Fashion Is Our Name

Fashion is Our Name - Part 10 - More Parts of the Puzzle

The next afternoon, following an idyllic night with Clarissa, Nicole and Vicky, the architect and I were at her work table when Jeremy Andrews arrived for the security design conference.

After introductions, he handed over a sheet of paper with bulleted items to be considered in the design. What was the likelihood of a bombing? Was theft a serious issue? Would there need to be an entry area for personal searches? Were intakes for ventilation located in secure locations?

We went down the list, developing a site security profile. Jeremy suggested, "Let's take a walk around and check some of these in place."

On a hunch, I said, "Jeremy, I'm taking a personal defense class from Miss Sing, who says the two of you are acquainted."

He was surprised, or put on a good show of being surprised. "That's interesting, Adrian. Sing and I have attended seminars together. We work on different sides of the same problem."

"I have asked her for suggestions on the design of the women's section of the ground floor, and the possible inclusion of an area where there might be classes for women in self-defense."

He looked at me. "That doesn't sound like it changes the security profile?"

"No, I don't think so, but wanted you to be aware of the possibility of that type of class and the students it might attract."

His noncommittal response made me question again whether we were reading too much into the relationships we had turned up.

It was decided that the entrance area, about twenty by thirty feet, would be lightly armored against explosion and incendiary devices, with a provision for creating an inspection area if there were ever a need. The elevator and other doors would have local and remote switches for locking down the area. Both open and disguised cameras would be employed. Working from Clarissa's drawings, Inland staff would provide engineering specifications for the materials and devices needed.

As we stood near where the elevator shaft concrete was being formed, Clarissa and Jeremy nodded at each other and said they were satisfied for now.

"When will we be able to go to bid on this work?" I asked.

"We should be ready to submit for Building Department approval in a week, and within a week after that have a bid package."

"Fine. I think the rest of the construction can work around that. Thank you for the help. I will give you a call tomorrow or the next day about the other matter."

Climbing the stairs, Clarissa's hand was on my neck. "Adrian, you handled that well. Can I tell you a secret?"

Instead of walking to her work area, I headed us to the apartment. "Yes, but not until we have a glass of wine in our hands."

I could tell a romantic conversation was coming up, but my thoughts were preoccupied by my lunch meeting with Tom.

Chapter 27 - Adrian Leans on Tom

Early that morning, I had been sipping a first cup of coffee when my mobile chimed. It was a familiar voice. I said, "Sharon, you are up at the crack. It is such a pleasure to hear your lovely voice."

"Adrian, I only wish more of Mr. Carruther's clients were as easy to talk to as you are."

"Sharon, I must tell you, in total confidence of course, that your superlative skills as a PA would be greatly prized by FION, if there were any way I could wrest you away from Cavendish."

"Oh dear, what a wonderful offer. I hope you will understand that there are special circumstances that make it impossible to consider your proposal."

"Sharon, you must do what your career demands. Please keep us in mind. Now, about today, I expect Tom has asked you to arrange a meeting. What about a repeat of the last private lunch? If that is agreeable, just text me a simple 'Yes.' "

"Adrian! I might be agreeing to all manner of bad ideas."

"Hardly, my dear English rose, just fabulous opportunities!"

"Oh you." Click.

Three frilly bodies sipped their own coffee and laughed at me. "Turned down, for once!"

"Plant the seed. You never know what might germinate."

All three squeezed me. "Any more talk about germinate, and we will throw away our pills!"

After a morning rain shower, the sun was out when I exited the Tube at St. Paul's. It was my turn to wait at the building corner. In a few minutes, Tom appeared and we strolled to the nearby park and its private bench.

Before I could say anything. Tom plunged ahead. "Adrian, I have misjudged and underestimated you. My team reports that you have uncovered some of our deceptions."

He glanced up and I tried a steely eyed face. "It appears so."

"I assure you, it is with the best of intentions. And with direction from the highest levels."

"My confidants and I have surmised as much. More is going on than a London solicitor would attempt, even an ex-SAS solicitor. I think you need to be more forthcoming, Tom. Neither of us should put the women's lives on the line without more background for them."

"Adrian, you must realize that where the security of the sovereign is concerned, corners are cut with individual safety."

"I am not surprised to hear that. Nevertheless, I will not be party to a scheme which hazards innocent lives without an understanding of the goal being sought."

There was a long silence while he stared at me, thinking.

"I told the Director General you were damnably smart. And tough, dedicated and loyal."

"Thank you. I'm flattered, of course. But flattery is beside the point. Where do we go from here?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that at the moment. I will convey our conversation to the right people and get back to you as soon as I can. Would you still like a bite of lunch, or are you too angry with me?"

I stood and began walking toward the Thames bridge. "Tom, we all have duties in this world. I am discovering that not all of them are pleasant. I admire your ability to serve your law partners and the Crown at the same time. Your courtesy to Nicole and me has been exceptional and we appreciate it. Please do what you must and we will find a way to move forward."

"Damnation, Adrian. With that eloquence, I could put you before the bar this very moment. You are right, we will find a way forward."

Our subsequent conversation and meal were very relaxed, even convivial. He bored in on two topics involving women.

"What on earth did you say to Sharon this morning? I have never seen her so flushed and fluttery. She wouldn't breathe a word of what was said between you."

"She works for the security service doesn't she? Your conduit to MI5?"

He clapped his hand to his forehead and looked around. "My god, she didn't say that did she?"

"No, she is more loyal and discreet than you deserve, I think."

"Then how did you find out?

"I did my best to recruit her away, and she said in the sweetest voice that there were special circumstances that made it impossible for her to consider my proposal."

"And you put two and two together, you rogue. Clients are not supposed to steal my staff."

"Tom, you told me previously to work hard on recruiting good people..."

"Oof! I am going to have to find some 'No Trespassing' signs."

We were almost finished when he brought up the other question.

"Very privately, Adrian, I need to know what magic you worked on Sing. She won't tell me a thing except to say you are an exceptional student, and that your women friends are equally exceptional. Did she actually agree to help with the building?"

I stared at him, trying to maintain a straight face. "Tom, as a result of your thorough background briefing, she learned about my multiple lovers and couldn't figure out how that could be. So she asked to meet them. A breach of your protocols, I am sure. I checked with Nicole, Anne and Vicky, and they agreed.

"We met at the building and showed her around. For the ladies, there was a demonstration of self-defense techniques, using me as the would be assailant. For half an hour, I spent most of the time on the mats on my rear. After that, she decided ordering in and relaxing on our informal pump up beds was a fine idea. With wine, things progressed from there."

"It's not fair to ask, but did she...?"

"No it's not fair, but she left a very happy woman promising to come back."

"Adrian, you have accomplished what half the men in London haven't."

"And, being an ethical solicitor, you will not breathe a word of this to anyone, even her."

He took a deep breath and muttered, "Of course not."

I tried to pay the bill, but he smiled and said, "Not on your young life. I am going to have to be on my guard around you."

I took a walk in the sun back to the building, phoning Anne as I went. "Is there someplace private and comfortable we can talk?"

"You are afraid our affair will be exposed?"

"Actually, I have worries along that line."

"Hmm. Let me make a call and get back to you in a few minutes. How long do we need?"

"For the talk, or the affair?"

"Both, you devil."

"If Nanny will cover the twins, what about midnight? And don't let on this has anything to do with me."

"Damn, you are trouble." And added, "Delicious trouble."

She was back on the line in ten minutes, "One of my classmates and her husband have a pied-a-terre that is available. It is near Regents Park."

"Meet me on the steps of St. Paul's in forty minutes. Dress as though you were a young woman doing the tourist spots."

There was a breathy 'yes' of anticipation, and a click.

Nicole and Vicky were closing up to make the Kingham train, on which I was supposed to accompany them. I made excuses, saying something important had come up, and I would explain when I arrived tomorrow.

She was twenty people ahead on the escalator coming out of the Tube. I came up behind and took her arm just as we approached a cab stand. "Madam, would you accompany me?"

"Oh, you startled me. I suppose I have no choice?"

"None." I folded her in and she gave an address to the driver.

She sat stiff and I squeezed her hand. "I do not have bad news."

She relaxed and kissed my cheek. "You had me scared to death."

"You look lovely. If this were a real affair, I would be overwhelmed."

She gave me a look and said as quietly as she could, "It really is, Adrian, isn't it?"

The kiss was quick and tender. And terribly romantic. My god.

Anne must not have been the only classmate asking for privileges, because there was a hidden key and we were inside without any observers that I noticed. Still, I spent several minutes at the third floor front window watching for lurkers.

She had a wine bottle and two glasses and raised eyebrows. "The bedroom?"

I followed. Her tailored slacks advertised the amazing body. I wished we didn't have serious things to discuss.

I poured while she got comfortably rid of the pants and relaxed against a pile of fancy pillows.

"This is about Tom, isn't it? You wouldn't have spirited me away to a secret place otherwise."

"Like the other day, I get one kiss before we work."

She made sure I remembered the one kiss. Full body pressed on me. Hands tangled in my hair. Lips firmly connected to mine with tongue working. More than a minute later, "Perhaps that will hold us. Tell me about Tom."

"He immediately admitted our suspicions were correct, but gave me a series of evasions about highest levels of MI5 and national security and he couldn't talk. I screwed up my courage and said no one's life was going to be put in danger without more information."

"Adrian, you are getting tougher by the day."

I kissed her forehead and said, "It's like this, Anne. For whatever different reasons, we are a team now. I'm the only male, so it is my job to look out for the rest of you. I was at my fiercest this morning and I think it impressed him. He said he would consult with his superiors and get back to me soon."

"And you and I are here because you suspect they will try an end around through me? Use the connection through my father?"

"If you were they...?"

"Yes. No doubt at all. We must devise a plan."

"We tried before to puzzle it out and didn't get very far."

"Turn over. I'll work on your back. Helps me think."

I complied and she began listing the possibilities. "One, Philip is likely alive and in Slovenia. Not much point in this if he is really dead."

"Two, something of high level national security significance is involved, and someone thinks the son, common law wife and friends can be useful. Philip is party to the plan."

"Three, Slovenia is a proxy for the Balkans in general. A hotbed of hatreds, plots, spies and who knows what. Involving us means it is a low tech problem. Not building nuclear weapons or chemical bombs or things like that. And also a problem that is difficult for the pros. Why use amateurs for a high level problem when you have credentialed intelligence people for that?"

I groaned and said, "Excellent so far. Both my back and your thinking."

She fell over and reached for my hand. "There is a woman involved. A very desirable woman in more ways than one. She knows something important to HMG. She is not happy where she is, but has a family problem keeping her from leaving. There is a connection to fashion, and we are supposed to arrange an introduction and convince her to leave. Tell her that the promises of the Brits to deal with her family problem can be trusted."

"That's right out of a spy novel."

"Kiss me. Life is stranger than fiction."

She didn't let go. "Adrian," she breathed, "we are going to remake you. The beard and the hair must grow. Language lessons. Clothing a rising young designer would wear in southern Europe. A coterie of models who obviously are sleeping with him."

More kisses. "Are you a model who is obviously sleeping with me?"

"Obviously."

"What about tonight's curfew?"

She snuggled tight. "How can I be your concubine, your secret agent, and your Vice President all rolled into one?"

"Because inside there is the beautiful tough sexy smart Anne, who can pull this off."

"Oh god, Adrian."

"Let me ask you a question, what about Sing? Is she on the fringe of this, is she being assigned to us, or is she already in the middle of it because of an Asian connection?"

I got up to find the bathroom. She followed. Pushed ahead and sat down.

"This could let loose on you."

"You tried that in Kingham. Told you I didn't care. The Duke liked to do it."

She finished and used the bidet sitting next to the toilet. Threatened to put her hand in my stream.

Standing, she dropped her bra and rubbed tits on the back she had been massaging. "Janet told me there is a small intimate restaurant in the next block. You are going to take me there on our second date. We like each other, but there are family issues. You are very taken by my body but haven't had your hands, or your cock, on much. You have borrowed your aunt's apartment while she is on vacation. All you can think about is how to get me to this bedroom and get my clothes off."

She was still talking when I bent her gently over the vanity counter and drove straight and hard into her sex. "That's a great story, but what about an ordinary good fuck? Right here, right now?"

She said, weakly, "More."

I worked her welcoming cunt vigorously. I laughed and relished the cunts of all the different characters she had described this afternoon. I loved them all.

"Damn! damn, damn." She came in a long rolling climax.

In the shower, hot water falling on us, I said, "We are going to the intimate restaurant. But it's Adrian and Anne, who care a lot for each other, who are going there."

Standing on the tile floor, drying, she snapped her towel at me. "Now you've got me feeling like Kingham again. Like a college girl. Silly and carefree and sighing over her new boyfriend."

"Sounds good to me, let's go."

The restaurant was dark and intimate as advertised by Janet. Clearly a place of rendezvous and assignation. There were no prices on the menu, even mine. The server whispered in my ear that dinner was prix fixe, two hundred pounds for two, wine included. I smiled at the delicious efforts to foster romance.

"What are you giggling about?"

The server offered a Loire Valley chablis, or a Burgundy red.

We told him our choices and she asked again, "What is so funny?"

"I've changed my mind. We really are in this magical place. It is our second date. There are no prices. Everything is on a chit in the sky. I only have eyes for you, dearest."

"We are going home early. Nanny and I are going to put you in your place."

"I get to sleepover and take the morning train?"

"We will decide later."

I took her hand and kissed it. The entire rest of the dinner was romantic enough to make us teary.

At the apartment, we straightened the bed and left a note saying it had not been slept in. The cleaning lady would tell Janet, who would wonder what went wrong.

I called a cab, and Anne called Helen. "I'm coming back early, the boys are ok?"

I could hear the response, "Yes, they are fine and just asleep now. Is there a problem?"

"Not exactly. I'll tell you when I get there." Click.

She cuffed me. "There will be a hot reception, lover, when we get to my place."

In the cab, she asked, "Do we share any of this with her?"

"We must say something. What about part of the story? He admitted some things were going on that he had not told us, and agreed we needed to know more. And would see about that?"

"Yes. Excellent, as usual." She leaned into me and whispered, "Lovely date."

When we entered the house, she grasped my hand and said, "Play along."

Helen was curled on the sofa in pj's, a textbook in her lap. Anne said, "Look what I found out on the town."

She put the book down and ran to me. "You're kidding? With other women?"

She tried for a kiss, but I seized the body and threw it in the air. "It's a wee Scottish lass from Aberdeen all decked out in the plaid!"

She wouldn't get down, legs wrapped tightly on my waist. "There is something going on. Tell me the truth."

"He just wanted an ordinary date with his girlfriend. Not very romantic. Brought me home early."

"Nonsense. He's been loving you. Look at the flush still on your cheeks."

We sandwiched her and giggled. We got kisses, but she said, "I hope you are planning to be nice to me. I don't want to be cold and lonely on the third floor."

It wasn't long before we tumbled into Anne's big bed. Helen was playful, butting at us, hair flying. "You smell nice, you have been in the shower recently!"

I poked her side and said, "Perhaps, she should join one of those detective services. Investigate illicit affairs and other tawdry behavior."

I sat on the edge of the bed and scribbled on a small piece of paper. "Can't talk here. More later."

Her eyes widened as she read it. The pink tongue peeked out as she sank down to my chest. "Oh Adrian, it is so nice you could visit your sisters."

There was more kissing and rubbing and I slept quickly.

In the bright morning light, fingers were marching up and down my spine. "You have to get dressed. Nanny has told them you are here. They want to play with their daddy."

Her kiss was soft on my neck. When I turned, the lips were soft on mine. She had dressed in the wonderfully squeezable fleece and was smiling at me with crinkled eyes.

"That was some meeting we had. But your finance person is upset about no loving for her."

"What if all five of us go to Kingham?"

"I can't. There is a charity event tonight I am co-sponsor of."

She leaned closer. "Make more excuses to Vicky. Spend the day with Helen, and the night with her in the apartment. I'll use the backup sitter for the boys this evening."

I pestered her head with kisses. "How does a jealous woman like yourself grant Nanny and me such privileges?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was that dreamy date last night."