‘You have a nice day now,’ said the receptionist.

“那么祝你今天过得愉快。”接待说。

Tricia didn’t particularly want to have a nice day. She was busy.

崔茜卡并不特别想要过得愉快。她很忙。

She also didn’t want to talk to Gail Andrews. She had a very strict cut-off point as far as fraternising with the Christians was concerned. Her colleagues called her interview subjects Christians and would often cross themselves when they saw one walking innocently into the studio to face Tricia, particularly if Tricia was smiling warmly and showing her teeth.

她也不想见盖尔?安德鲁斯。崔茜卡不喜欢跟对手搞什么亲善友好，在这种问题上，她历来是非常严格地点到为止。如果需要采访一个自己讨厌的家伙，她的同事会代她联系；然后，等看见那人一派天真地走进演播室面对崔茜卡的时候，同事们常常会在胸前画个十字，如果崔茜卡热情洋溢地冲人家露出一口白牙就更是如此。

She turned and smiled frostily, wondering what to do.

她转身冷峻地一笑，不知道该如何是好。

Gail Andrews was a well groomed woman in her mid-forties. Her clothes fell within the boundaries defined by expensive good taste, but were definitely huddled up at the floatier end of those boundaries. She was an astrologer – a famous and, if rumour were true, influential astrologer, having allegedly influenced a number of decisions made by the late President Hudson, including everything from which flavour of cream whip to have on which day of the week, to whether or not to bomb Damascus.

盖尔?安德鲁斯四十多岁，修饰得很不错。她的衣着处于昂贵而有品位的界限之内，更贴近昂贵那一头。她是个占星术士——名气不小，而且如果谣言准确的话，还很有影响力。据说，她曾经影响了前总统哈德逊的好些决定，包括从每星期的哪一天该吃什么口味的奶油点心到要不要轰炸大马士革在内的所有问题。

Tricia had savaged her more than somewhat. Not on the grounds of whether or not the stories about the President were true, that was old hat now. At the time Ms. Andrews had emphatically denied advising President Hudson on anything other than personal, spiritual or dietary matters, which did not, apparently include the bombing of Damascus. (‘NOTHING PERSONAL, DAMASCUS!’ the tabloids had hooted at the time.)

崔茜卡刚刚狠狠地喷了她一身唾沫。说的倒不是总统那档子事儿，那已经是旧闻了。安德鲁斯女士以前就着重强调过，自己只是针对总统先生的个人情况提供一些灵性和饮食方面的建议，其中显然不包括轰炸大马士革之类的问题（当时各家小报都使劲儿起哄说：“咱不是针对你，大马士革！”）。

No, this was a neat topical little angle that Tricia had come up with about the whole issue of astrology itself. Ms. Andrews had not been entirely ready for it. Tricia, on the other hand, was not entirely ready for a re-match in the hotel lobby. What to do?

不，崔茜卡是拿整个占星术做文章，搞得干净利落。当时的安德鲁斯女士并没有完全做好准备。反过来说，崔茜卡对在酒店大堂里的加赛也没有完全准备好。怎么办？

‘I can wait for you in the bar, if you need a few minutes,’ said Gail Andrews. ‘But I would like to talk to you, and I’m leaving the city tonight.’

“如果你需要几分钟的话，我可以在酒吧等你。”盖尔?安德鲁斯说，“但我希望今晚能跟你谈谈，赶在我离开纽约之前。”

She seemed to be slightly anxious about something rather than aggrieved or irate.

她看起来倒不像是愤愤不平或者怨气连天，只是为什么事儿稍稍有些焦心。

‘OK,’ said Tricia. ‘Give me ten minutes.’

“好吧，”崔茜卡说，“给我十分钟。”

She went up to her room. Apart from anything else she had so little faith in the ability of the guy on the message desk at reception to deal with anything as complicated as a message that she wanted to be doubly certain that there wasn’t a note under the door. It wouldn’t be the first time that messages at the desk and messages under the door had been completely at odds with each other.

她上楼进了自己的房间。前台那家伙实在让人放心不下，估计那人没法搞定像代客留言这么复杂的活儿，所以她必须再确认确认，看门底下有没有塞着张纸条什么的。这种事她过去也遇到过，有时候前台的留言跟门底下的留言完全水火不容。

There wasn’t one.

没有纸条。