My colleague took the next table.

By the time I reached the staff room, I had composed an excellent reply. It was calm, concise and about six minutes too late. In the dining room I had managed, "Let me get the manager", which was the right thing to do and much less satisfying to remember.

The customer had been angry about a delay. I had explained what I knew, then reached the point where repeating the explanation was no longer helping either of us. The manager took over. I came through the door carrying a tray that no longer needed to go anywhere.

Ana looked at the tray, then at me. "Put that down before you tell me."

I set it on the counter. She asked whether the situation was covered and whether I needed her to take my next table. It was, and I did. She told the supervisor, then came back when someone else had the floor.

I wanted a witness, not a rehearsal partner.

I gave her the short version. It grew into the medium version. When I began quoting the same sentence for the third time, she asked what I needed before going back.

I had not considered that there might be an answer other than explaining the conversation more accurately. I wanted some water and a few minutes without anyone asking me for something. Ana said she would check the table numbers with the supervisor.

I sat in the chair beside the staff fridge. Somebody had put a birthday card on top of it for a person whose birthday had been in August. I read the signatures. There was a surprisingly energetic drawing of a cake.

There was a useful record to make.

Before returning, I followed our process for recording what had happened. I kept to the facts and checked what the manager needed from me. The account belonged there, where somebody could act on it. I did not need to improve it into a story for every person on the shift.

The next table wanted to know whether the soup came with bread. It did. I was grateful for a question with a complete answer.

Later I thanked Ana. She said I had taken a table for her the previous week when the card machine had stopped working and three people had begun offering technical advice. I remembered. One of them had suggested turning the restaurant off and on again.

At home my partner asked how work had been. I said there had been a difficult customer, then told him about Ana. The customer had occupied enough of the day. My colleague deserved some of the account.