I was two hours into a meeting with M and J at a crowded Uptown coffee shop. A woman wandered from another table to ours. She started saying something in a low voice that I couldn’t quite hear. She was standing right behind M, who had been making a point in her polite but determined way, and M looked up blankly, “What?”
The woman moved in closer. “No,” said J to the woman. Not mean but firm, like he was talking to his sister. “Not here.” The woman moved away.
Suddenly the whole shop looked different to me. Should I hold onto my purse? Crap, am I going to be safe getting to my car? “Are they closing?” asked M apologetically.
“No, no,” said J, unflappable as always. “She was just trying to work it in here.”
“Oh,” said M. “I thought she was an employee.”
Ravenswood Manor, Old Town, and Uptown. You do the math.