I HAD HOPED to begin putting my salesmanship to work on Lou that night, but he stood behind the bar in unwonted silence, looking for all the world like a grumpy guy. My instincts told me that the direct approach wasn’t going to work; I was going to have to be subtle.
“The lounge looks really cozy by candlelight, doesn’t it?” I began.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Maybe we should just forget about electricity and forget about the boiler, and revert to candles and cozy fires in the fireplaces,” I said.
“Not very practical,” he said.
“Cozy, though.”
“Mm.”
“Say, Lou, pardon my asking, but is something bothering you?”
He looked at me, considering whether to answer or not. Finally, he leaned an elbow on the bar and said, “All my life I’ve tried to cheer people up — most of my life, anyway — for years — I’ve tried to cheer people up, but — ”
He stopped and stood there for a long while staring into the candlelit room.
“But?” I asked after a decent interval.
“Never mind,” he said, in a manner that convinced me that my first impression of him had been correct: he was a grumpy guy.
[to be continued]
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