The Big Four

Dave dreaded these Brussels meetings. There was always a faint but unmistakable smell of garlic in the air and surely he was not alone in being offended by the aggressive cut of the Giorgio Armani suits? Plus, it was quite clear that neither Nicolas nor Sivio - nor indeed any of the others whose names he could never remember - could by any stretch of the imagination be described as a chap.
Nicolas, for his part resented what he perceived as Dave's British arrogance. At one point he had taken Dave aside and said: "Ecoutez Dave, either you join the club either you shut your mouth. And while you're at it, why don't you try learning a foreign language?"
But whatever their differences, Nicolas and Dave were united in their dislike of Silvio. They were offended by his deodorant (Right Guard?) and hair lotion (Brylcreem?), and could not altogether escape the impression that he was actually embalmed.
And as for Angela, well there were a lot of things all three could say about Angela. The trouble was, she was the only one with any money. If only she would be a sport and just hand over their pocket money so they could whizz back to the tuck shop for some more sweets. But no, matron seemed to take a sadistic delight in berating them for their lax behaviour. The bell rang and they trudged glumly into matron's study.