Dan Parker was by nature a cautious man. It took a lot for him to speak his mind; he always thought of the consequences of every word and action, and often, as a result, let life pass him by. That moment of spontaneous emotion in the Hoxton Grille had plagued him with remorse and embarrassment all the way from London to Tokyo; he blushed when he thought about it, even when there was no one around, even when he was alone in bed at night, high above the city in his single hotel room. Being cautious could be a curse; any chance he may have had with Isabelle had surely long since evaporated, now that she was an international design star with a rock ’n’ roll boyfriend.

But being cautious had its advantages as well. He made sure that every single piece of Cissé business for Tokyo Fashion Week was properly organised, whether Isabelle herself turned up or not. Then he made double sure. He made two itineraries – one for if she arrived, one for if she didn’t. If, by some miracle, she got on to a plane from LA to Tokyo, he would be there in person to hand it to her. She would have nothing to worry about; she only had to shine. If, by his agency, she could be relieved of one moment of stress or discomfort, then he would sacrifice anything to achieve that end, whether she knew it or not. Dan knew, of course, that he was desperately in love with Isabelle, but for the time being, disguising it as professional efficiency made it that much easier to deal with.

Officially, Dan was in Tokyo to represent the interests of Walker Parker and their various clients on both sides of the shop counter. But he could do that in his sleep, not that he was getting much of that; he spent every available hour planning how to make Tokyo Fashion Week into the happiest experience of Isabelle’s life. She would want for nothing – she would be cushioned from the rough and tumble of life in a strange city, and just to be on the safe side – that Dan Parker caution again – he engaged the services of a driver and a limousine who would be at her disposal twenty-four hours a day. He hired a translator who would accompany her to meetings and shoots. He even bought a little personal GPS tracker, in case she got lost in a strange city – she could simply leave it in her bag, and wherever she was, he could find her. Yes, Dan Parker really had thought of everything.