Romance Loneliest Man Who Ever Lived

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Harry's Mom​

They talked all the way to Queens. It was so nice being back with Goldie again. Harry's heart ached just being near her. He had to keep reminding himself it was only temporary.

"Harry, in the brief time I was in your charming apartment, I couldn't help but notice a rather large picture on the wall that bore a remarkable resemblance to me," said Goldie. "Were my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"No, Goldie," said Harry, reddening.

"That was from our first evening together, in The Cove, was it not?"

"Yes, Goldie," said Harry.

"The time you thought you were clever, secretly taking my photo to use to identify me. Only I caught you at it, and had you take a much nicer one. A nicer one which now hangs on the wall of your home."

"Yes," said Harry.

"I must have... made a small impression on you, Harry," said Goldie.

"Just a tiny one," Harry whispered hollowly.

Harry had called his mother and told her to expect him. But he had made no mention of Goldie, in part because he hadn't been quite sure what to say about her. He and Goldie had a purely platonic connection, at the moment. But in the recent past, they had been much more than that. And Harry's heart ached for more, no matter what his mind told him.

Sylvia Crater smiled and hugged Harry as soon as she opened the door. "Harry!" she cried. And then she looked past him. "You brought a girl, Harry," she said, in an awed voice.

"Mom, this is Goldie MacPherson. She's a... coworker at The Foundation, a company I briefly worked for in Boston."

Sylvia looked over Goldie and immediately liked what she saw. "Goldie! So nice to meet you! We'll have an extra place at dinner for you."

"Mom, we don't have time for dinner," said Harry.

"You come all the way to your Mother's house and won't stay for dinner? Your sister Rachel is coming. Don't you want to see her?"

"Not really," said Harry. "I just came for my computer."

"Your computer?"

"The backup computer I left here. My computer got damaged. I just have to activate the backup, download some data to it, and make sure I can connect to it remotely."

"Whatever, Harry. It's nice to know you came all this way here to see a bunch of wires and circuits rather than your dear old mother. Goldie, why don't you have tea with me in the kitchen while Harry plays with his wires!"

"You're in love with him," said Sylvia Crater.

"Mrs. Crater."

"Please. Sylvia," said Sylvia, putting a hand on Goldie's.

"Sylvia-"

"It's written all over you. You love him," said Sylvia.

Goldie sighed. "Yes, I do. But Harry doesn't believe it."

"Harry is a genius. A super genius, we were told. Well, I never believed it," said Sylvia. "At least, when it came to girls, Harry was always as dumb as they come."

Goldie laughed.

"He wants you too."

"You have spoken to Harry... about me?"

"Not a word," said Sylvia. "But a mother knows her son. He's afraid, Goldie, desperately afraid. I shouldn't tell you this, but he's been hurt, in the past. He never quite understood girls, and girls never understood him. He's had very little experience with girls, and never had enough to gain the confidence he needed. So he's always afraid that girls will drop him." She looked at Goldie's face. "Oh, I've said too much. I'm so sorry!"

"Please, no," said Goldie, putting her hand over Sylvia's. "It actually helps."

"It does?"

"Yes. It explains a lot-"

Harry came into the kitchen. "Is everything all right in here?" He looked rapidly from Goldie to his mother.

"Fine, dear," said Sylvia. "Is that the doorbell I hear? Harry, why don't you go and greet your dear sister Rachel."

Harry gave his mother a wary look, but retreated the way he had came.

Sylvia patted Goldie. "You want some advice, my dear? Just give him some time. He'll come to it on his own."

"Thank you, Mrs.... Sylvia," said Goldie.

"-and Harry was always winning these science prizes. He got three Ph.D.'s in the space of what, three or four years?"

"Technically, Mom, I never got a single Ph.D.," said Harry. "I completed all the requirements, but they said I completed my studies too quickly."

Sylvia banged her hand on the table. "That was always your problem, Harry, and in all your jobs. You did everything too quickly! That's why things never worked out for you at those companies. But you were brilliant, brilliant!" She turned to Goldie. "Did you know all the top quality theoretical papers my boy put out?"

"Yes, actually," said Goldie. "At the age of 26, Harry wrote a paper on the Origins of the Universe theory. At the age of 28, he wrote another paper which revolutionized the understanding of how neurotransmitters interacted in the brain. That same year, he also wrote-"

"My Harry told you all that?" Sylvia asked.

"We've talked extensively about his background," said Goldie. She didn't think it would be useful to reveal that it had all been in the background dossier she had been given on Harry once he had been assigned to her. "He's a very brilliant man, Sylvia. By far the most brilliant and interesting man I have ever... I have ever met."

Harry looked at her, and saw the love in her eyes, and he bit his lip and looked down, feeling choked up with emotion.

Harry's sister Rachel narrowed her eyes and pointed her cutting knife at each of them in turn. "Are you two together?"

"Rachel!" said Sylvia.

"No, I'm just trying to figure this all out," said Rachel. "Harry suddenly comes home on short notice, and we all know that Harry never comes home, and not only does Harry come home, but he brings a girl with him. I'm just trying to understand what I'm seeing. Harry, are you two together?" She put a forkful of peas in her mouth and chewed, awaiting a response.

Harry said, "We... ah...."

"It's complicated," said Goldie.

"So you are together," said Rachel. "I think that's sweet. You've had such a long dry run, haven't you, Harry? It's been like what, five years, seven years, since you've kissed a girl... or done anything more than that?"

"Rachel!" said Sylvia.

"I'm just telling it like it is, Mom," said Rachel. "I think it's great that Harry found someone who can tolerate his... eccentricities."

There was silence in the dining room for a moment. Then Goldie said, "You're the older sister, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Rachel.

"What are you, 37, 38 years old?"

"34, actually," said Rachel.

"Sorry," said Goldie, smiling sweetly. "Then... where is your man?"

"Rachel was married for several years," said Sylvia. "Tragically, it ended in divorce."

"Tragic indeed," said Goldie. "I guess he wasn't able to tolerate your little... eccentricities. And you're still single? Keep looking, dear, there's a man for you, somewhere."

Rachel gave Goldie a nasty look. Goldie resumed eating her peas, with relish.

"Thank you," said Harry, kissing Goldie on the lips.

Goldie enjoyed every moment of it. But when he pulled back, she said, "Hey, platonic partner, what was that for?"

"For everything," said Harry.

"Did we get done what we came here to do?" Goldie asked.

"And then some," said Harry. He spoke into his comm. "Carl?"

"Yes, Harry. How have you been?"

"It's complicated. To begin with, you aren't really Carl."

"I'm not?"

"No, you're the backup program. I've downloaded files into your database directory for you to assimilate."

"Processing."

Goldie looked at Harry. "Where to now?"

"We'll decide once Carl sorts through the leads I've given him," said Harry.

"That's going to leave us with some distressingly unstructured time on our hands, Harry," said Goldie. She smiled at him, making him feel uncomfortable. "Do you know any good, wholesome, platonic ways to pass the time?"

For once, Harry didn't know what to say.​