Page 62 of Sigma

He flicks his wrist upward. “Fine. Go eat your fruit, then.”

She rustles her wings as he moves his wrist, more to simply hold her balance, gives him another derisive squawk and a whistle, and then drops off his arm and floats to where her fruit had fallen, landing to scoop it up and gnaw it.

“I’ve tried to teach her to talk, but I’ve been told scarlet macaws aren’t the best for that. She was a gift from a client, and she gives this room a better purpose. I come in here sometimes, but not nearly enough to justify it.”

“You didn’t build it?”

He waves a hand. “It was here, as were the orange trees. It was overgrown, so dense a jungle you couldn’t reach the door without a machete and a guide. I had it pruned back, cleared of the unwanted vegetation, and filled with the more pleasing varieties. The credit for this place goes to my head gardener, Micha.” He says the nameMee-chhha,with the consonant sound a guttural rasp at the back of his throat. “She is a miracle worker. This whole place was a jungle. The grass was waist-high, the hedges gone wild, weeds everywhere. It’s taken her years of labor, but she and her crew have worked wonders.”

“It is beautiful.”

“I enjoy beautiful things,” he says, his eyes landing on me. “There is much ugliness in this world. To be surrounded by beauty…it renews my spirit.”

“But you’re alone here,” I say.

“I am always alone.”

“Don’t you choose to be?”

He shrugs. “I know no other way.”

“You have no girlfriend? You’ve never been married?”

He turns away. “I have had…companions. For a time. And…for a limited purpose.”

“Purely for sex, you mean.”

“Just so.”

“That’s not companionship.”

“No,” he agrees. “I do not know what a companion is.” A few steps away from me, his low voice echoing off the glass. “They do not come here.”

“Why?”

“This place is mine. Only for me.”

“It’s an awful big place for just one guy all alone.”

“There are many others here.”

“But they’re not your friends. They’re employees. And Consuela told me you prefer silence.”

“That you got so many words from Consuela is both amusing and impressive. I hired her as my personal attendant primarily due to her taciturn nature. She speaks what must be said out of necessity and no more. Which I appreciate.”

“I asked her questions. It’s a surprisingly effective way to get people into conversation.”

He glances at me with a small grin. “You do ask very many questions.”

“And get very few answers.”

“More than anyone else might expect from me, however.” He gestures at the table. “Let us sit. Consuela should be here with our food shortly.”

His eyes flit over me as we sit, his gaze settling on my eyes with curiosity.

“What?” I ask. “If you have a question, ask it.”

“You are far more composed than I would have expected.”