“Personal qualities?”
“Yeah,” Mervyn says, having a sip of wine. He lifts the dripping bottle from the thing it’s in and tops them both up.
They’re inside this time, in the dining area of the pub, which involves wood paneling and waiters in long white aprons.
It’s not particularly like any pub that István is familiar with.
“Personal qualities,” Mervyn says. “You know.”
While István struggles with the intricately bony carcass on his plate Mervyn says, “For the higher-end kind of work it’s not just about your ability to deal with dangerous situations. It’s not just about being tough. It’s more than that. You’ve got to have the right… You’ve got to be able to conduct yourself in a certain way. These people are used to a certain kind of behavior. Do you see what I mean?”
“Yeah,” István says. “I think so.”
“Yeah?”
István nods.
“You’ve got to present yourself in a particular way.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s very important.”
“Okay.”
“It’s partly just the look,” Mervyn says. “You have to dress properly. Do you own a suit?” he asks.
“No,” István admits.
Mervyn smiles. “Well, let’s start with that, then.”
After lunch they walk over to Barkers on Kensington High Street.
Mervyn says István needs a suit and a few shirts and a plain dark blue tie.
They move among the racks of suits.
When they have two or three options, Mervyn makes István try them on and waits on the other side of the door in the fitting rooms to see how they look.
“That’s nice,” he says, when István emerges in one of them. “Turn around.”
István does.
“Yeah, you need double vents,” Mervyn says. “Might need to let it out a bit too. Now let’s look at some shirts.”
When he takes out his wallet to pay for the things István shows unease.
Mervyn waves it away. “I’m thinking of it as an investment,” he says. “After all, I get twenty percent, don’t I? I’ll get it all back in a month, if this works out. Have you got any just normal socks?” he asks.
“Normal socks?”
“I mean not those things. Not sports socks. Plain black socks. Or dark blue.”
“Not really,” István says.
“Well, get some.”
“Okay.”
“What about shoes? Proper shoes.”
István shakes his head.
They go to Russell & Bromley and buy a pair of simple black leather shoes.
Then Mervyn suggests a pint.
“You need some polishing,” he says, when they’re installed at a table on the leafy terrace of his posh local.
“Yeah?”
Mervyn nods. “Yeah,” he says, and to that end he proposes that István spends a few days with him.
István presents himself at the Holland Park apartment the next morning. He’s wearing the new suit, as Mervyn told him to, with one of the shirts and the dark blue tie. “Very smart,” Mervyn says, and when he has finished his coffee, they take the lift down.
“You’ve got a driving license?” he asks.
“Yeah,” István says.
Mervyn hands him the keys of the Jaguar.
“Where are we going?” István asks.
“Just start driving,” Mervyn says. “I’ll tell you.”
Mervyn himself sits in the back.
“It’s weird,” István says, “driving on this side.”
“What? Oh yes. Have you done that before?”
“No,” István says.
“Well, please be careful.”
Mervyn directs him as they drive through the streets of London, along Kensington High Street and then via Knightsbridge to Hyde Park Corner, where he instructs him to turn onto Park Lane. These are parts of London that István doesn’t know. The air-conditioning is on in the Jaguar. It’s a hot summer day and on the other side of the windows people are dressed as if they’re on vacation.
“I see the girls go by dressed in their summer clothes,” Mervyn murmurs, while they wait at a traffic light.
“Yeah,” István says, not getting the reference.
They’re in smaller streets now and a few minutes later Mervyn tells him to park when he can, and then, when he has found a place, to put money in the meter.
It seems that Mervyn has a meeting on the street where they are, in one of the tall brick houses.
“Someone who’s interested in my services,” he explains.
István just nods.
He waits outside, first sitting in the parked Jaguar with the windows open, and then standing in the warm shade on the other side of the street, smoking a cigarette.
He’s too hot in the suit, even in the shade.
The tie pinches his throat.
He loosens it and pops the top button.
When Mervyn sees it he says, “Why did you do that?”
“Was really tight on my neck,” István says.
“You mustn’t do that,” Mervyn tells him.
“Sorry,” István says, doing the button up again and moving the tie back into place.
Mervyn isn’t wearing a tie himself. He’s wearing his usual open-necked shirt and red trousers. He says, “Do you feel comfortable dressed like that?”
István shrugs.
“Do you?”
“No, not really,” István admits.
“It shows,” Mervyn says. “I want you to wear that suit every day for a week. I don’t want you to wear anything else for a week.”
“Okay.”
“Sleep in it if you want to. You need to feel comfortable in it,” Mervyn says. “More important, you need to look like you feel comfortable in it.”
“Okay,” István says.
He drives Mervyn to a few more places and then they have lunch at a smart restaurant.
“Don’t eat so fast,” Mervyn says, smiling. “What’s the hurry?”
“Sorry,” István says.
“What’s the hurry?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t want you to finish eating before I’ve finished eating,” Mervyn says. “Okay?”
“Okay.”
Mervyn eats very slowly.
István makes himself eat slowly too.
“I want you to practice eating slowly,” Mervyn says.
“Okay,” István says.
Later Mervyn says, “Try not to move your hands when you talk.”
“All right.”
“I want you to be very still.”
“Okay.”
“Keep your hands by your sides.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have a lighter?” Mervyn asks.
“Yeah.”
“Yes,” Mervyn says.
“Yes,” István says.
Mervyn has a cigarette in his hand. He puts it in his mouth and waits for István to light it. “No, move more slowly,” he says. “Do it again. More slowly. Put it back in your pocket and start again.”
István puts the lighter back in his pocket and then takes it out again, moving more slowly, and lights the cigarette.
“Thank you,” Mervyn says.
“No problem.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t say anything unless I speak to you first. Unless I ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
The next day they eat in a smart restaurant again, a different one. István tries to eat slowly. “That’s better,” Mervyn says. He says, “Often you’ll find yourself in surroundings like this, with the kind of principal who uses the premium service.”
“Yeah,” István says.
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“You need to fit in.”
“Okay.”
“Usually you won’t be eating with them, of course.”
“No, I know.”
“You won’t be sitting at the table with them.”
“No, I know.”
“But you’ll be there.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“So you need to fit in. You need to fit in with everything else in their lives. That’s what they want. They’re people with serious money and they want someone who fits in with everything else in their lives.”
“Okay,” István says.
When they arrive back at the apartment Mervyn invites him up for a drink.