west london tales 9

In the Bayswater Coffee Republic a business meeting is taking place. A group of five men sit around a table, all of them wearing suits. An older Asian man tells a younger Asian man that he has already asked him two questions, which have only helped him to ascertain that whereas he, the older man, has ten million pounds to invest, he cannot see anything that the younger men has to bring to the table. The older man talks at length about sugar cane and Malaysia. The younger man is trying to get the older man, who says he's from Pakistan, to invest in palm oil, in Ghana. He enumerates the advantages of palm oil as an investment. This is the kind of conversation which helps to explain why, unlike some, I find it hard to write in cafes.

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