Cindy looked at the screen again briefly, then back at him. “Of course,” she said, in the tone of someone setting something aside. “Mr. Fitch hasn’t come in yet. You’re welcome to take a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here when he arrives.” “Thank you,” Elias said. She was already looking past him at the next person in line.
He moved to the seating area and sat down, folder on his knee, hat on top of it. The lobby continued around him at its busy, indifferent pace. After a few minutes a man in a gray suit came through the front doors and Cindy was on her feet before he’d fully reached the desk, her whole manner shifting into something warmer and more immediate than anything she’d offered Elias.