person who answered transferred me. The second explained that the dinner service was fully booked, then paused when I gave Elise’s name. There was a table being held for a late cancellation, she said; if we could arrive at seven, it was ours.
I thanked her with the excessive sincerity of a man whose alternatives had not yet become a plan.
When I returned, Elise was standing beside the wall, looking toward the river. She put her phone away as I approached. For the first time all day, I wondered
