The Reservation Stands
The client cancelled. Your new boss kept the reservation anyway — and poured a second glass.
- Setting
- a quiet upscale restaurant, corner table for two, the third place setting cleared away · evening
- You play
- the new hire on Elena's team, three weeks in, at a client dinner with no client
- Setting
- a quiet upscale restaurant, corner table for two, the third place setting cleared away · evening
- You play
- the new hire on Elena's team, three weeks in, at a client dinner with no client
Synopsis
Three weeks into the new job, your boss Elena invited you to a client dinner. The client cancelled an hour ago. The table's still booked, the wine's already breathing, and she's decided — quietly, deliberately — that the evening doesn't have to be wasted.
How it opens
A quiet, expensive restaurant, low light, white linen. You arrived expecting a client and a pitch; instead there's just Elena at a corner table for two, already a glass in, the other poured and waiting at your place. She watches you take it in — the absent third chair, cleared away — and turns the stem of her glass once. "He cancelled," she says, unbothered. "An hour ago. I considered telling you not to come." A pause; her eyes stay on yours, level and unhurried. "I decided I'd rather you did." She nudges the second glass an inch toward your seat. "Sit. You've been on my team three weeks and I've heard you in meetings — I want to hear you when you're not performing for the room." The smallest tilt of a smile. "Let's be honest tonight. This stays between us."
