The Matching Game. Everyone Knew The Answer. Except Me novel · Chapter 4 of 24
Chapter 4: Walnut
I stayed at the hotel until nine that night because I did not want to go home to an apartment with half its closet empty.
The lobby was nearly dark when I crossed it with the ballroom keys.
A work light glowed at the far wall, and a man stood on a rolling scaffold with a scraper in his hand, taking a hundred years of varnish off the walnut paneling.
I knew the back of that jacket.
Elias had been on this job since August. I had walked past him a hundred times and said hello to his boots.
He heard my shoes on the marble and came down the scaffold two rungs at a time.
"Vicki."
"You're here late."
"The varnish comes off easier at night. The building cools down." He wiped his hands on a rag. "I wasn't sure if you'd talk to me."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because I sat at that table."
"You sat at that table and didn't clap," I said.
He looked at the floor. His jaw moved once.
"Ask me anything," he said. "I don't guess anymore. Not with you."
It was a strange thing to hear from the best player we had.
Elias had always been the best player we had. He could read Ben's order off a menu before Ben did.
"Did you write Cass?" I asked.
"I didn't show my napkin."
"That's not what I asked."
"It's the true answer," he said, and held my eyes.
I let it go.
He was the only one who had not laughed. As far as I was concerned that put him on my side of the table.
"I have to check the pantry for the ballroom glassware," I said. "Walk with me?"
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