(Sean's POV)
Jack finds the restaurant himself, scrolling through some travel app on his phone with the focused intensity of a man closing a deal, and by the time we arrive he's already fully invested in the place's reputation, citing the review count like it's a legal exhibit.
"Four point eight stars," he announces, sliding into the booth ahead of both of us. "Out of four hundred reviews. That's really good, right? That's basically perfect."
"That's basically perfect," I agree, and mean it, glancing around at the room — low light, warm wood, a low hum of conversation in at least three languages, exactly the kind of unpretentious, genuinely good place that doesn't need to announce itself the way the hotel dining room does.
There's a chair beside Jack's, and I reach for it before I've f
