We waited in the lobby and Terry arrived precisely on time with one of his business partners. We watched from behind the newspapers as they made their way to the bar, then we followed and volatile through the door pretending to talk on our mobile phones. When we saw Terry ordering drinks we "hook" and addressed our target at the bar, hands outstretched to introduce ourselves. The plan worked perfectly - Terry presented his partner Nigel and then immediately asked us what we wanted to drink. We looked surprised and said, "Oh, that's very nice," before asking for a pint of beer each
Immediately, says Nigel Terry and unfortunately we have another meeting to go to. in 30 minutes, so we would have to keep it short and Terry suggested we move to a table near by where we could talk in private. as we sat down, he started to make conversation and our plan immediately started go off the rails. Terry Venables is really nice, down to earth, friendly man and hence engage the conversation for a while we forgot where we were and why, and more importantly, we soon forgot our circumstances . in no time, we were talking about life, the universe and everything, engulfing Ritz beer we could afford it. After only 10 minutes, I noticed that all four of us had about an inch beer left and I am struck by panic - we still had not said anything about the matter and that they would expect to buy the next round. I shot a look that Dave did come ashore and he looked worried about the four pint glasses on the table. The conversation in the faded background that my heart started beating loudly in my head. That would be very embarrassing. ?. Then a fluke - Nigel suddenly stood up and said, "The same guys" We were off the hook
When Nigel came back from the bar, I quickly pulled the conversation on track and we were able to convey our sales pitch. they took their time to ask questions and go over the details (as they should), so before we knew it, 20 minutes have passed. Terry and his partner carried on gobbling up their beer, but Dave and I barely touched ours. Before long, they were left with an inch of beer each in their glasses while ours were still almost full. There had not prevent the next round. I put our plan B into action. in mid-sentence I suddenly stopped and fumbled for my Motorola Brick (. it) for my towel, pretending that I had heard ringing . I apologized and walked away from the table, pretending to have a conversation and make apologetic noises while looking at my watch. I returned to the table. "Dave, we'll have to go. They're waiting in the board room." Dave looked at his watch. "Damn is that time?" We made our excuses, swallowed our beers and promised a follow-up meeting as soon as possible before leaving in a whirlwind for our "meeting".
We talked to Terry several times after that, but he did not buy Sheffield United. at least he bought us a drink.