"No," Anthony shook his head. "all alone here, for better or for worse." Probably for the better.

"Oh... sorry..." He quickly drank again.

"No, it's fine," Anthony said. "I like it this way."

"Oh... good." Was it? Probably not.

"I like to think that it is," he laughed again, and put a hand on Tobias' shoulder.

Why was he doing that? Tobias turned red again. "Uh... yeah..."

He was just trying to be friendly. "What about you? You got any family, other than the wife?"

"A sister...." he said, very conscious of that hand on his shoulder. "She lives closeby... She has two boys and a girl... How about you?"

"Oh, that's lovely," Anthony said, and flashed a brief smile again. "you just asked that. Answer's still no, I'm afraid."

"What? No family at all? No siblings even?" That surprised him. He felt a bit of pity. But not too much. He was still aware of that hand on his shoulder and how the man was sitting very close.