“No,” Kate said. “You let Mr. Lee choose. He knows exactly what works best for a particular man. You pay and say thank you. The man is a genius. You’re lucky he worked you into his schedule.”
“Good morning, Mr. Lee,” she greeted the small but impeccably dressed man in a three-piece suit complete with pocket watch.
He sniffed dramatically and said, “Is this the Holbrook boy? He’s absolutely massive. This will take longer than I thought. It may not even be possible.”
Grant was taken aback. Kate just smiled.
“Well, if you can’t do it…”
“Of course I can do it! Of course! Step this way.” He led them to a back room. It was wood paneled with a trifold mirror and a round wooden stand.
“Up! Undress,” the older Asian man commanded. Grant pulled off his shirt and pants. He looked at Kate.
“It’s nothing she hasn’t seen before,” Mr. Lee said with a toothy smile.
Kate blushed.
“I know these things,” the tailor said as he pulled on his spectacles and proceeded to measure Grant. He wrote numbers for the length of his leg, his waist, his chest, and his arms. Mr. Lee had to pull over a stepstool to measure his neck and his shoulder-to-floor length.
“I have what I need,” he said finally. “My assistant will let you know when the first pieces are ready. Suits take longer than shirts and pants, but we will get you taken care of.”
“Thank you!”
The door to the shop tinkled as they exited.
“Now on to a watch,” Kate told him. “You need something better than that thing.”
“This watch was with me for multiple deployments,” Grant protested. “It’s a great watch—practically indestructible.”
“Be that as it may, it’s not going to go with your new suit,” Kate said as they walked a block down the main street and opened the door into an understated luxury jewelry store.
“They have a small selection of high-end watches,” Kate told him. “But we should be able to find something you like. If not, we can always go into New York City.”
“Can I help you two?” a clerk said, coming over.
“I’m Kate with Mr. Holbrook. I called ahead.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the man said. “Looking for a man’s watch, I remember. You would like a Patek Philippe watch, if I remember correctly?”
“Not a Rolex?” Grant asked them. Patek Philippe was a nothing brand, right? That was what his crappy old watch was.
“I can assure you that Patek has the highest-quality watches,” the clerk said to him with a wan smile.
“But that’s what I already have,” Grant said and stuck out his wrist.
“I highly doubt…”
Grant gestured to the watch, and the clerk sighed and took a quick glance at Grant’s watch.
“I believe that must be a fake. The company never made a watch such as…” He trailed off and held out a slightly trembling hand. “May I see that more closely?”
Grant obligingly took off the watch. Kate looked between them, confused. The clerk took the watch to the counter and studied it under a magnifier.
“Impossible,” Grant heard him murmur. Then the clerk pulled out a phone.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I must call Geneva.”
Grant and Kate looked at each other in confusion. The clerk talked rapidly and quietly in French, his hand cupping the phone. Grant could pick out “rare prototype” and “aviator wristwatch.”
