Chapter 1

Andrew didn’t go swimming that Sunday morning. Often, he would be returning just as Jim and Freya were heading off to church and he wanted to talk to Freya regarding dealing with questions about his summer job and security clearance. Jim was in the kitchen making the Sunday breakfast and Andrew took the opportunity to talk to Freya. He explained the questions from Sergeant Marrak and how he was unsure how to respond.

“Having a Secret clearance is not a secret, you can tell people. I am guessing that you have told no one, or very few people.”

“I signed authorisations for Mhairi and Creighton to answer questions once I submitted the original application. Since then it has just been Mhairi Connelly, and as part of the discussion about applying for an explosives licence when I would assume it would come up.”

She nodded.

“It doesn’t surprise me that you have told practically no one. After the first week at your summer job it probably was not an issue either, was it?”

“No, it was not mentioned. The fact I had ID was all that was important. I suppose the clearance was implied but nobody asked about it.”

“Exactly. It is the context, the circumstances that are the main issue. So this Sergeant asked why he had to send your uniform down to London. Did he mention Earl’s Court?”

“No.”

“Why did they send the uniform? What did you need it for?”

“I had to attend a training course and they did not want me to attend as a member of the Police, even a temporary civilian one. So they sent me as an UOTC cadet who was being trained to assist the Permanent Staff.”

It was always disconcerting to see sort-of-Auntie Freya change to senior civil servant Mrs. Moray. And yes, she had kept her former married name rather than be Lady Barnes, at least professionally.

“They sent you undercover?”

A polar bear would have thought the room cold.

“Yes. It worked. I was abused for half an hour the first morning and then ignored for the rest of the two weeks.”

She did not look convinced.

“Putting that aside for the moment I can see why you chose to keep quiet with your Sergeant. Answering that question and the 20 follow up questions would have undone everything. You did the right thing. Regardless of how fertile his imagination is, he will not have come up with anything as outlandish as the truth. So forget about him. It should be the same with officers. If any of them do something stupid or order you to tell them say that you were instructed by Brigadier Larkin not to discuss it. The officer would need to contact the Brigadier for more information.”

“And if he does?”

“Brigadier Larkin is one of the military liaison officers attached to the Defence Staff, the Armed Services component assigned to Ministry headquarters. I will send him a note requesting that all enquiries about you are stopped and I am informed.”

“That seems a little extreme.”

“Maybe, but it will refer to all summer students who are members of the TA or a UOTC. He will understand that it is to stop abuse, intentional or not, of people who work here temporarily. Anyone stupid enough to take the next step will wish they had not.”

Freya Moray could be bloody scary when she put half a mind to it.

“Thank you.”

And just like that Auntie Freya returned and they had a lovely Sunday breakfast. Once she and Jim left for church Andrew made four calls. He was lucky that Rupashi answered the phone. After quick hellos he carried on.

“I have something for you, do you have a few minutes today, before 1.45?”

“Can you not just give it to Navya?”

“Definitely not. This is for you. If I meet you at Kingsbury will people talk?”

Silence for a second.

“Yes. Okay, I will get the tube down one stop to Wembley and will meet you there at 1.30. Okay? This better be worth it.”

Time would tell. He followed this up with a quick call with his Grandma, not more than five minutes, but just keeping in touch. He managed to catch her before she set off for church herself. Duty done it was business the rest of the way. Mhairi first.

It was the small things like being able to phone her on a Sunday morning that made Mhairi more a friend than just his lawyer. Come the new year Andrew would need to be careful not to abuse this and torment one of her associates instead but they were able to chat that morning without an issue. There were four things, three from her and one from him. The agent contract was close to being ready. Marilyn Gauthier had listened to what Andrew had explained and it had been 90%+ good to go when it was received. They were dealing with the final couple of issues but it should be ready shortly, no more than a couple of weeks. The patent investigation had started, within her office at present, but they would be contacting specialists in London soon. The one thing she advised him on that morning was the Government had the right to deny a patent on national security grounds, and that he should consider that given what he was proposing to work on. It made sense but also gave him lots to think about. The explosives licence was ready to submit and Mhairi wanted to know who was going to provide references. Andrew told her he would ask Jim later and write to Superintendent Lester at the MoD Police as well. He figured a senior policeman and a Law Lord should quell any concerns. Finally it was his turn.

“I think I want to find an office for the engineering company. Somewhere in central London, small, it can be above a store. Can you start looking for me please? It would be preferable if it was tenanted for at least a year, 18 months ideally. In fact I could cope with it being rented out until the end of September 1987. 1,500 square feet, no more than 2,000. I am going to be down in London every month so am available to look at it on a Saturday.”

“Okay, I can do that. It is more instructing an estate agent than anything else. Do you want them to send the particulars to you at the College or get us to review them?”

“I know it is the expensive way but you do it please. Can you instruct them to start east of Regent Street? I swim over at Marshall Street pool, which runs parallel to Carnaby Street. I have seen ‘For Sale’ and ‘Lease’ signs when I am walking to the pool. Now I know that somewhere like Carnaby Street will be pricy but it is Soho south and east of there and I may get a bargain if it is at the edge of Soho. I am not going to open an office above a strip club but most of that stuff is at the south end. I go and see bands at the Marquee Club and it is only three blocks east of the pool. Anyway, I want somewhere central and it is an area I know.”

“Okay, we can do that. We will use the people that we leased your flat through. They were involved in the purchase all those years ago so they know me and we have done business before. It always makes a difference. I will tell them to start in the north Soho area east of Regent Street but will listen to anything else. How far out are you prepared to go?”

“You know where the house is. There is no point in looking round there or south and west. Chelsea, around Imperial, I don’t think we would find anything that would make sense price wise. They area around Marshall Street is easy walking distance from the house, but Green Park is only a couple of blocks away and if there was a direct Tube then I would consider further. Kings Cross west to Regent’s Park is probably the upper limit.”

“Okay I understand. I will keep you informed and once we have three for a short list I will send them down to Cambridge.”

“Great. Thank you for doing this on a Sunday.”

“It really is not a problem Andrew. You do it very rarely; I know that it is all but impossible for you during the week; and the truth is you have provided me with some of my most interesting professional experiences. I will never forget the model release form phone call. At Christmas you will meet the associate who will be your day to day contact. The woman that was in the office with us two weeks ago, Grace.”

Andrew didn’t see himself calling Grace on a random Sunday talking about the fine details of his modelling contract. Once he had said his goodbyes to Mhairi it was Paris next. Bugging another person at home on the weekend. With Manon Andrew had four things he wanted to talk about; Marilyn, getting copies of the latest finished products, ask about moving the Easter shoot, and then feedback on how he was doing, be it her own or others at Hermès.

“It is good to hear that you are close to signing with Marilyn Gauthier. It makes the relationship more normal. She is very well respected, although she has upset a few people in the industry by going off on her own. Still it should help you, help everyone. They are just finalising the last of the commercials and when they are done I will send you a copy of everything.”

Andrew explained his concern about his exams and wondered whether he could do two weeks of shoots at Christmas.

“I will talk to Beatrice about this. I don’t think there will be an issue but I will check with her. Two weeks solid or either side of the holiday?”

“I was very tired at the end of the week in Paris. I think two separate weeks either side of Christmas would be better.”

“Okay. That should not be a problem. If we are unable to do two shoots what will you do?”

“If it is at Easter then I will follow the contract, but it would be only eight hours a day, no overtime, because I would study in the evening. I don’t even think I could delay until summer as I only have three weeks off, if I am working again.”

Working again? Something else he would have to think about.

“But you will do a full week the same as last month if it is in January?”

“You should talk to Veronique Manon. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were with just two models, both of whom I had worked with before. You and Beatrice should look at those shoots compared to the two on the last day with Celia. Is the quality the same, the look, the chemistry? What you want from me is very reliant on chemistry with the other model, and the model being ready for what the shoot demands. I do not know if I am good enough to fake that with someone like Yvette or Giselle. So the risk of 10 shoots in five days is struggling with the chemistry. So I am prepared to do it, but Mathilde and Renee saved that week by doing extra shoots.”

There was silence.

“Sorry, I was running through all the different shoots you have done and thinking about that. I see what you are saying. Yvette and Giselle were different than some of your other issues. The first shoot with Chiara was tough and only got better later in the day. The very first day with the photos it was not until you relaxed with Heloise that we got anything useable.”

There was a tightness in Andrew’s stomach as he heard his limitations recounted. It was all true but it still had a physiological impact on him. He was almost afraid to ask his last question.

“How is the campaign going? With none of them being shown here in Britain I have no sense as to whether it is working or not. Although I did get one autograph request when I was out with Heloise.”

“I am surprised it was only one. Look, some brands have been very blatant with their commercials for many years. When we came out six months ago it had real surprise, in fact shock, value. That Heloise was the star of the first three was a really big deal. That the two of you had such chemistry sealed it. Flinging her over your shoulder and carrying her to the bed while she is smacking your derriere, it was the small things that made the difference. And sales of cologne and perfume increased compared to both earlier in the year and the same period the previous year. So it worked. Never forget that is key. The Joelle commercials were different but reinforced the message, plus made that dress a big seller. And you know how impactful the shoot with Chiara was. In many ways it was exactly the same as the other two, just a different woman, but Veronique edited it fantastically and then Chiara overdubbed the finished product. And of course the lift was just, just. It is still talked of.

“Sure the commercials were a big change for Hermès but they stayed just this side of tasteful. Sales increased and comment in the industry, in the fashion press, in the general press, it all increased. Heloise and Chiara will have told you that they made appearances on radio and television and lots of press coverage.

“The two days of shooting at Easter were rushed but we got something out of them. The shoots with Renee showed the two of you having fun. The push-ups at the end are unique. It is those little things that are the hook. They edited in some shots of you with the cologne from Christmas, where you don’t see the female model and then the next shot is Renee spider crawling under you to kiss you.

“90% of the shot is completely similar to so many others but it is those little five second, three second, snippets that make the difference. As for you in Cyprus, it is the most blatantly sexy thing I have ever seen. It is not likely to be shown until next Spring as it is selling our Summer lines. When it is shown it will make a splash. The first day in December will be with Chiara, so that we can get something else shot with her for broadcast before the Cyprus shoot is aired.

“As for the shoots last month it is very interesting to see how you react. With models like Heloise and Renee where you have chemistry you can see how you are more confident, more yourself. And there was a noticeably different way that you looked at them, behaved around them, which helped as well, not that they could not be more different. This seems like a long catalogue of all your shoots but the truth is most of them are very good and we can use them. But you have an instinct that has nothing to do with anything else. There is a creative side to you. The claw clip is a perfect example. We are going to increase the size of the range of them, bring in a lower starting price point but also look at doing a silver version, either solid or plate, we don’t know yet. And that is the bit that cemented everything Andrew. You find a fabric sample in my office and we get a campaign out of it. When you were shooting that very campaign you thought about using another Hermes product as part of the shoot. Could another model do what you are doing? Maybe but you bring all the other things. Plus you are exclusive to us which is a huge deal. No confusion thinking this is an Armani commercial, or whoever.”