There must be at least fifty thousand restaurants in Chicago. Toni and I ate dinner at the same sandwich shop.
I ordered a vegetarian sandwich this time. Toni never seemed to have any difficulty hearing Annabel. Maybe meat clogged my receptors.
I told her about the donkey hand. She didn't think it was my fault. She said there were lots of times when it's right to overtake your partner's king with your ace. "You might need to unblock, or it might be necessary that you be on-lead. You had no way of knowing."
Maybe, maybe not.
Toni told me about a play made by Annabel. She got a pen out of her purse and drew a bridge diagram on a napkin.
The contract had been 3NT.
The declarer led the 
9, and nobody else had any clubs left. Trapp discarded a diamond, and the dummy got rid of the 
7. Annabel still had to play.
"If you were Annabel, what would you discard?" Toni asked me.
I looked at the diagram. "Do you know if the declarer had any diamonds left?" I asked.
"He only had spades," said Toni.
I wasn't very good at reading bridge diagrams. I wished I could see the real cards. Still, it seemed pretty obvious that Annabel should discard the 
7. She needed to save the 5 in order to protect her K. Otherwise, on the next trick, the declarer could tell dummy to play the ace, and Annabel would have to play her king.
"So what happened?" I asked Toni.
"Well, on the next trick, the declarer tried the finesse," she said. "He played the queen of spades. Annabel won that trick with her king of spades, and then she won the last trick with her seven of diamonds, setting the contract."
(She had discarded the 
5!)
In bridge, as in life, Annabel did not consider it her duty to serve and protect the king.
Annabel made a risky defensive play and won two tricks instead of just one. She won the last trick with the 7.
"The seven of diamonds is the beer card," Toni told me. "If you win the final trick with the seven of diamonds and it sets the contract, your partner is supposed to buy you a beer."
"You're making that up!"
"Swear to God," she promised, crossing her heart.
"Wait a sec," I said. "Let me get this straight. Besides trying to win against the best players in the world, Annabel also managed her cards so she'd win the last trick with the seven of diamonds, just for kicks ?"
Toni smiled.
"Well, wherever she is," I said, "I hope she's enjoying her beer. Or I guess I should say, I hope the idea of beer is being enjoyed by the idea of Annabel."
Toni looked confused, but not half as confused as I was.
I raised my cup in the air. I was drinking a mango smoothie. "To Annabel!" I said.
Toni raised her bubble tea. "To Annabel!" she repeated.
We clinked our cups together.
Paper cups don't actually clink, but it was the idea that counted.