Week Seven Continued
They were due to be picked up in the morning at 10:30 for their White House tour, they were told to be smart, preferably in a suit, Sally made sure they both were dressed well, she had made Dave wear a tie, a car would collect them for the short Drive to the White House, they were taken in a side entrance, a receptionist was waiting for them, “this morning you will be having a private tour, if you have any questions, please ask as we go along.” The three set off, both of them didn’t realise how big it actually was, they saw rooms which had been on the TV. “Through this door is the highlight of the tour, the Oval Office,” she opened the door and let Dave and Sally go in first. There were three people talking, Dave could see Bob Smidowicz, the other two had their backs to the door. “Mr. President, your visitors,” Sally’s heart was thumping, Dave was almost speechless. The two men turned round, the other person was the Vice President, a hand was thrust out, the President shook both their hands, “Thank you for coming, I think Jack and I both owe you our thanks, you did a great job.” There were drinks on a table, five bourbons were poured out, “to you Mr. Stretton and you Miss Fellowes, thank you both, we and the USA will always be thankful.” They spent some time asking how he uncovered the plot, Dave stressed how important a part Sally played. “She is as good as me, in some things she is better, we work well as a team.” A photographer came in, Dave said he would prefer if the pictures were kept private and not released to the media. Sally gave the photographer her phone and asked him to take more pictures, the meeting was over, there were more handshakes before they left. The car took them back to the hotel, In the bar, Sally asked if Dave knew. “I had no idea, it blew me away,” they ate in the bar, before heading to the room to change and go shopping. Sally’s mind wasn’t on it, they hadn’t spent much, there was only a couple of bags for Dave to carry. “We’ll find some place to eat on the way back, and have an early night, we can try again in the morning.” Sitting in bed later, she sent some of the pictures to Olivia, there was an immediate reply, she wanted to know why they were there, Sally messaged back saying she would tell her when they met next. She fell asleep with Dave’s arm round her. They packed after breakfast, Dave signed the bill, it was being forwarded to the CIA for payment. The suitcases were left with the porters while they went shopping again, it was more successful than the day before, they both bought clothes, Dave said to not buy too much for fitting it in the suitcases, Sally ignored him. The flight back was busier, Sally slept as best she could, Dave thought about the last few days, he felt different as he flew back.
Outside the terminal, there was a valet with the car, Dave handed over the slip he had been given on Thursday, Sally took a backpack from the boot as Dave loaded the suitcases. Once they were on the M1, she clambered between the seats to sit in the back, looking in the rear view mirror, he could see Sally undressing, at one point she was naked, she took her work clothes from the backpack and quickly dressed, she rejoined Dave in the front. “You could have caused a crash, I was watching you and not concentrating on the road.” “Keep the car steady, I have to put on my makeup, avoid the potholes.” She gave up saying she would finish it off at work. Dave pulled up outside her offices forty five minutes from when she should have started, after they had kissed she said to pick her up at 16:00, “I’ll make up the lost time today.”
She looked shattered when he returned, she flopped on the sofa when in the house. When he returned from the kitchen with coffee, she was sleeping, he quietly went upstairs and found a blanket, he covered her up. When she woke at 20:30, Dave asked her if she was hungry, “starving, will you make me something, a ping meal will do.” He found a frozen pizza and asked if she wanted that with chips, Sally said anything would do.
They slept late on Tuesday, once they were up, she wrote out a list for Tesco’s, Dave was sent off, he moaned, Sally said the alternative was she went and he sorted out the washing. He took a load of carrier bags from the cupboard and set off. During the afternoon, Jane Goodley rang, there were no pleasantries, it was straight down to business, “On Friday, I want to see both of you, following your presentation to the researchers I have booked a meeting room at Flemings Hotel, there is a discussion we need to have. You are booked into Flemings Hotel on Thursday and Friday nights.” “Do we have a choice?” “No,” Dave wanted to know what it was about, Jane wouldn’t tell him any more than she had said. When the call ended, he sat without saying anything, Sally was on the chair opposite, “what is it?” “I don’t know, I had an odd feeling on Sunday, I’ve just had it again, we have been ordered to London on Friday, there were no pleasantries during the call. Something is happening and I don’t know what it is, I don’t know whether it is good or bad, if it was bad, she wouldn’t have said I needed to do a presentation first. I guess we will need to wait until Friday.” Sally moved to sit with him, “whatever it is, don’t do anything you will regret later.” She sat holding his hand, “it will all work out, it always has done, if it doesn’t we will find something else.”
On Wednesday evening Sally packed for the next day, they would travel down when she had finished work, “do you think it will be a smart meeting?” “Pack a suit for me, we can change in the hotel before the meeting.” In the hotel the following afternoon, they decided to eat in the Greek restaurant nearby, Sally asked him about his presentation the following day. “I don’t know, I have an idea, it will come to me before tomorrow.” “You need to do some preparation, you can’t just keep winging it, one of these days you will lose your chain of thought,” grudgingly he agreed.
He spent ten minutes in the IT department before the presentation, when the researchers came in, there was a line drawing of a head on a screen behind him, he had a long pointer on the stage with him. Sally sat at the front, she had no idea what was coming. “Good morning everyone, most of you know who I am, for those who don’t, my name is Dave, I have many years experience both behind a desk and out in the field, the subject today is communications. We do it all the time, I’m doing it now, you will all have done it many times this morning before you came in here. You do it in Starbucks when you are ordering your coffee, speaking to your colleagues, moaning about your partner, we cannot avoid it. I want you to leave today, thinking about the way you communicate, it will help you in your work and at home. Behind me on the screen is a head, it could be anybody’s head, it doesn’t matter if it’s male or female, it’s just a head. Look at it does anything strike you as odd,” someone shouted out it was bald. “Look at the features, do you notice anything,” no one said in case it was the wrong answer. “There isn’t much communicating going on now. There is symmetry on the head, two ears,” he used the pointer, “two eyes, two nostrils, but only one mouth. Why don’t we have two mouths?” There was laughter round the theatre, “instead of talking all the time, start using the other parts of your head. We hear and see people talking, our brain processes the sounds into words we can understand. I want you to start listening with your eyes, see what people are saying. Plenty of times you will ask someone if they are OK, you know most of the time they will say ‘I’m fine’ or something similar. It’s the answer we are expecting, your brain is programmed to expect that answer. Next time you ask the question, look closely at the person, see if you can spot a sign that says they aren’t alright. People say one thing, there face often says the opposite. The same also applies when you are at work, listen to answers to questions on the phone, was there hesitation, did the voice change as they answered. Face to face, look for a lip quivering, a nervous tic or a lick of the lips, once you know and you practice, it will become second nature.” Dave talked about interview techniques, questions to ask and how to react. At the end, he said there would be no time today to help with cases, but it would be back to normal next week. Sally said she had enjoyed the talk, “it just comes naturally to you doesn’t it, you can make the most boring subject interesting. You listen with your eyes all the time, I’ve seen you do it.” When the theatre was empty, he said they should go to the hotel. Sally said she hadn’t seen Jane this morning, “no, I think she is keeping out our way.”
They changed and had a snack in the bar, the meeting was to begin at 13:30, before they went to the room Sally again told him to control himself. A porter told them which room it was, Sally was nervous, Dave kissed her before he opened the door, inside he saw Jane Goodley and another man in a suit and tie, his file was on the table, Jane said for them to sit down, there were only two chairs at the other end of the table, it was a large square table capable of seating two on each side. Dave spotted coffee, instead of sitting down, he walked round to pour out two coffees, he asked if anyone else wanted one, Jane knew when he had poured the coffee, he wouldn’t pull his chair all the way in, it was his way of saying he wasn’t going to play by the rules. When he sat down he said he hadn’t been introduced to the man sitting with Jane, “my name is Sir Rupert Parsons,” “I’m Dave and this is Sally in case you didn’t know, now we done the introductions can we get down to business.” Jane ignored him, “David, Sally, have you decided about the offer made to you by the PM and the Director of the CIA?” “Subject to reading the contract, we will accept the offer.” Dave thought if this was the reason for the meeting then it had been a waste of time. “We can now move on, your talk this morning like the others you have given was very informative, Sir Rupert and I sat in on it. He has also seen the talk you gave to the Americans when we were negotiating with them last year, he has read of the clashes you have had with politicians and how you will stick to your principles and your determination to seek the truth no matter what obstacles are put in front of you. While not always agreeing with your methods, your ability to think on your feet is undeniable.” Dave wondered where this was going, Jane continued. “Your reports have been read by many people within the civil service, while many don’t like you,” Dave smiled, “no one can deny you are good at what you do. The issue we have is you, Sally and I know you can’t keep running around like you do for ever, most of your cohort have already given up. It’s mostly your intuition and quick thinking that keeps you alive. How long can you continue for.” Dave interrupted, “Jane, you are talking a lot, but saying nothing we don’t already know and have discussed before, is there a point to all this?” “I am working towards it, will you sit and listen please. We don’t want to lose you to another organisation, the Americans would have you in the blink of an eye, private companies would want you, it is your ability to think the way you do which would appeal to them. That mustn’t happen, a proposal is about to be made to you, do not answer now, there is no hurry for a reply, it is more for you to think about and if you decide to go for it, then things would have to change.” Dave wanted to say for her to get on with it, but kept quiet. “I have between five and ten years left in my position, I want to finish while I still have time left to enjoy the rest of my life. The search for my replacement is now beginning, at the moment, there is only one person being considered,” Dave wondered if he was being asked to find out what he could about the potential candidate. “That person is you,” Sally looked at Dave, she had never seen him look the way he did, he was lost for words. “Would you mind if I took a break?” Sally went to stand up, “no, just me, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” He headed for the toilets, he looked at his face in the mirror, he splashed cold water on it. Looked again and straightened up. He returned apologising for stepping out. “I’m not civil service, I don’t have the education, I’m an ex-sergeant, as you said earlier, people don’t like me, I’m not bothered about that, the people important to me like me, that’s all that matters. There are hundreds of reasons for not choosing me, obviously no one else wants the job.” “David, it’s not a ‘yes’ man they want, it has to be someone who knows how the department works, who can organise, who can make difficult decisions, who won’t give up. No one in any of the government faces up to politicians the way you do, they hate talking to you. The talks you give are motivational, you talk to a researcher the same way you do to the Prime Minister, you don’t care, your focus is on searching for the truth. There is another side to you which is lacking in many of the heads, empathy, you have the ability to understand how people are feeling. Someone like you doesn’t come along very often, other people recognise the talent you have, if you agree, there will be a gradual transfer, there will be people to help you make the change, it won’t happen overnight.” “What about Sally, we come as a package, no Sally, no Dave.” “She would remain as your assistant,” “What if we remained in Loughborough, how would that work?” “Your commute from Loughborough isn’t much more time than some who travel in from the suburbs, these are minor issues which can be resolved.” Sir Rupert who had been making notes spoke to Jane to indicate the meeting was now over. Dave and Sally shook hands with them both before leaving, Sally hadn’t said anything during the meeting, she had a load of questions for Dave. He said they should walk to the park. They found a bench in the sun, he sat there for almost thirty minutes not saying anything, eventually he said to Sally it would be a joint decision, it was too big for him to decide on his own. It was Sally’s time to be quiet, her arm went through Dave’s as she sat there. “Let’s go to the hotel,” she spoke to the head porter, he made a call, he nodded to Sally saying it would be OK. “Would you bring us a couple of lagers and a large gin and tonic.” She pushed open the door to the closed restaurant, a waiter said for them to sit anywhere, Sally chose one of the booths at the side, Dave sat opposite her. The drinks arrived and they were left alone, “Dave, what are you thinking?” “All through my life, most of the time I’ve let things happen, usually it’s worked out well. Now if I let things happen, it could affect you, no, it will affect you, will we change, do I want the responsibility, will you still love me, there’s a lot going on in my head.” “If you were single, say we had never met, would you take the job?” Dave thought for a moment, “probably, I would seriously consider it.” “Then that’s your answer, we can make things work between us, as long as there is love, the rest can be worked on. We can remain where we are, remember there is a five to ten year timescale on this, it’s not going to happen tomorrow. When the time comes, if you don’t want to do it, then you can walk away. Final question, if you turned it down, how would you feel seeing someone else do the job, would you be thinking you could have done it better.” They finished their drinks, Sally said it was bedtime or bathtime, Dave said both.
When they went into the restaurant, they were shown to a table for four, Sally said there was only two, “the booking has been changed to four,” sitting down both wondered who would be joining them. It wasn’t long before Jane Goodley and her partner Ruth were spotted by Sally. “It’s Jane and Ruth, they are on there way towards us.” Dave stood up to greet them, each was kissed on the cheek, “sorry, I changed your booking, I thought after this afternoon, we needed to chat. Ruth is aware of the discussion which took place.” Instead of the usual chit chat, Jane started talking, “you looked shocked when the offer was made to you, I have never seen you like that, when you returned, you were back to your normal self. Sir Rupert was there to find out what you are like, you can’t understand a person from a written report. It’s usually his recommendation to the Prime Minister at the time which will be the deciding factor. The planning starts years before the appointment is made, it has to be someone who understands how everything works as well as being the best for the job. I told him some time ago I didn’t want to do this for many more years, I won’t commit beyond the next five years, I want Ruth and I to have quality time together, to not have to answer the phone in the middle of the night, to not have plans ruined at the last minute, we want to be free.” There was a pause while they ate their starters, as soon as she had finished Jane carried on. “I put forward your name, your file was read and you were immediately excluded, as you said, you were a soldier, not been to university, only the part about not being liked by politicians went in your favour. I asked him to look again at your skills, and your ability to talk to people, he has followed and read the report from the recent case, he was impressed this morning with your talk. The security services aren’t like many of the other Government departments, you have to understand how the organisations work, a replacement cannot be parachuted in. Currently there is no one with the skills you have, you do not shy away from making decisions and standing by them, you are not overawed by politicians.” The main course was served and silence returned. Dave was the last one to finish eating, “you paint a picture of me like I am some sort of saviour, I’m not, I am a flawed person, you see one side of me, Sally sees a different David Stretton, I’m good because I seek out and use the best people I can find, it’s not just me, Sally is the best, she is more capable than me in a lot of things, I’m someone who knows where to find the right people and can look at problems in a different way. My resources are not ones which are approved by the Government, I don’t play by the rules.” “Then change them, take control and force through the changes you think need to happen, tell those in charge we are losing the battle because we have one hand tied behind our backs. You can make the service into the one you think it should be. You may decide it’s not for you, a decision hasn’t got to be made now or in the next few weeks, get it right in your head first, we will talk again when you are ready. No more work talk now, after dessert we have something else to discuss. Sitting with coffees, Jane looked at Ruth, she smiled and then spoke. “David, I know Jane spoke to you some months ago about our wedding and you agreed to walk her down the aisle, well, there has been a change in the plans. Would you walk us both down the aisle, one each side, both my parents have gone, if it wasn’t for you and Sally, I wouldn’t be sitting next to the person I love.” “It would be an honour to do it, I thought when I saw you in Washington how much a couple you were and you both looked stunning. When will it be, Sally will have to buy a hat?” “Hopefully before Christmas, we are trying to make sure we have a date when as many of our friends can attend.” Jane said there wouldn’t be anyone from work attending and asked them not to say anything. “This is a private affair, nothing to do with the Government.” “It was well after midnight when they were standing outside the front doors of the hotel, the taxi doors were open, Ruth was in first, as Jane bent down to join her, Sally saw Dave pat her bum, she waited until the taxi had driven off, “you never pat my bum like that as I get into a taxi.”
The following morning, sitting on the train back to Loughborough, they both discussed the events of the last few days, they both knew what the decision would be, however, it would take some time for the enormity of it to sink in.
The End
© 10210ken 2026
