Chapter 7: The Second Dinner

On Friday at six-thirty I sat in the same private dining room with the same nine coworkers watching me.

This time I had a seat at the table.

Thane had put my place card on his right, with my full name and my title on it.

Across from me, the finance chief of Marwick Foods unfolded her napkin and eyed me with polite curiosity.

Her two colleagues did the same.

My coworker from the coat rack kept his eyes on the bread basket.

Thane waited until the wine was poured.

Then he stood up and tapped his glass once with a knife.

"Before we talk business, I owe somebody something," he said. "Most of you were here on Tuesday."

Nobody moved.

"I asked Nadine Prewitt to put twenty thousand dollars on her card. She said she couldn't."

"I told her, in front of this whole room, that she was lying."

He looked at each of them, one at a time, until the last one dropped his eyes.

"I had a screen, and I had no proof. I did not ask her a single question, and I took her off the best account she ever won."

"I was wrong, and I said it loudly, so I am saying this loudly."

"Nadine, I'm sorry."

He sat down.

The silence went on long enough for me to hear the glasses on the next table.

I knew what I wanted to say.

I wanted to say it was fine, because that is the thing I had always said.

"Thank you," I said instead. "It doesn't fix it, but thank you."

He nodded once and said nothing else.

The coworker from the coat rack cleared his throat.

"Nadine," he said. "I said something stupid. I'm sorry for that too."