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“Nothing.”
She released his shoulder and reached up, her fingers curling behind his neck. She gently tugged. He lowered his head until their faces were closer. He guessed she wanted to get a better look at him.
“Oh, sweetheart. Who put that sadness in your pretty blue eyes? I couldn’t see so well at that dark bar, but the lights are brighter here. Did some woman break your heart?”
“I’m fine.”
She kept peering at him. “You’re not. I know that look. I see it all the time in the mirror. It’s called misery.”
“I’m tired of always being alone,” he admitted. The admission had just burst out of him. She was a human being who was kind to him. It was a first.
She released his neck but kept hold of his hand. Anna turned, and he followed her back to their seats. He helped her onto her barstool before retaking his own. She leaned in closer and placed her palm on his arm.
“You need to change that. Trust me on this, Fig. I lived with a man for forty-two years who made me feel wretched. Do you know why? He didn’t know how to love. I’d become so afraid of rejection by the time he died that I didn’t take a chance to end up with another man who could give me what I craved. Everyone should know love and be the center of someone’s world.”
Her words made him feel bad for her.
“You deserve that,” she continued. “Don’t take this wrong, but you’ve got the kind of body a woman has fantasies about. Believe me. I am earning a seat in hell right now for noticing that, but it’s the truth. You’re handsome, and you’re a really good man. I know that because you’re being so generous to me.”
“Thank you for saying that. You’re too kind.”
“No. I’m just a crazy old lady you met in a bar, but you’ve been kinder to me than any man ever has. Go find someone who thinks the way I do. She’ll stick with you through thick and thin if you open your heart to her.”
“No woman is going to want to be with me.”
“Bullshit. I’m not blowing smoke up your ass. I am too old to waste my time being polite for no good reason.”
He laughed. “Is that another saying? Smoke up your ass?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “It means I’m not saying it just to be nice. I mean it. You’re a new regret, Fig. I wish I were young right now because I’d demand you take me wherever you call home, and I’d show you that you’re wrong.”
The female made him feel good with her kind words. She wasn’t done speaking yet, though, as she continued.
“You couldn’t shake me off with a stick. It means I’d just move in and show you all the wonderful things in life that you’re obviously missing.” She rubbed his arm. “You need to look for someone to share your life with. Just be yourself, and she’ll fall in love.”
He leaned in. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“You can tell me anything. I don’t have anyone else to share whatever you say with.”
He hesitated and lowered his voice. “I’m a clone.”
She blinked, but he could see that she’d heard him. Her body had tensed.
He backed away. “That’s why I’m destined to be alone. I can’t give a woman children, and she’ll never see me as a man. She’d think I’m a thing instead of a person with emotions. I should go. If anyone realizes what I am, they’ll arrest and sentence me to death. Thank you for talking to me.”
She clutched at his shirt and almost fell out of her seat to keep a hold of him. He worried that she’d scream out a warning of what he was to the other humans in the room. He couldn’t let her fall, though. He gripped Anna’s hips and placed her more firmly on the stool.
“Don’t go. You’re a person, Fig. You’re a good man. That’s all that matters.”
He stared into her eyes, seeing no deception there.
“You’re not a thing. Don’t let anyone ever say that to you. Don’t even think that way. It’s bullshit. Promise me that you’ll look for a woman to share your life with. She’s out there. You just need to find her. Let her get to know you, and she won’t care about something that silly.”
“Silly?” He was astounded that she’d use that description.
She nodded. “I know a lot of assholes who were birthed the old-fashioned way. You’re a thousand times more human than they are. My husband hated kids, and I still signed up for that. He wasn’t a tenth of the man you are. You just danced with an old lady to get me to smile. That makes you pretty special.”
“Thank you for saying that, Anna.”
