He didn’t answer her. He walked to the front door, turned the sign from OPEN to CLOSED, and came back slowly while every fork in the room went still. The mother pulled her little boy close to her side. My hands were shaking so hard around the empty tray that I had to set it down.

“Who do I think I am?” he said quietly, reaching into his jacket. He pulled out a folded sheet of paper and laid it on her table. “Read the first line out loud, Denise.” She froze. Nobody had told him her name. She snatched up the page, and I watched every drop of color leave her face. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Then she looked straight at me, and I realized that whatever was written there, she had been hoping no one in this building would ever see it.