I was at work. It was about 5 pm. It was going to be another long day (or rather, night). I planned to finish three more tasks before leaving the office.
The first task was to attend a meeting to discuss our new deal with a London-based asset management company acting for a sovereign wealth fund.
The second task was to read a document about the proposed corporate restructuring of one of our clients, a major Asian oil refining company.
The third was to review a set of legal documents that we were planning to sign with a stock exchange. The stock exchange was hoping to receive my comments by tonight.
It was all very serious work. But first I needed to pee. I went to the bathroom, pee'd at the urinal, and casually tugged at the zip to pull it back up.
Unexpectedly, the zip broke off.
Okay ... Not good. Retreated into a toilet cubicle and closed the door. Took off my pants completely and tried to fix the zip back. Not successful. Gave up after 5 minutes.
Put on my pants again and discreetly walked back to my desk. Looked down a few times to inspect myself. Unfortunately, this was one of those pants where the fly, if not zipped up, would open very wide. So wide that one could easily see my underwear. Which happened to be white today, very conspicuous against the dark colour of my trousers.
Under these circumstances, there didn't seem to be much of a choice. I couldn't be seen around the office like this.
Too bad for the sovereign wealth fund. And the corporate restructuring. And the stock exchange. I quickly left the office, clutching my bag somewhat awkwardly at the front of my body. Downstairs, I hopped into a taxi and went straight home.
An early day for Mr Wang, for once.
That wasn't so difficult, after all. All you really have to do is ... just ... walk .... out ....