头，几乎没有注意到他舌尖正在嘴里有滋有味地搅动。“你看到她是怎么握手的吗？”他问道，目光始终没有离开餐厅那头正在点餐的那位长得像餐瓷娃娃一般的女士。他的手摸索到桌边，找到自己的盘子，若有所思地吞下一根炸薯条，想要掩饰自己的一举一动。
To this, she murmured a vague, “Mmhmm…” It was enough of a reply to fill the empty space he controlled over the table, enough for him to be noncommittal and inattentive. She reached through the mess of their cups and plates to spear a French-fry from his plate. She shifted her weight. The chair rocked under her, threatening her already uncertain balance and attempted grace in one blow. She moved the feet of the chair, hoping to find some sort of equilibrium, but again the seat rocked under her, still precarious.
看到这一幕，她低声哼道：“嗯......”这一句回答足以弥补他只顾桌上的餐食而不顾她时的尴尬，足以应对他的不置可否与漫不经心。她从一片狼藉的杯子和盘子中找到了他的餐盘，用叉子叉了一根薯条。她调整了一下身体的重心，但椅子还是在她身下晃来晃去，让她很难保持平衡以及优雅的姿势。她动了动椅子腿，希望能找到某种平衡，但椅子还是在她身下摇晃着，丝毫没有稳定下来。
“Look at the angles to her face,” he went on, working his words around mouthfuls. His eyes never wavered in their stiff critical stare of wonderment and interest. “There’s just something about her that screams vulnerability.”
“你看看她脸上的棱角。”他继续说着，同时不停地把食物塞进自己的嘴里。他的双眼始终直勾勾地盯着那位女士的方向，目光里充满着好奇与兴趣。“她文弱的外表背后一定有让人惊叹的故事。”
“Hmm.” She swallowed the hot, gritty remains of her tea. Her cup clunked as it hit the table, jolting the settled objects, but his attention never strayed from the other woman across the room. She picked up her croissant, then lowered it back to her plate seeing the tanned lines of her knuckles holding her fingers in place. She turned her palm up and followed the lines that traced her destiny.
“嗯。”她囫囵咽下了杯子中粗糙的热茶底。然后，当的一声，她把杯子重重地放在了桌子上，桌子上摆放的物品都被震了起来。但，这并没有让他的注意力离开餐厅那头的另一个女人。她拿起羊角面包，又把它放回盘子里，眼睛看着自己指关节被晒得黝黑的纹路。然后，她把手掌翻过来向上，用眼睛追寻着手掌上的命运线。
“You really have to wonder about people like that,” he continued in the silence. “How they think, how they feel, how they see the world. Don’t you ever just wish you could go up and introduce yourself to a stranger and learn their entire life story?”
“你真的得关注一下那样的人，”他打破沉默继续说道，“他们是如何思考的；他们是怎样去感受的；他们又会如何看待这个世界。难道你不希望自己能够走上前去，向陌生人介绍自己，并了解他们的人生故事吗？”
She took her croissant again and took a voice-saving mouthful, nodding her head disjointedly to glance at her tongue-trapped partner on the other side of the table. She sneakily slid her feet out of her shoes and flexed her toes in their freedom under the tablecloth-tiered table. The ache wrenched in her bones, and her thoughts drifted to the woman he kept talking about, and instantly she felt the emptiness and pain of rejection.
她再次拿起那个羊角面包，咬了一大口，把嘴塞得满满的，同时慌乱地点了点头，然后瞥了一眼桌子对面嘴一直没闲下来的同伴。她偷偷地将双脚从鞋子里滑出来，让脚趾自由地在桌布下伸缩。此时，她骨头酸痛，思绪不自主地飘向她的同伴一直在谈论的那个女人。就在那一刹那，她感受到了被抛弃的空虚与痛苦。
“I guess it’s time to go,” he said finally, still not moving his unblinking eyes or shifting his stranger-struck body. She mumbled affirmative and followed through with her purse. The crowded bag jostled against her hand in the fruitful search for cash. Dumping the entire contents out for the finding and usage of a pen, she scrunched up her eyebrows, figuring the total into halves.
“我想是时候离开了。”他终于说出了这句话，但他的眼睛仍牢牢地盯着那个女人，身体依旧保持着被那个女人吸引的姿势。她咕哝着表示赞成，同时拿出了手提包。她的手在塞得满满的手提包中摸索着寻找足够现金。然后，将包里的全部东西都倒了出来，找到了一支钢笔，皱了皱眉头，将账单总额分成了两半。
“Mind getting this one for me?” he asked, raising himself up to gather his belongings before heading out the door. Still his attention wandered over to the daisy, blooming at the opposite table. “This was fun. Let’s get together again sometime soon, OK?”
“这顿饭就你请了，不介意吧？”他问道，然后振作了一下，收拾好自己的东西，出门离开了。但，他离开的同时，他的注意力依旧徘徊在对面桌子旁那朵“绽放的雏菊”上。“很有趣。我们不久再找机会聚一次，好吧？”
She fell back in her seat, drowning in the whirlpool of inattention. Establishing their funds, she turned to see herself in the shadowy glass window reflection, and saw herself slipping away.
她倒坐在椅子上，陷入被忽视的漩涡之中。她付了账单，转身看着玻璃窗中自己模糊的倒影，然后加快脚步离开了。