Chapter 17

They had not thought out their travel plans very well. The flight down to London was fine but they had to suffer Tube journeys both from Heathrow and back out there a couple of hours later. And then they had to re-clear security before finally getting on the short flight to Paris. All of these journeys and queueing gave Andrew a lot of time to think about the previous day. He had been surprised at Maggie the previous evening. It was as if she had been trying too hard, and she had definitely been drinking too hard. It was only when he spoke to Ara and Suzanne in their room later that it sort of made sense. And the shoot in the morning was hampered by her hangover at the start. Andrew wondered whether doing a shoot at the end of the garden felt exciting enough for Maggie. Too prosaic, too normal maybe? It had also been interesting to listen to Tony talk about doing something with some of his, or their, money. It had never been suggested to him, by Andrew at least, but it had been good to talk about the genesis of his investing. It had also been several years since Andrew had made those decisions. The three trusts were set up when he was between 16 and 19 years old. He realised, with some degree of surprise, that he didn’t think about the trusts anymore. He had given the money, been involved, peripherally, in setting them up but had now walked away. He trusted Leslie to manage them, to generate returns, and to select the specific investments. It was another part of his life that was now effectively over. All that remained was the half day meeting with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. It was amazing what had been a major focus less than four years earlier no longer took up much time at all. That said something about him, Andrew just wasn’t sure what.

Thinking about all this distracted him from some of the tedium of their journey. The chore of travel rather took the bloom off a weekend in Paris but they landed at de Gaulle airport eventually and were soon on the last leg into Paris. The Monsart greeted him like a regular guest, which when Andrew stopped and thought about it he was. A random choice by Pedro, chosen for no other reason that it was reasonable and nice and central, had ended up being where he had stayed for many weeks while modelling. He received the room key and the three of them headed to the lift, looking forward to finally being able to put their feet up. When the three of them were out together how they interacted with each other was quite varied. It was rare for them to display overt romantic behaviour, they still struggled to explain their relationship. But the lift was empty and they were only going to the 3^rd floor and Andrew had his arms round both Suzanne and Ara. Ara had stolen a quick kiss and Andrew was just kissing Suzanne when the lift doors opened.

Standing waiting for the lift were Mathilde Dubois with her husband Pierre.

They were heading down to the restaurant and so Andrew asked them to get a larger table and they would be down to join them shortly. The three of them walked along to their room, all of them thinking about the consequences of a moment of romantic weakness. It was a stark reminder of the challenges they were going to face. And they were faced with another awkward evening of explaining about themselves.

And although calling themselves a three was still as clunky as ever, the moment passed quickly. Because Mathilde and Pierre just didn’t care.

“Are you happy?”

The question was blunt.

“Er, yes. This is perfect for us.”

With smiles and a couple of parental hand pats they just moved on.

“How do you deal with Andrew and his modelling?”

Andrew had never realised that Mathilde was so blunt with her conversations. He smiled at the thought. Hermès weren’t paying them for their conversational skills. Suzanne smiled over at Pierre and just pointed at him.

“Exactly the way that Pierre taught Andrew up in the Alps. What was the name of the place?”

“Courcheval.”

A stereo response from both husband and wife. Suzanne nodded.

“You told him that for a relationship to work, any relationship but especially given what was asked of models, that there had to be trust. We have watched the commercials shot that week, where Mathilde and her ‘daughter’ fought over Andrew.”

Just saying that phrase made everyone laugh.

“It is as realistic and believable as all the other shoots, not just that week but in the series. But Andrew talked about how Mathilde ran off at the end of the shoot and how you turned up looking like you needed to be rescued.”

Pierre and Mathilde were smiling at each other at the memory.

“So we are here and will do some shopping tomorrow while Andrew and Mathilde act as lovers. And at the end of the shoot they will hug and kiss and then come back to their actual lovers. Trust.”

Pierre looked proud at the way Suzanne had responded. But Andrew knew that she was 100% correct, and that without that trust they would not be sitting there at that moment.

Mathilde and Pierre were easy and relaxing to talk to. Everyone did the five minutes ‘meet and greet’ to get the basics out of the way. Pierre was the deputy director of the Brittany Tourist Board and he and Mathilde lived in Rennes, the capital of the region. Mathilde had met Pierre when she was a new model and had been working on a campaign that he was involved in. She was from Vannes on the south coast of Brittany and it was there that the two of them sailed. The whole evening was not a trial, even although the start had been that way. After dinner everyone got ready to head back to their rooms when Ara asked Pierre if he would like to join Suzanne and her the following day while Mathilde and Andrew were working. His smile gave his answer even before the words.

The following morning Mathilde and Andrew walked over to Hermès’ offices together.

“It was nice of Suzanne and Arabella to ask Pierre to join them.”

Andrew shrugged.

“He might not look so pleased when he returns from a day of shopping.”

Mathilde laughed in response. Andrew carried on.

“I think they are going to talk to him, tease him, flirt with him all day. They were laughing away last night. Things like telling him at least there were two of them to deal with me but he was on his own when you returned.”

Mathilde’s laughter was louder.

“He will love that. I will have to make his evening memorable for him.”

Mathilde’s arched eyebrow had Andrew laughing as heartily as her. But it was an odd conversation to be having at 8.00 in the morning.

What it did do was subtly alter the relationship between Mathilde and Andrew. In the months and years that followed the commercials that they shot were always the ones that pushed the boundaries the most. They were the ones that portrayed a sensuality, a lustiness, but it was never intimate. The five of them would meet for dinner the night before and every day while Andrew and Mathilde were trying to drive each other crazy in the studio, Pierre, Ara and Suzanne would be out and about in Paris, often he would accompany them to Reims or Épernay. And every evening after the shoots lusts would be slaked with their respective partners. Somebody had once joked that it was as if they had outsourced the foreplay. But that was exactly what they were doing.

And the contrast with Heloise was stark. The shoots with her and Andrew, although they were both naked at times in them, were much less sexual and much more intimate. Andrew portrayed the husband or boyfriend in the commercial and Heloise immersed herself in the sensations. Sadly for her he was the safe but unavailable male friend in her life. There were moments where it felt cruel to Heloise to tease her that way. But Suzanne and Ara shared Andrew with her. In the safety of the studio.

After the awkward start, the whole weekend was relaxed, and relaxing. And the two anchor models that Andrew worked with going forward were very different. Often there were four shoots but Veronique could see the difference between Mathilde and Heloise and never scheduled them for the same day. That first weekend put in place the pattern of the shoots. Sexed up and lusty on the Saturday followed with romantic and sensual on the Sunday.

On the Sunday while Andrew was working Olivia had driven to Paris with her father and met Suzanne and Ara at the hotel. She had dropped off two suitcases with them. Andrew had been surprised at the size of them when he returned to the Monsart but neither Ara nor Suzanne had been. A woman moving permanently to another country wasn’t turning up with one backpack. So the journey back to London had Andrew hauling two large, and heavy, suitcases in addition to his own small bag.

However much the weekend in Paris had been fun there was no doubt that all three of them sighed with relief when they returned to their home on the Sunday night. There would still be trips in the weeks and months ahead but the last trip of the summer was over. The last trip of the six month transition period. It was the evening of Sunday September 20, 1987. 24 weeks earlier Andrew had walked into the living room of his flat in Edinburgh to find Ara sitting with Suzanne. And in that short time, two weeks shy of six months, his whole life had changed. Their whole lives had changed.

But all three of them were ready and eager, impatient even, to start working. It was not just Andrew that craved a routine. The 24 weeks had allowed all of them to finish their education, deal with their families, and put in place details that would be part of their lives going forward. But it was incomplete, they final act was actually starting work. Ara and Suzanne used the phrase ‘the two sides of the same coin’ to describe their complementary natures. But another aspect that all three of them shared was that they had professional dreams. Some of the summer had been spent on the professional parts of their lives but most of it had been around their personal lives. For Suzanne and Ara in particular, and Olivia as well, this was the start of something fundamental to them as people, as women.

So the last week was all about getting ready. There were no journeys but there were several surprises.

Suzanne’s birthday was August 7^th and Andrew had been away at Sandhurst on the day. He had left a card and a small present but could not make a fuss of Suzanne on the day and it was a month later before he returned from his training. So first thing on the Monday morning Andrew booked Simpson’s on the Strand for an early dinner and then got three tickets for The Phantom of the Opera that evening. With the details taken care of he broke the news to Suzanne and Ara.

“Since I was away for your birthday I feel that we should go out and celebrate it.”

He told them of the plans. He was simultaneously hugged and kissed for the thoughtfulness of the surprise while also being told off for the insensitivity of surprising them. Apparently, they would both need lots of time to get ready. The two of them rushed off worrying about having nothing to wear leaving Andrew shaking his head. He spent a few minutes preparing for their return from the show then retreated to the study.

The two of them looked stunning at the best of times and three hours of preparation time was more than sufficient for them to exceed even that. The two of them were breathtaking. The evening was everything Andrew hoped it would be. He was out with two beautiful women, the women he loved, and it was so effortless. The three of them flirted with, smiled at, and laughed with each other. Now into their twenties it didn’t feel like they were playing dress up any more. The evening was balmy when they came out of the theatre and they strolled through the west end on the way back to the house. On nice evenings such as that one it was wonderful to be able to walk home, no need for a cab or the Tube.

Once in the house Andrew led them downstairs. Thinking they were going for a cup of tea both Ara and Suzanne were surprised when they were taken to the dungeon. There on the table in the corner were their playsuits and wrist cuffs. Andrew stood behind Suzanne and held her in his arms. He motioned Ara over so that she was hugging her from the front.

“I have been doing a lot of thinking.”

Andrew was sure Ara’s smile was matched on Suzanne’s face.

“I know, who would have thought. It was only four years ago that you first confessed to me how you felt, and most importantly what you needed. You have come such a long way since then, we all have. I don’t know what triggered this for me, maybe all the discussions that we have been having with Ara, but I realised something. And I think it is profound.”

Andrew kissed Suzanne’s neck and felt rather than heard her groan in his arms.

“I always talk about how my biggest turn on is that my partners are turned on. I feel such a sense of.”

Andrew stopped.

“So many things. It can’t be summed up in one word. But it makes me happy and it turns me on. It has taken me far too long to realise that you submitting to me, and now to both of us, turns you on in the same way. I knew that at one level quite early on. But I have been an idiot in not getting it properly sorted in my own head. For too long I have associated submission with sexual satisfaction. Now in my defence we had a lot of orgasms over the years so you kept distracting my thinking.”