One chair at the game table

There were five people at Noor’s board-game night, and the game she had just unpacked needed six.

Her neighbour Sam sometimes joined, but he had not committed to that evening. Noor had invited him to a small PingRoom room for spare seats. He liked being asked when there was a place to fill.

Noor counted the chairs again, left the red one empty, and tapped the room’s “One seat open” Quick Ping.

Sam read it while putting away his dinner plate. He had time for a game. He took the packet of biscuits he had been saving and walked across the landing.

Noor answered the door with the rulebook tucked under her arm. Sam put the biscuits in the middle of the table and sat in the red chair. The first question was whether anyone had played before.