The maître d’ gave him a smile of recognition, she was cute. Below, the morning rush hour was subsiding. What was it they said – ten thousand hours to become an expert? Then she remembered the implacable gaze of the cameras. She glanced at the clock – eleven and a half hours till home time. For the comfort of the customers. She cut around a harassed mother trying to corral her brood and a clump of gap year kids sitting on their backpacks. “Is there anything last minute that we need to know about?”
Tom didn’t look up, “You got the brief on their likely questions?”
“Yes, I read it in the car. She started moving her head up and down in a deliberate, quickening rhythm. LEDs on the ceiling and walls washed the cramped space in an even, clinical light. She picked up the little water glass and rinsed, then spat that out too. She gargled mouthwash until it stung and spat into the little dental bowl that was fixed below the camera.
