I nodded to the two men next table casually, offering a faint smile. They looked like they were about to say something when the waitress appeared at their table.

“Is there anything else I can get you, gentlemen?” she asked, her voice chipper.

“Just the check, please,” one of them replied.

“Of course,” the waitress replied and then she turned to me, still with her bright smile. “And how about you, sir? Anything else I can bring you?”

I cleared my ...