The scene opens in a bar in Soho, London. A young man named Mr. Dixon, who has just been promoted to the position of director, is sitting at the bar with a friend. He asks the friend if he would like to have a drink with him. The friend says that he would rather have a glass of wine than to stare at him in the mirror. The young man asks if the friend would like a hot drink, and the friend says he would prefer a cold drink. The two of them decide to go out for a drink, but the young man is nervous about drinking with the new director. He tells the friend that he has been drinking too much, and that he is going to have to go to the bathroom.