“Maybe getting fired was the first truly good thing to happen to you today.”

I looked up.

“Say that again.”

“You heard me.” She picked the menus back up.

“Two years I’ve watched you eat here every Thursday looking like a man doing homework for a boss who never says thank you.”

My phone buzzed face up on the counter, and the name on the screen was Nina.

Two words, all lowercase: don’t sign.

I carried the coffee back to the booth, and three more messages arrived while I walked.