The joke belongs to the whole table until her laugh turns at the last second.

Her head moves toward him, and suddenly the room has a problem. The laugh is loud enough for everyone, but the eyes are not. The man who made the joke may not even be the one getting paid for it. That is where it gets awkward.

She looks away too quickly afterward, like she spent something she meant to keep in her pocket. A fork stops midair. Somebody’s girlfriend checks a face. The laugh ends, but everyone knows where it landed.