I crossed the street to avoid meeting him, but he saw me and came running
towards me. It was no use pretending that I had not seen him, so I waved to
him. I never enjoy meeting Nigel Dykes. He never has anything to do. No matter
how busy you are, he always insists on coming with you. I had to think of a
way of preventing him from following me around all morning.#
'Hello, Nigel,' I said. 'Fancy meeting you here!'#
'Hi, Elizabeth,' Nigel answered. 'I was just wondering how to spend the
morning - until I saw you. You're not busy doing anything, are you?'#
'No, not at all,' I answered.' I'm going to ...'#
'Would you mind my coming with you?' he asked, before I had finished speaking.#
'Not at all,' I lied, 'but I'm going to the dentist.'#
'Then I'll come with you,' he answered. 'There's always plenty to read in the
waiting room!'&