No Longer Human ( PDFDrive )

75
"No, I won't," she protested. "Oh, you're dreadful."
Her joy was indecent enough to chill all feeling
for her.
I thought up an errand for her to do. "Sorry to
bother you, but would you mind going down to the
drugstore and buying me some sleeping tablets? I'm
over-exhausted. My face is burning so I can't sleep.
I'm sorry. And about the money . . ."
"That's all right. Don't worry about the money."
She got up happily. I was well aware that it never
offends a woman to be asked to do an errand; they
are delighted if some man deigns to ask them a favor.
The second girl interested in me was a "comrade,"
a student in a teacher's training college. My activities
in the movement obliged me, distasteful as it was,
to see her every day. Even after the arrangements for
the day's job had been completed, she doggedly
tagged along after me. She bought me presents, seemingly
at random, and offered them with the words, "I
wish you would think of me as your real sister."
Wincing at the affectation I would answer, "I do,"
and force a sad little smile. I was afraid of angering
her, and my only thought was to temporize somehow
and put her off. As a result, I spent more and more
time dancing attendance on that ugly, disagreeable
girl. I let her buy me presents (they were without
exception in extraordinarily bad taste and I usually