“Go home.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Naomi picked up her coat.
Allison said:
“One more thing.”
Naomi turned.
“Did you want that envelope?”
Naomi stared.
“No.”
Allison nodded.
“Good.”
“Because our lawyer says if it was a genuine wager and he signed an instrument, we may have a fascinating side issue.”
Naomi laughed despite herself.
“I do not want his money.”
“Probably wise.”
Naomi left through employee exit at 11:14 p.m.
By midnight, the first video appeared online.
Not Ana’s.
One of the diners.
The clip started after the tray shove.
Whitmore’s voice:
“Two-fifty says you can’t understand one word he says.”
Naomi speaking Japanese.
Whitmore:
“Speak English.”
Then Chairman Ishikawa standing.
“No need.”
“I understood every word.”
The video ended with:
“She was never being tested tonight.”
“You were.”
Twelve thousand views by 12:30.
Two hundred thousand by morning.
Two million before lunch.
Naomi woke to thirty-seven texts.
Her younger brother, Malcolm, called at 6:12.
“What did you do?”
She closed her eyes.
“Good morning to you too.”
“You are everywhere.”
“Please don’t say that.”
“Mom called me.”
That woke her fully.
“What?”
“She saw it on Facebook.”
Naomi sat up.
Their mother, Elaine Carter, was sixty-four and had been recovering from a second hip surgery.
She also had an extraordinary ability to discover internet events before Naomi wanted her to.
“I told her not to watch.”
“You think that works?”
“No.”
Malcolm laughed.
“You okay?”
Naomi touched forehead.
“I’m tired.”
“You’re famous.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Wait.”
His tone changed.
“I’m proud of you.”
She paused.
“For speaking Japanese?”
“For not letting that man turn you into entertainment.”
Naomi’s eyes burned unexpectedly.
“Thanks.”
Malcolm continued:
“Also your Japanese sounded terrifying.”
“You do not speak Japanese.”
“I know fear in any language.”
She laughed.
That helped.
At 8:00, Allison called.
“Do not speak to press.”
“I wasn’t planning.”
“Good.”
“Whitmore’s lawyers sent demand letter.”
“For?”
“Defamation.”
Naomi laughed.
Allison did not.
“He claims mistranslation materially damaged negotiations.”
“I translated exact words.”
“Can you prove?”
Naomi stopped.
The bar conversation.
No recording she knew.