“Can I get you more hot water for your tea, Charlie?” the waitress asked, appearing out of nowhere. “Your food will be out in a bit. We got busier than we expected. There’s a line out the door.”
“That’d be great, Sally,” Charlie said, looking relieved. “In fact, why don’t you pour yourself a cup and take a load off right here with—”
“Just try it, old man,” I whispered to him. “See how far you get.”
She laughed. “Oh, I wish I could. But we’re down a girl today. Out sick, the poor thing, but that means I’ve got to pick up the slack. Next time, huh?”
Charlie started to protest, but she disappeared back into the crowd.
I shook my head slowly at him. “For shame, Charlie. You think you could have used her as a shield? I would have gone right through her. Just you and me here, Daddy. Let’s dance.”
He turned his face toward the stained tile ceiling, as if praying for patience. I almost told him his god wouldn’t hear him now, but I thought that was probably going a bit too far. “All right,” he finally said. “Go. But don’t think I’ll forget the impertinence. When you least expect it, I’ll have my revenge.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “That was completely believable. And weirdly sexy. I’m very conflicted at the moment.”
He snorted. “Boy, if you only knew.”
“It has come to my attention that you’ve been withholding information.”
He tapped his fingers on the table as if bored. He was good. “That right?”
“Yes. Important information.”
He looked barely affected. “Don’t think I quite know what you’re going on about.”
“I think you do,” I said ominously. “I think you know very well.”
He arched a bushy eyebrow at me. “Why don’t you tell me what it is I know you know that you think I’m supposed to know?”
I floundered. “Wait. Hold on. That—what? It’s not that you know what I think you know that you know. It’s that I know what you didn’t want me to know that I actually now know.”
“Is there a difference?”
“I don’t… know?”
He grinned at me, showing strong teeth. “Oh, child. You shouldn’t be playing a man’s game if you can’t keep up. You’re in over your head.”
I gasped. “How very dare you.”
&
nbsp; “It’s the truth, sweetheart.”
“Don’t you sweetheart me. I am playing this game because I am a man—sometimes—and know what’s up. In fact, I invented the game!”
He smiled smugly. “What were we talking about again?”
I wasn’t quite sure. “Well, you see, there was… huh. Give me a minute.”
He sipped his tea again. “Take all the time you need.”
I didn’t know where I’d been derailed. Was he right? Did I not know how to play the game? I wasn’t even sure what game we were playing. Wasn’t there something about mahjong? I didn’t even know what the fuck mahjong was. Good word, though. “Mahjong,” I said aloud. “Maaah-jong.”
He nodded. “Oh, you got me. That’s right. I was going to go see if they still had the—”
“Aha!” I cried. “I was just fucking with you! I knew exactly what I was going to ask. We need to talk about—”
“Here we go,” Sally said cheerfully. She poured more hot water for Charlie from a metal pot. “And I have two handsome gentlemen that just came in to be seated who said they know you. Would it be all right if they joined you so they don’t have to wait?”