Done more than crossed paths, Ishmael suspected – Tariq’s predecessors might be the distant past to him, but to Ishmael, they were myth in his memory, the first faces he had ever known.
And maybe it was that, or the uncanny similarity between them, or even the idea of his being a foreigner in a strange land, that had Ishmael feeling an odd kinship. Partly protective, partly intrigued by the possibilities of how to use this newcomer for his own gain, Ishmael surveyed him again and, belatedly, held out his hand to shake his. “Well, pleased to meet you, Tariq. You’ll have to find me again, if you’re staying.” (As if Tariq had found him the first time, and not the other way around.) “I’m in London most of the time.”
And maybe it was that, or the uncanny similarity between them, or even the idea of his being a foreigner in a strange land, that had Ishmael feeling an odd kinship. Partly protective, partly intrigued by the possibilities of how to use this newcomer for his own gain, Ishmael surveyed him again and, belatedly, held out his hand to shake his. “Well, pleased to meet you, Tariq. You’ll have to find me again, if you’re staying.” (As if Tariq had found him the first time, and not the other way around.) “I’m in London most of the time.”
