I nod a thank you to him, which he graciously accepts. I put my money on the counter, I take my chips and sausage, and I quickly scuttle out of the shop. As I walk outside, the lads are shoving their rubbish into a bin and moving away. I walk off in the opposite direction. As I walk, I consider the drunk man's actions, and decide that although they were clumsy, I should have been more grateful. He thought he was doing a good thing. He was being a thoughtful citizen. Community-minded. He should be applauded. I should go back and tell him.

And then I hear wild shouts from some distance.

'Hey! Mate! Your friends went that way! Maaate!'

I decide I haven't heard him, and I quietly eat my sausage.

THE MEETING

The traffic's been a nightmare and the parking nonexistent, but I make it to the man's office just in time.

'Hello!' he says. 'Thanks for coming in!'

'Sorry I'm late!' I say.

'You're not late,' he says. 'You're bang on time!'

'Sorry for being nearly late,' I say, with a jolly face. 'Not that you'd have known if I hadn't told you! And in any case there's no point apologising for something you haven't done, is there?'

'Ha ha ha!' says the man.

'I mean, it's not like I should apologise for not scratching your car on the way in, is it?'

'Did someone scratch my car?'

'No ... I'm just saying that -'

'Do you want a coffee?'

'A coffee would be great!'

'Did you have to come far?'

'Nope, just from North -'

He presses the intercom.

'Sarah, can we get a coffee in here?'

'... London.'

'Yeah,' he says, nodding. 'So thanks for coming in!'

'No problem!' I say. 'It's a pleasure to be here.'

'I just thought it might be good to meet up.'

'Yes!' I say. 'Sounds good.'

'Throw some ideas around. See if anything comes of it. So how are you?'

'I'm well!' I say.

'Your coffee will be here soon. Did you have to come far?'

'No,' I say. 'Just from North London. But the traffic was bad.'

'Oh, God! Don't talk to me about traffic. It can be really bad sometimes. I remember once it was awful. Did you want sugar, by the way?'

His finger hovers over the intercom.

'No thanks,' I say.

'So listen, I just thought you and me should meet up. Seems we'd be a natural fit to work together on something. So we should just get together sometime, throw a few ideas about, see what happens.'

I blink a couple of times.

'What, like, have a meeting?'

'Yeah. Meet up, shoot the breeze, toss some ideas about.'

'A meeting ... what, in the future, sometime?'

'Yeah, man. Where are you based?'