Anthony considered Alex as the young man motioned with the ring and then seemed to try and brush off what he was feeling.  His emotions were quite chaotic.  Unwittingly, the man seemed to have latched onto Anthony in a bid to ease his own suffering.  It was very tempting to just use it as an opening.<br/><br/>As Anthony considered this, he turned to the waiter waiting for his order and ordered the smaller 10 oz Filet Mignon, cooked rare.  Normally, if alone, he would have ordered it blue.  Such an order always seemed to cause a fair amount of questions, however, so rare would suffice.<br/><br/>Anthony lifted the bottle of wine and glanced at it.  He smiled slightly as he poured some into Alex's glass.  By chance, the pair were drinking the same wine.  As Anthony had not specified which vintage, most likely it was the exact same, the house label.  He stopped when the liquid was halfway up Alex's glass and then returned the bottle to the table.<br/><br/>"Well, I am sorry to hear that your relationship is over, Alex.  Such is the way of things, unfortunately.  I am sure, though, that you will find someone new.  But, not too soon.  You might as well try to enjoy yourself some.”<br/><br/>Anthony speared a lone scallop on his fork and deposited it onto the plate in front of him.  He used the fork to cut it in half and then to eat it one half, followed by the other half.  They were bland to him, but Alex had highly recommended them.  Best to play along.<br/><br/>"That is good.  I will have to remember them.”<br/><br/>He forced the bites down his throat with a couple mouthfuls of wine.  At least the wine had some manner of taste.<br/><br/>"What line of work are you in, Alex?”<br/><br/>Anthony wanted to keep Alex talking, get Alex to open up more and more to him.  He would let the young man talk as much as he wanted, nodding when appropriate and shaking his head when warranted.  Anthony knew the man wanted to speak, perhaps to just fill the silence.  Anthony turned that desire to talk towards the purpose of having Alex talk about himself and provide Anthony with more and more information about his quarry.