A simple action

They had a car park (a tiny car park) in what had been an old walled garden

I have established very good relations with my new assistant. He likes to talk quite a lot, unlike his predecessor who was inclined to be moody. This morning he told me he was half Greek Cypriot, although he has had no contact with that side of his family since his parents separated when he was aged 6. His mother’s family seems to consist entirely of lawyers and accountants (family gatherings must be very acrimonious). He is very shrewd, and although he has only been here a couple of weeks, has already summed up Sales Director Neil Hancock’s shortcomings. I have advised him to observe keenly, keep an open mind, and learn as much as he can (Neil Hancock is a flawed genius – hopeless at administration, manipulative, but in the field of proactive selling he is a master).

Lunchtime I drove into the city to a solicitors’ office in the shadow of an old cathedral (the premises were in a Victorian gothic house in the heart of the cathedral close – it must once have belonged to one of the priestly faculty). Incredibly for such a central location they had a car park (a tiny car park) in what had been an old walled garden, the former flowerbeds now covered with gravel, dark green ivy smothering the walls, ancient climbing roses surviving here and there. My car made a discreet crunching noise on the gravel as I drove up, and secretaries looked out of the office windows to see who had arrived.

Into a reception area (half a minute wait), then up the stairs and into another reception area (another half minute wait), then into Mrs Harrison’s large office (creaking floor, many silver framed pictures of her children, big mullioned window with a view of laurel bushes, ivy draped walls and, in the distance, the graceful towers and pinnacles of the Minster).

Mrs Harrison is very attractive – slim, aged about thirty-five, pale gold hair in a conventional style, large eyes. In temperament she is both practical and sympathetic. Over the past two years I feel we have almost become friends. When I entered her room she got up from her Partner’s desk and motioned for me to sit down at the elegant table in the centre of the room. She initially gave me a biro to write with, but immediately took it back and went to fetch her best pen from her desk, as more befitting to the occasion.

There have been three stressful aspects to my life recently, and the witnessing of my signature today finally settled one of them. Who would have thought that such a simple action would have resolved the conflict.