MANHATTAN – 20 SEPTEMBER
Professor Alan G.F. Milton strode across the busy lobby of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue. He had practised walking with the backs of his hands rotated forward, like Presidents did. Makes your shoulders look bigger. He was wearing a navy pinstripe suit, a crisp white shirt and a plain red tie. Showbiz, that’s what this is, he’d said to himself in the mirror that morning, as he carefully combed his thick, blond locks. Got to look the part. He was in New York to head up an information seminar on SuperVerve for an audience of New York doctors.
‘Alan, Alan,’ he heard a call from his left. He looked around and waving at him were Dr Cook, Professor Kolsen and Arlene Thomas. They were drinking coffee at one of the lobby tables.
‘Hi, Alan, good to see you,’ said Dr Cook. ‘Have you met Arlene Thomas from Dynamic Communications?’
‘No, I haven’t had the pleasure yet,’ said Professor Milton, clasping Arlene’s hand in both of his own, ‘but we spoke on the phone the other day.’ Wow, great body, he thought, and he risked a quick glance at her ring finger.
‘Nice to meet you, Professor, at last,’ said Arlene.
Professor Milton shook hands with Professor Kolsen. ‘Hi, Oscar, good to see you again.’
‘Okay, gentlemen,’ Arlene said, ‘our seminar will be in the ballroom. We have it all set up and ready to go for 12.30. Why don’t we go down and have a run through?’
‘Sure, let’s do that,’ smiled Professor Milton, and, picking up their briefcases, they followed Arlene towards the elevator.
‘You get that bonus cheque, Oscar?’ Professor Milton quietly asked his colleague.
‘Yeah, nice one. Two hundred grand in yesterday’s post. Anton got the same.’
‘Excellent. They seem to be very happy,’ replied Milton. He had received a bonus of half a million dollars and a note hinting at plenty more to come if the SuperVerve success story continued.
Arlene held open the double doors into the ballroom and the three doctors paused to take in the scene. Over one hundred circular tables were laid out, cabaret style. Three magnificent chandeliers threw light in every direction, which sparkled off the crystal glasses on the tables. The stage was set with a large, cream leather couch, horseshoe-shaped around a glass coffee table.
Arlene steered them up on to the stage. ‘Now, gentlemen, first I’ll welcome the doctors, then the video takes about five minutes. Then I’ll introduce you in turn to deliver your pieces and Professor Milton will close out. After you speak at the podium, please return and have some coffee at the table. I suggest we all sit fairly informally. No barrier signals in the body language, no folded arms. Legs preferably uncrossed, or crossed towards the audience please – we want to look “open”. Don’t let your hands drop below the level of the table – that can make you look suspicious. We’ll do the Q&A from the couch – you’ll all be individually miked as well.’
The three medics nodded attentively.
‘I’ll pick a moment close to 1.15 p.m. to finish up. I’ll thank them for coming and get them moving into the next room for lunch. Everyone okay with that?’
‘Awesome, Arlene, sounds A-okay,’ said Milton.
‘Good. After the run through, there’s a seating area backstage for you and we’ll get a little make-up on you, because of the lights. We’ll be making a DVD of the event which we can send out to clinics and to the medical journals. We’ll also put an edited version on the SuperVerve website so people can stream it.’
‘Sounds great,’ said Professor Milton appreciatively, confident that he was in the hands of a real professional.
*
The doctors were milling through the doors by 12.20 p.m. These big information seminars were usually well worth attending.
And no one does it better than Yamoura, thought Dr Peter Phillips as he handed over his invitation, chose a table and took a seat.
‘Hi, Peter Phillips,’ he said, introducing himself to four other doctors – all working in Manhattan clinics as it turned out. The brief seminar would conclude with lunch at 1.30 p.m. and ‘an opportunity to network with colleagues’, said the invitation. The lunch should be good too, thought Dr Phillips. Better not eat too much, though. He was due to play golf at four. The medical panel was certainly heavyweight – and all three on FDA approval panels, he noticed from their CVs. The full attendance was also bolstered by the fact that the seminar would qualify for two hours of ‘continuing medical education’, a requirement for doctors to keep abreast of new medical developments.
The ballroom was packed by the time the Chariots of Fire theme tune swirled around the room and the lights went down. Victor, Katie and Mark Reynolds from Dynamic stood at the back of the room behind the sound desk. All three felt that buzz of nervous excitement that goes with any big event. Victor Dezner nudged Katie and showed her his crossed fingers. Katie winked and crossed hers too.
‘Break a leg, Arlene,’ whispered Mark.
The music faded and Arlene Thomas, wearing a glamorous but professional black trouser suit and blue blouse, strode to the podium.
‘Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, I’m Arlene Thomas and I’m facilitating our seminar today. Firstly, on behalf of Yamoura Pharmaceuticals, can I warmly welcome you all here and thank you for coming along.’
After a few moments of introduction, she nodded to the technician, and a giant screen burst into life with an expensively produced corporate video on the benefits of SuperVerve as reported by patients and doctors around the world.
Arlene returned to the podium. ‘Yamoura have carried out extensive clinical trials on these newly discovered bonus benefits and asked an eminent independent physician, Professor Alan G.F. Milton, to assemble an independent panel of experts, to review that material. Firstly, Professor Oscar Kolsen, from Dallas University, will summarise his findings on early diagnosis.’
There was a polite round of applause and Professor Kolsen presented a fairly dull paper, with lots of charts and graphs on the big screen. He was followed by Dr Cook, who added his contribution on lifestyle illnesses and weight loss, in fifteen minutes.
Professor Alan G.F. Milton’s paper was straightforward. From his team’s rigorous review of the Japanese clinical findings, they were convinced that a more aggressive prescription regime of SuperVerve was leading to improved energy and quality of life as well as the alleviation of symptoms. Also, having taken expert advice on genetics from Professor Kolsen, he had no doubt that the findings would hold true for a western demographic.
The Q&A session went tamely enough. The only tricky moment came near the end.
‘Professor Milton, Dr Caroline Kane,’ called a voice from a table near the front. She was handed a roving microphone. ‘Dr Caroline Kane, Manhattan,’ she repeated. ‘Thank you for your most interesting presentation. But, as I understand it, isn’t this just the standard cephalosporin that we’ve all been prescribing for years? Why the name change? And don’t we have enough trouble with developing resistance to antibiotics, without encouraging people to take even more?’
Professor Milton leaned forward on the couch. ‘Thank you for your question, Caroline. Yes indeed, this is essentially a cephalosporin product. But one of the big messages for me is that we can get far quicker alleviation of a whole range of health problems by making earlier diagnosis. This rebranding also focuses on the extra benefits now discovered.’ Even as he said it, Professor Milton thought it was a nice answer. Probably worth a couple of thousand extra prescriptions next week.
Recognising this as a strong closing moment, Arlene Thomas returned to the podium. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a great session. Thank you so much again for your interest and support. Lunch is now being served next door.’
There was a burst of applause from the floor as the screen filled with logos and the Chariots of Fire music filled the room again. The not-so-subtle message of the Tokyo 2020 logo was picked up by most of the doctors present, who had already heard about Yamoura’s convention in Tokyo to coincide with the Olympic games.
The lunch was superb, with the very best food and wine. On the way out of the dining room, a team of pretty young women handed every doctor a box containing the latest iPad, onto which information on SuperVerve had been loaded.
*
Not far away, Tsan Yohoto had asked a surprised Anna Milani to lunch at Spice Symphony on Lexington Avenue. Her bosses, Victor and Katie at Dynamic, had been a bit taken aback, but guessed it could only be a positive development. ‘Getting closer to the clients and all that.’
‘This is the best Asian restaurant I have found so far in New York, Anna,’ he said, looking around at the busy tables. He got a delicious spark of pleasure from his visits to New York. All these millions of people, and they have no idea that I’m propelling them to their deaths.
‘It’s fantastic, thank you, Tsan,’ replied Anna. She hoped that this wasn’t going to be a prelude to him asking her to dinner, and pressing for a relationship. She had tried to talk about the SuperVerve campaign, but he told her he was more interested in her English upbringing and her views on American culture. The conversation was warming as he asked her about her family and growing up in the UK.
‘Adam was his name. He was just eight,’ she said. ‘Leukaemia. I still think about him every day.’ She was shocked to see tears suddenly flowing down Tsan Yohoto’s cheeks.
‘I don’t believe it!’ Yohoto said. ‘One of my brothers died from leukaemia too. He was just eight also. His name was Horto. I also think of him a lot. Even after all this time.’
He reached for her hand across the table and she took it in sympathy as he told her all about Horto. This has really affected him, thought Anna, as Tsan dabbed tears from his eyes. He seems genuinely upset. He is actually really quite sweet, and a good listener.
Tsan then showed her a photograph of his twin sister and brother, who had also died young.
‘So,’ said Tsan wiping away a last tear with a smile. ‘To happier matters. How is your Detective Wyse?’
And so Anna told him all about John Wyse and how they had met, and Tsan listened attentively.