Ashley rushed through the entrance doors, shaking rainwater from her umbrella before scanning the crowded dining booths.
Ashley spotted Nadia at the rear booth and threaded past two waiters before her friend could turn the empty chair into a joke.
Raindrops tapped steadily against the steamed windows, muffling the distant sirens and evening traffic of the busy city avenue.
At a corner table by the back window, her longtime college friend Nadia was already finishing a bowl of dumpling soup.
"You are forty minutes late," she said without looking up, dipping a crispy scallion pancake into soy vinegar.
"I know, I know... I am so sorry," Ashley pleaded, sliding into the booth and setting her phone on the napkin dispenser.
"The post-campaign broadcast traffic was completely insane tonight."
"It is always insane," Nadia sighed, offering her a pair of wooden chopsticks.
"I do not care about the stream, Ashley... I care that we planned this dinner three weeks ago."
