“I had been inside for perhaps two minutes.”
He stopped.
“You never asked how long I intended to stay,” I continued. “You looked at me. Then you looked at Benny. You decided we were the wrong kind of customers.”
Christopher glanced toward Steven.
“Can we please not turn this into something bigger than it is?”
I pushed the sandwich slightly away.
“You invented a rule because you didn’t like who was standing in front of you. That already makes it bigger than a misunderstanding.”
Mary was carrying cups toward another table.
Without stopping, she said, “She’s right.”
Christopher’s eyes flashed.
“Mary.”
She turned.
“You tell customers to move along when they’ve been sitting too long. I’ve heard you do that. But I’ve never heard of a thirty-dollar pet rule until today.”
Before Christopher could answer, the bell above the entrance rang.
A woman entered.
