He laughed, replacing the shirt back on to its hanger. It was the most absurd thought he had had the whole day, so far. When the lawyer found out he worked from home, the legal practitioner had suggested that they meet at the coffee shop near his house – “I don’t stay too far from you, after all”. They would meet in fifteen minutes’ time. Lim had instinctively reached for a crisp shirt he kept at the back of his wardrobe – he rarely dressed up – while wondering where he kept his belt. This was to be a serious legal discussion. You have to be dressed appropriately when you sign at the bottom of the page. He had then stopped himself. The last time he visited the office, the assistant, Jenny, had smiled and told him it was perfectly fine to dispense with the pleasantries and formality while dealing with their firm. He’d smiled back and told her he’d prefer it that way, too. He considered that this modus operandi should probably also apply to the lawyer that he was meeting for the first time. Should he dress up? This was a meeting at a coffee shop, for heaven’s sake. He was the client! He could do whatever he liked. Lim walked to the doorway, picking up a comfortable pair of loafers as he let himself out of the house.
While walking to the coffeeshop, a pang of self-consciousness struck him once again, and Lim wondered if his black and white “I love Krabi” T-shirt was not too sloppy for the occasion. It was nevertheless certainly what he was used to: he was a reclusive software designer, and this occasion of filing a patent and selling on his idea was one of the few times that required him to step out of the house. He was thus far more used to dressing comfortably than dressing to impress. Lim felt a mix of reactions when he located the lawyer sitting at one of the coffee shop tables, decked out in shorts, slippers and a plain T-shirt, a briefcase placed on the chair beside him. On the one hand he felt like laughing at this flippant lack of ceremony, and on the other, he was glad that the lawyer was as informally attired, if not more dressed down, than he was. The indecision did not last very long. Lim decided this state of affairs comfortably suited him.
He pulled out a chair and sat down. He wanted a “milo-bing”.
