hand is extremely sensitive. Close your eyes…trace your fingertips over the palm of your hand…your mind tells you what you are experiencing. Now imagine that all over your body.
London 2014
Guy
Guy was looking into equipment development. Their first attempts delivered an adequate experience, but Siena had big plans in her head. Guy was gifted with technology but what they really needed was an engineer. Someone they could work with, someone with foresight and imagination.
They set to work to find him or her and one name kept coming back to them again and again: Crawford Monroe. They’d made contact with him but pinning down the elusive Mr. Monroe was like pinning down vapour; visible but unattainable. Guy reached out through his contacts and stumbled across a piece of information by chance. He still had friends on the force and, in fact, knew Glasgow quite well. A coincidence, but his memory remembered a colleague whose brother’s friend was a hotshot in engineering.
Michael Shields had been surprised by his call and had gladly given Guy his brother Danny’s number. When he had spoken to him, Danny was not surprised he’d been unable to speak with his friend Crawford Monroe.
“Sounds about right, he’s all over the world, so it’s best you email him. Do you realise what he charges?”
Guy hesitated. “I’ve heard he’s the best.”
“He’s very specialised. What are you after?”
“I’m afraid that’s confidential, Danny.”
“Ouch, don’t give me that ‘if I tell you I’ll have to kill you’ shite,” grunted Danny.
Guy smiled. “It’s more than my job’s worth,” he apologised.
“Aye, that old chestnut. Do you have a pen handy? I’ll give you his email address.”
They chatted for a while longer before saying their goodbyes. With Danny coming up trumps, Guy lost no time in contacting Mr. Monroe.
***
Ford
Ford looked at the email from Guy thoughtfully. It was the first proposal in years that surprised and intrigued him. The work would take him to London. He thought of Esme—he had never forgotten her. Crawford Monroe was a Scot brought up in the affluent suburbs of Glasgow. He was at best a skilled and innovative engineer, at worst a reformed hellraiser, with expulsion from private school, his starter for ten. He never considered it a setback.
Failure was an adjective the Monroe family never considered. Crawford was their second son, some ten years between he and his older brother. Everything had been timed to perfection—his mother Susan delivering her firstborn son just after she had achieved her promotion to consultant, and shortly before her 36 th birthday. She barely took two weeks off before she was back in the saddle and Murray was in full-time nursery. Childcare and private education was costly, so they budgeted for one child going through this initial process before they embarked on the next. Money was needed to finance the aggressive expansion of his father’s law firm. Although confident and successful in business, Peter was often intimidated by his wife. He would have preferred a second child quickly but Susan wouldn’t hear of it.
They planned a five year age gap so Murray would be starting school when the next baby arrived. His mother was outraged when she didn’t fall pregnant on schedule. After three years of trying, she accepted she would only have one child. She moved on without regret and focused on her career, but Peter was annoyed.
When Susan discovered to her horror she was pregnant at the ripe old age of 46, she wanted to terminate. She was too old and the health risks for her and the baby were in the high-risk category. But for once Peter stood up to her, and astounded by this turn of events, she gave in. Peter longed for a daughter although he never shared these thoughts with his wife. Susan also decided a girl would complete the perfect gentleman’s family. When Crawford was born safe and healthy, he was to be a disappointment
London 2014
Guy
Guy was looking into equipment development. Their first attempts delivered an adequate experience, but Siena had big plans in her head. Guy was gifted with technology but what they really needed was an engineer. Someone they could work with, someone with foresight and imagination.
They set to work to find him or her and one name kept coming back to them again and again: Crawford Monroe. They’d made contact with him but pinning down the elusive Mr. Monroe was like pinning down vapour; visible but unattainable. Guy reached out through his contacts and stumbled across a piece of information by chance. He still had friends on the force and, in fact, knew Glasgow quite well. A coincidence, but his memory remembered a colleague whose brother’s friend was a hotshot in engineering.
Michael Shields had been surprised by his call and had gladly given Guy his brother Danny’s number. When he had spoken to him, Danny was not surprised he’d been unable to speak with his friend Crawford Monroe.
“Sounds about right, he’s all over the world, so it’s best you email him. Do you realise what he charges?”
Guy hesitated. “I’ve heard he’s the best.”
“He’s very specialised. What are you after?”
“I’m afraid that’s confidential, Danny.”
“Ouch, don’t give me that ‘if I tell you I’ll have to kill you’ shite,” grunted Danny.
Guy smiled. “It’s more than my job’s worth,” he apologised.
“Aye, that old chestnut. Do you have a pen handy? I’ll give you his email address.”
They chatted for a while longer before saying their goodbyes. With Danny coming up trumps, Guy lost no time in contacting Mr. Monroe.
***
Ford
Ford looked at the email from Guy thoughtfully. It was the first proposal in years that surprised and intrigued him. The work would take him to London. He thought of Esme—he had never forgotten her. Crawford Monroe was a Scot brought up in the affluent suburbs of Glasgow. He was at best a skilled and innovative engineer, at worst a reformed hellraiser, with expulsion from private school, his starter for ten. He never considered it a setback.
Failure was an adjective the Monroe family never considered. Crawford was their second son, some ten years between he and his older brother. Everything had been timed to perfection—his mother Susan delivering her firstborn son just after she had achieved her promotion to consultant, and shortly before her 36 th birthday. She barely took two weeks off before she was back in the saddle and Murray was in full-time nursery. Childcare and private education was costly, so they budgeted for one child going through this initial process before they embarked on the next. Money was needed to finance the aggressive expansion of his father’s law firm. Although confident and successful in business, Peter was often intimidated by his wife. He would have preferred a second child quickly but Susan wouldn’t hear of it.
They planned a five year age gap so Murray would be starting school when the next baby arrived. His mother was outraged when she didn’t fall pregnant on schedule. After three years of trying, she accepted she would only have one child. She moved on without regret and focused on her career, but Peter was annoyed.
When Susan discovered to her horror she was pregnant at the ripe old age of 46, she wanted to terminate. She was too old and the health risks for her and the baby were in the high-risk category. But for once Peter stood up to her, and astounded by this turn of events, she gave in. Peter longed for a daughter although he never shared these thoughts with his wife. Susan also decided a girl would complete the perfect gentleman’s family. When Crawford was born safe and healthy, he was to be a disappointment
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