No Going Back

The place is small, no larger than a living-room, and the tables so closely packed together that the thirty or forty clients must rise on their toes if they are to squeeze round the backs of the chairs. M.'s boss has sent him there to meet a client; he has been given a description. At a small round table upon which several empty cups stand, there sits a man who resembles the description, and sometimes their eyes meet across the room but neither of them signals. M. pretends to be searching in other corners. Is that the man? He tries facing a completely other direction and moving his eyes surreptitiously sideways through half-lowered lids over to the man to study him at leisure - but finds the creature staring slightly angrily at him. At length the man rises, manoeuvres his way unhurriedly across the room and addresses M., asking him whether he works for such-and-such and has been sent to meet so-and-so. M. colours and assures him that no, he is not the one the man is seeking; he's sorry to disappoint. The fellow frowns, opens his mouth, then confronted by M.'s smile and repeated "I'm sorry", turns and walks back to his chair. Thereafter M. tries to avoid his hurried gaze and growing impatience. What can he do? Go out, disguise himself, and come back in again as another, waving to the client excitedly in the character of someone quite alien to his normal self; perhaps he could change coat; he lived at least forty minutes fast walk away; if he ran as fast as he could he might return within, say, half an hour? No. Not practicable. Yes, he has it! He'll return to the boss - just the right amount of time has elapsed now - and he'll explain that he waited as long as he thought he could, but no-one turned up; and that he should not blame the client, it's possible the man was there (the place after all was crowded to the ceiling) but he could not identify him. M. reconsiders. No; better to say that no-one turned up, then to check the location of the place with the boss; feign going to the wrong location, regret a silly mistake; he can concoct some story about approaching the street from the opposite direction. He'll offer to rush right there and then to the correct place, and of course be stopped. The boss will think him a fool of course. That must be borne. He will have time later to perhaps reverse the opinion - the important thing is to get out of the immediate hole. Thus decided, M. rises, pays the bill and departs. And then of course he could just leave this town; leave work altogether.