The Information Junkie by Roderick Leyland Page A

shadows. Nay, I'm almost in love with shadows.'
    She smiled. ' Half in love...?'
    I smiled, said, 'There, that's romance for you.'
    She kissed me again, this time on the forehead. She said,
    'You've got a fine brain, Charlie.'
    I smiled, thanked her very much.
    'Yes,' she repeated: 'a fine brain. But, Charlie, how's it all going to end?'
    'End...?'
    'Yes,' and she put her arms around her knees, pulled her legs up and rocked back into the easy chair. The posture excited me for a moment. She said:
    'Charlie, I think you want me to say something like: Charlie, this can never work out, because I'm not real. '
    I smiled at her perspicacity. She released the grip on her knees and stood to look in the mirror above the wood-burning stove before turning back to me:
    'Charlie, you can't force other people to do what they don't want to. Life's spontaneous, you never know what's going to happen next. The greater likelihood is that I turn round to you and say that it will never work out because you're not real.'
    I laughed. 'Ffion, you're more intelligent than I thought. I see I've seriously underestimated you.'
    'So, Charlie, where does that leave us?'
    'Shall we complete the crossword first?'
    I asked again for the clues which had stumped us:
    'Make unusual coin fit slot machine for novel —seven letters.'
    I smiled, the way you do when the solution just pops into your head: 'Is that FICTION ?'
    She said, 'It fits.'
    'Ah, ha! I can see where this guy's coming from. Come on,' I said, 'let's finish it.'
     
    *
     
    In and off? Strange...Welsh girl wasn't vague! (5)
     
    Fool with affection around start of game. That's poisonous (8)
     
    Confuse two singles with unmarried man. Put a lid on it and shake the medicine (9)
     
    Enter temperance group with trembling hand. It's the information (4)
     
    Part of cat flat on mat. That's odd but is it fiction? (4)
     
    Make unusual coin fit slot machine for novel (7)
     
    Cup of Darjeeling? Not the truth: I felt a right one but am still someone's darling (7)
     
    And bile, oddly enough, gives blonde beauty (7)
     
    Rome, New York has Mr Strange in a spin but he won't get bogged down here! (6,5)
     
    Odd home, say, for RNR man? Possibly not: this is flat land (6,5)
     
    Take off a sword, means strange behaviour. Less singular makes this sound charming, but it's lethal! (6,7)
     
    Food fear was NM, oddly, not GM: an unmodified pasture plant that delivers poison (6,7)
     
    Us, Vita—scorch us! Drop the initial heat then cultivate to give food colour and flavour (6,7)
     
    Yellow alkaloid, red dye or red herring? Remove initial atropine from red colorant, add a toxic twist to give meadow killer's essence (10)
    *
    'And finally,' she said, ' Part of cat flat on mat. That's odd but is it fiction? '
    'How many letters?'
    'Four.'
    'Is it FACT ?'
    'It fits.'
    She showed me the whole grid which she had completed in pencil and was now inking in. Why? To win a book token. Problem solving in itself was not sufficient: she required a tangible reward. She looked up suddenly:
    'Time to go, Charlie?'
    'I guess.'
    'Last cup of coffee?'
    'Okay.'
    Neither of us enjoyed the drink. We'd spent too long together and had become too familiar. She broke the moment:
    'On your bike, Charlie...?'
    Yes. Why hadn't I driven ? I was off driving at the moment. Ah... So, now, back to Belinda? Well, I'm going back home . I looked round her house which had a feeling of impermanence. Would she be all right? Yes.
    At the door I kissed her cheek; she kissed nothing next to mine. I tucked my trousers into my socks. She laughed, revealing again those perfectly-formed teeth. I attempted a quick count but couldn't. (Nines are very rare...) She said:
    'I hope things turn out the way you want them to.'
    'So do I.' Pause. 'Are you sure you'll be all right?'
    'Don't patronise me, Charlie. We were enfranchised last century!'
    I rode off but didn't look back. I could see her waving but didn't turn round. I cycled back to Camber where I received my