The pilot - Der Pilot (eng-deu)

if her old man’s as unwell as she tells me, he won’t be keeping her company for long anyway.” Ryders schallendes Lachen ließ nicht nur seinen Leib, sondern den ganzen Sessel erbeben. Als Stefan nicht mitlachte, wurde er wieder ernst. “ → Cat got your tongue ? You’re not good company, are you? A drink we need, and quickly.”
    â€œI’ll get you a drink at once, Mr Ryder.”
    â€œI’ve already taken care of myself.” Ryder hielt ein Glas mit Whisky in die Höhe. “It’s you who needs one, Winston.”
    â€œSir, I’d rather not. And by the way, my name is not ...”
    â€œWhat good is your company if you won’t have a drink? Sit down or leave.”
    Verunsichert tat Stefan wie geheißen und setzte sich, obwohl es ihm ungehörig erschien, sich wie ein Lord in einen der Sessel sinken zu lassen. Ryder griff zur Bar, die neben seinem Sessel stand, und holte ein weiteres Glas und die Whiskyflasche hervor. Er goss Stefan großzügig ein und sie prosteten einander zu.
    Stefan nippte an seinem Whisky. “How did you and Lady Margaret meet, Mr Ryder?”, fragte er.
    â€œShe was singing in the London Pavilion. After the show I introduced myself to her and told her that she sang well.”
    â€œShe can sing amazingly well”, pflichtete Stefan ihm bei.
    â€œWell, with professional help she can learn to be amazing.” Ryder trank sein Glas leer und schenkte sich nach.
    â€œDo you teach singing?”
    Die Frage amüsierte Ryder. “I’m the last person Maggie should come to if she wanted to be a better singer. But why would she want to improve her singing? She → warbles well enough. If she asked me, I’d tell her to work on becoming famous.”
    â€œPardon me, but how will that improve Lady Margaret’s singing?”
    â€œWell, it won’t. But it will make her successful.” Ryder legte vertraulich seine schwere Hand auf Stefans Oberschenkel. Während er einen weiteren Schluck Whisky trank, rückte Stefan verstohlen ein Stück von ihm fort. “I’ve been in show business longer than you’ve been alive, young man, and I’ve learned one thing. You don’t have to be a good performer to be successful.”
    â€œHow can that be? Nobody pays to see a bad performer.”
    â€œYou don’t get into town very often, do you? Otherwise you might have noticed that most people don’t give a damn about whether someone’s a good performer or not. Readings make them yawn, art bores them, and operas make them fall asleep. And do you know why? Because they don’t get entertained there. That’s what people want – they want to be entertained. And nothing entertains the crowds more than fights and women. So since Maggie doesn’t have the → brawn to be a boxer, she has to → rely on the other thing. Once she’s changed her looks and made her songs more → appealing , she’ll entertain people for sure.”
    â€œMore ... more appealing?” Im Grunde wusste Stefan bereits, was Ryder vorschwebte.
    â€œDrinking songs instead of ballads. Sexy dresses instead of pants and jackets. You should be able to tell a woman from a man by the way she dresses. Her charms won’t do her any good if she hides them away.” Ryder hielt anzüglich beide Hände vor die Brust.
    â€œYou want to make her wear → immodest dresses?” Stefan glaubte sich verhört zu haben. “You can’t do that to her.”
    â€œWhat do you care? You should be worrying about your duties, not Lady Margaret’s.” Ryder setzte sein Glas mit einem Ruck auf dem Tisch ab. “Thanks for taking interest in my work, Winston, but I wouldn’t want to bore you with stuff you don’t understand anyway.”
    â€œSir, my name is not Winston. It’s Stephen.”
    â€œYou’re just a servant to me”, versetzte Ryder. Das saß. Stefan verzichtete auf eine Antwort.
    Die Luft im Salon war zum Schneiden dick, als Margaret zurückkam, doch sofort war Ryder wieder die Freundlichkeit in Person und lobte Stefan als kurzweiligen Gesprächspartner. “Any interruption less lovely than you would have been rather unfortunate”, fügte er hinzu.
    Margaret errötete. “You’re → buttering me up .”
    â€œYou deserve a little → flattering . Let me tell you that you look extremely pretty in that