Lionel and Jean are standing in front of her branch office looking at the new logo, which says "..TYPE for YOU 2". She asks him what he thinks of it. "Very nice." She asks again. "Very nice." No, really -- she wants an honest opinion. It sounds a bit like "Superman 2" -- he thinks it's a bit pretentious. She wants to know if he thinks she's pretentious. He was talking about the sign -- not about her. She responds that since she was the one who thought up the name the implication is obvious. "Irondrawers," he calls her. He knows that's what the people at the agency call her behind her back. She just wanted him to be pleased. He says he is pleased, it's just that he doesn't care for the name. She unlocks the door to show him the inside.

The furnishings are not yet in place -- what furniture is there is still covered in plastic. Lionel is revolving in a swivel chair. He tells her it's fun. She says that she and the girls play in them all the time. Jean picks up a piece of stationery and asks if he really thinks the logo is pretentious. He doesn't understand why his opinion on the business front makes a difference. He's hardly a tycoon, after all. "Still nothing on the lecture front?" she asks. He tells her that that source of income seems to have dried up -- his rambling on about his life in Kenya always did have a boredom threshold, he feels. She tells him there's always the book -- books sometimes take off. The only way this book will take off, he thinks, is if someone reads it on a plane. He wants to think about other things -- she's the man of the moment. She says she does have a problem -- getting someone to run the agency. He tells her if that's an offer... She interrupts, saying no, he's a dear man, but when it comes to running a secretarial agency... She wants to know if she really has to finish that thought. He tells her that she doesn't need to go on. "Talk about a bull in a china shop," she says. He reminds her that he already said she didn't have to go on. Lionel says he thought that Judith was the obvious choice. Jean doesn't appear to be in agreement. She says she'd better get back to the office.

Sandy answers the telephone at Agency number one. It's Alistair, who asks if she can talk. She tells him she just did. He knows that she knows where he's coming from. He asks if she's free for lunch. She says disbelievingly, "Alistair, Judith is a friend of mine." He tells her he doesn't mean that kind of lunch. He wants to talk business. She tells him she has a job. People have bad backs, too, but they can get better. He asks if one o'clock is all right. He'll have a few morsels sent up to his office. She says she won't be there. It'll be just him and his morsels, he says. Judith walks into the office. She's been shopping. She asks if everything's under control. Sandy wonders what she would think if she said it was complete chaos. Well, it wouldn't be with her there. "Good old Sandy," says good old Sandy. Judith walks into her office and calls Sandy in to see what she's bought. She's wearing a new, sensible suit. There's a time, she says, to flash your knees and a time not. She figures that if she's going to run the new branch she should try for a more sober image. Sandy looks a little hurt and congratulates Judith. Judith tells her that Jean hasn't actually said anything to her yet, but it certainly stands to reason, doesn't it? Sandy agrees that it does make sense. Judith observes that it's nearly lunch time and she asks if they can be incredibly disciplined and pop across the road for a salad. Sandy says that she already has plans for lunch with a friend. Judith says she'll see her later then. Sandy walks into the outer office, closes the door, sighs and bites her lip. She's not so sure about this.

"More champagne?" asks Alistair. No, she's got to go back to work, Sandy tells him. He sits down to talk to her about coming to work for him as a Girl Friday. She hates that expression -- makes her think of someone in a goatskin dress. He tells her to subsitute "personal assistant." She's very bright and he needs someone very bright, he says. She tells him he really has a nerve -- she's worked for Jean for ages. Yes, as a secretary but where do you go from there, he asks. He says it is rather obvious that Judith will get the new branch -- blood is thicker than ability. She says she likes Jean. He says he's crazy about the lady, but he's talking future, he's talking serious. She asks him about money. He says he never talks money. He pulls a calculator out of his shirt and punches up some numbers. He shows them to Sandy. Her jaw drops: "You are serious," she tells him.

Lionel is in the kitchen doing the ironing. He pulls a bra from the laundry basket and has a hard time trying to figure out how to iron it. Jean comes in and he tells her he was doing fine -- doing really great on the rectangular stuff and then he came across the bra. She tells him that they don't need to be ironed. He's about to iron a blouse but she tells him to pack up and have a cup of tea. Lionel says that's a good idea, he'll make them some tea. She doesn't want him to make it. She wants him not to feel that he has to do things around the house. He wonders if she's afraid he'll become a drudge. She changes the subject -- Alistair says he's trying to sell the book in Holland. Lionel says that's a shame -- he's always liked the Dutch. And Scandinavia. He can't imagine My Life in Kenya setting Stockholm on its ear. She advises Lionel that it is commoon knowledge that the Swedes are very inquisitive people. He tells her that in that case he'll just sit back and wait for the krone to roll in. And the guilders, she adds. He wonders if he should be rent to her. He ought to chip in, he says. Jean says he's already chipping in. He's done all the ironing. She doesn't want any more talk about money. Okay, then, he'll make dinner that night. Again, she says no. "Being here," she says, "that's chipping in." That, and having someone to talk to. She says she needs to talk to someone right now about Judith.

Judith is under the impression that she's going to run the new branch, Jean says, but she honestly doesn't think that Judith is the right person for the job. She can't let her go on thinking it, but she really doesn't know how to tell her so. He wants to know who she thinks is able to run the branch. She says there's someone she knows can run the branch -- Sandy. Just then Judith comes home. Jean tells Lionel that she'd better get it over with. Lionel says he'll start dinner. Again, Jean tells him no and walks out of the kitchen. He looks at the counter where Jean has been unpacking the groceries she brought home. He's delighted, grins, looks like a 12 year old boy and exclaims with an oh-boy! look in his eyes: "Custard tarts!"

Jean has obviously just told Judith the bad news and Judith doesn't seem to be taking it very well. They're sitting in the living room, Jean in Lionel's chair fidgeting and Judith on the couch staring straight ahead. Total silence. Lionel comes into the room and wonders if it's okay since it's been over an hour and he figures they've already had the chat. "Chat," repeats Judith. Lionel says he put some potatoes in the oven. Jean says she didn't want him to start dinner, but he figures that jacket potatoes are just a starch. She says she'll go into the kitchen to find something that goes with jacket potatoes. He starts after her saying he'll come with her. Jean mouths the words "stay, talk to her." Lionel obviously doesn't want to stay and talk with her, but she repeats her mouthing. Poor Lionel.

He asks Judith if she wants a drink. She doesn't, but he thinks he'll have one. "You knew about this chat then?" she asks. Lionel says that Jean did mention it to him. He supposes she's a bit disappointed -- then says that was a pretty stupid thing to say. He tells her that it was hard for Jean to make that decision. Now she's a heroine, Judith says. She says she's all knees and dimples. Her job is soothing dissatisfied customers. People think she hasn't got a brain in her head, but she's so sweet that they give the agency another chance. She believes that's the sum total of her. Lionel tells her he knows that Jean never said that. Not in so many words, says Judith, but she did say she was disorganized, slap-dash, not such a good timekeeper and someone who treated the job as though it were a hobby. Lionel says Jean was right -- she was a very nice girl, yes, but if she would have worked for him in Kenya she wouldn't have lasted two weeks. Judith is surprised by his honesty. She says "so I'm useless?" Not useless, but Lionel tells her she could be more useful. She tells him she thought he liked her. "You don't expect me to fall for that one, do you?" he says. His answer makes her grin. The crisis is over. He looks at her and tells her not to just be the boss' daughter. She says she was probably wrong to assume that she qualified for the job. "Whereas," Lionel says, "Sandy does qualify." "Sandy?" New crisis begins. As Judith reacts he says, probably already knowing the answer "didn't your mother tell you?" She runs out.

Lionel walks into the kitchen. He tells Jean that she shouldn't have left him there in the first place. She's surprised. What happened? she wants to know -- she thought Judith liked him and that he'd cheer her up. He tells Jean that he almost did. That is, until he mentioned Sandy. Jean nearly collapses. She was keeping that for tomorrow, she says. She bets he wishes he never moved in. He tells her that he'll let her know after dinner.

Sandy is in Jean's office having a cry. Jean has just offered her the job and says that she doesn't understand the younger generation because Sandy looks as though she'd just been given the sack. Sandy tells her she thought she'd offered the job to Judith. Jean says that she didn't. But she's your daughter, Sandy says. That made it even harder, Jean tells her, but the job was Sandy's by right -- she's better at it than Judith. She was crying because she felt so guilty. She tells Jean that Alistair made her an offer and she told him she'd think about it. She tells Jean it was very tempting. Sandy tells her that maybe Jean should kick her out right now. Jean can't do that, she says, because she's wearing her best shoes. She tells Sandy not to feel so guilty -- it's just business. She feels badly because she went behind Jean's back. She wanted to tell her about it, but she thought Jean would hit the roof. Jean tells her that her career is hers, her life is hers and if she would have told her that she was talking to Alistair, Jean would have said -- she interrupts herself -- yes, she's quite right, she would have hit the roof.

Lionel and Jean are walking through the park eating ice cream cones and chatting. Lionel says this whole situation makes him glad he's unemployed. She corrects him: self-employed. She says that it was hard for Judith to be told she's second-best. They sit down on a bench. Lionel asks her if she likes chili. She wants to know if he means the food or the country. The food, he says. He makes a pretty fair chili and wants to make some for dinner. She wants to know why he has developed such a fetish about cooking dinner. He tells her to stop acting like a male chauvinist and let him cook their dinner. She'd like that. He tells her if he did have a fetish it would be a lot more interesting than chili con carne. What would it be, she wants to know. She's got an ice cream mustache across her upper lip. He says "women with ice cream round their mouths." She laughs, wipes it off and says he might have told her. He just did.

She recalls the conversation they had when they agreed that Lionel's running the branch was a silly idea. She asks if it really was all that silly. Totally absurd, he says. He thinks the idea of his handling a bunch of women is crazy. She tells him they're not wild beasts. It would just take some organizing and he could get himself a good secretary. He says his step-mother Madge would be better. Jean observes that Madge is 78 and, according to Lionel, off her rocker. That would make her perfect, he says, for the set-up she's proposing. He tells her he knows what she's up to -- it's a make-Lionel-a-few-bob idea. She says it isn't so. He tells her to prove it. She thinks. Well, it would be nice to have "someone I know" working with her. "Know? -- we're sleeping together." Well, know very well, she answers. He knows that despite what Jean says, it's not right that he should work for her. He gives her a kiss and tells her if he were a frontiersman, she's the sort of woman he'd like by his side. She asks him if he's thinking of becoming one. "Not immediately," is his answer.

Jean is waiting in his office to see Alistair. Alistair arrives in a bathrobe. He's just come from having a sauna. Jean is surprised that he has a sauna in the office and he tells her to stop by any time she feels like having one. He offers her some carrot juice or something, but she says she didn't come for the sauna or the carrot juice -- she came to tell him that he's a toad. He offers her some stress balls. She's really upset because he's trying to poach her secretary. He admits that's true. She thought they were friends. He says that's true -- in fact, when he thinks they could have been more than friends it still excites him. She tells him to just stop that. She wants an explanation. Sandy is a diamond, he says. What would she do if it were the other way around and Sandy worked for him. She tells him she'd think him to be very lucky. "And?" That's all, she says. We're talking business, he says. If she worked for me and gave the impression she wasn't happy, are you telling me you wouldn't make the slightest noises towards her, he asks. She might. Alistair tells her that Sandy thought Judith was getting the new job. Jean tells him that she wants Sandy to have it, but -- to be honest -- she can't compete with all that Alistair can offer her. He tells her they'll leave it to Sandy. And he'll increase his offer. You do, says Jean "and I'll turn on the tears."

Alistair tells Jean she does look fantastic, though. He thinks life with Lionel suits her. She sighs and puts down her purse. "Probs?" he asks. Well, the book's not selling, the lecture tours are non-existent and all he wants to do is cook dinner. She doesn't want him to feel less. Alistair says that Lionel is a weird guy. She says maybe a bit odd, but not weird. He says why else would he have turned down the opportunity to earn some money. She doesn't understand. He tells her about the miniseries idea he talked with Lionel about a couple of weeks before. The book about their younger days. Alistair says it's just a story sitting there waiting to be told. She tells Alistair he's crazy, but he answers "Do I have a sauna in the office?" She wonders who would be interested in such a soppy story. "The World," he says. Jean wants to know on a scale of 1 to 10 how realistic this is. Three, he says, but it's better than cooking dinner. Let's talk, she says. She decides he's not a toad.

Lionel walks into the living room saying that his chili is coming along very nicely. Jean, who is lying on the couch, asks him if he remembered to soak the kidney beans. Lionel doesn't appreciate the remark and Jean thinks that cooking dinner makes him touchy. Only when he's doing something ambitious, he says. When he boils an egg, he's positively cavalier. Jean tells him that she talked with Alistair earlier in the day. She tells him that she went to talk about his poaching Sandy. Lionel assumes he was contrite. Nearly groveling. She says that he never mentioned Alistair's book offer. He says he'd sooner walk naked down Oxford Street. They hear someone come in. Jean assumes it's Judith and tells Lionel "If there's a row..." Lionel interrupts her and says he'll be in the kitchen. It's actually Judith and Sandy. They've had a chat. Judith apologizes and kisses both Jean and Lionel. She never should have thought she was up for the job, she says. Maybe the next branch. And Sandy tells her that she's said "no" to Alistair and she doesn't want to run the new branch either. It was nice, she says, to be appreciated. Jean doesn't know what to do with the two of them -- whatever happened to ambition? she wants to know. She thanks Sandy for being so loyal. Sandy smiles and says that tomorrow she wants to talk to Jean about a raise. Judith says "both of us." They leave to go out to dinner. "Women," Lionel laughs -- until Jean stares him down.

Jean is eating the chili and finds it a bit hot. She's drinking water and holding a rag to wipe herself. She looks as though she's suffering. Lionel says that's the way he likes it and he'll tone it down a bit the next time. About Alistair... she says. He talks about the other things he can make -- his stew's not to be sneezed at. About Alistair... she says. Pie in the sky, he says. She wants to know if they're still talking about cooking or have they finally got round to talking about Alistair. She read his book -- she knows he can't write well, Lionel says. He would have been better off if he sold his book as a sleeping pill. She says Alistair's not talking about a book -- he's talking about the miniseries. Written for tiny little people? Jean says she's going to pour the rest of the chili over him in a minute if he doesn't get serious. He says he can't write a miniseries. She tells him he doesn't know that. He can try for a few hours writing about when they were young. He says it's all history. It's not relevant. She tells him that history makes for good television and reminds them that they watched a show about the 50s just the other night with some actor in it whose name she can't remember. He tells her she fell asleep. She says the bits she saw were very good. If Alistair thinks it can work, why not? He asks her if she would have allowed television cameras in their bedroom when they were younger. No, but they don't want them in it. Lionel says it's pie in the sky and Alistair knows it. He can't write fiction. Jean says it isn't fiction -- it all happened. He says it's their business and nobody else's. Lionel gets up to clear the table. He wants to know if he should save the chili for tomorrow. Jean doesn't think her temperature will have returned to normal by then. He'll have it for lunch, he says. She won't let up. No-one will even know it's us, she says. Lionel is sure the opposite is true. If he knows Alistair he'll be operating a guided tour past the house. He doesn't understand why she is so in favor of this idea. She says it's because of him. She doesn't want him to spend the rest of his life loading dishwashers and ironing bras. She says she doesn't care about the money. She doesn't care if he never earns anything for the rest of his life, but he does. She figures it's all related to his pride.

She starts to prompt him. Scene One: A handsome second lieutenant from the Middlesex regiment was strolling through Hyde Park, he sees a young nurse. What then? The most original chat-up line he could think of was "Could you tell me the way to Curzon Street?" She wants to know what the officer felt. A total fool, in retrospect. No, she wants to know what he felt then. He stops doing what he's doing, looks at her and says I saw you and I stopped breathing. I really did. "Did you?" she smiles. He tells her he started again or he would have died. But then there was no-one else in the park -- nothing else in the park, just you. She wants to have an early night that night. She tells him that was a beautiful thing to say. He says he couldn't write it though. She tells him he just did. He wants to know what about the sex scenes. Well, we had plenty of those, she says. He means on the television. She gets frustrated because he can't seem to get it through his head that it won't really be them. He says she's just getting carried away. You know Alistair, he says: Pie in the sky. The telephone rings. It's Alistair calling from Heathrow. He's flying out. Going to talk to America. She starts to hum.