"Twelve."

The man who stood at the Ref Desk said that. It was somewhere between a statement and a question.

"Twelve," I replied, maintaining eye contact. I really had no idea what he was talking about. Right before I opened my mouth to ask him he waived a bunch of pages in front of himself.

"Twelve."

Still not entirely on my game, it took a second before I realized that he was referring to his computer print outs and I could I please take his money. When our transaction was done, it amused me to think that he had only flung an integer at me a few times and said nothing else.