Page 265 - James Caan - The Real Deal

26 · What Now?

I had always been respectful towards my father; even as an adult
I had obeyed him and his word had remained law. I couldn’t help
but be struck by how differently my daughters talked to me.
‘Can we go to Cannes this weekend, Dad?’
‘No.’
With my dad, that would have been the end of the conversation,
but they would always ask me why not. And unless I could come
up with a really good reason, we’d go to Cannes! I absolutely
loved their cheek as I recognised it as a sign of a feistiness that
would see them achieve whatever they wanted in life. Of the two,
Hanah always has to get to the bottom of something, and won’t
stop until she completely understands a situation: in that respect,
she has the makings of a fine entrepreneur, and when she finishes
her degree she will be very welcome to come and work with me.
Jemma will be, too, but I sense she may follow a more creative
path, like her mother. I find it fascinating how I can see both my
and Aisha’s traits in both our daughters.
The three of us would go shopping together, ostensibly to buy
the girls a few treats, but while we were in West End boutiques I
saw clothes for me. I no longer needed a suit, and I acquired a
whole new wardrobe of ripped jeans and T-shirts. The girls
thought it was a bit embarrassing, but I thoroughly enjoyed
playing around with my image. I grew a beard and decided I liked
it. I started wearing beads and bracelets – things I would never
previously have worn. All my adult life I had seen myself as a guy
in a suit, but now I could decide for myself how I wanted to dress.
It was such a contrast from my previous life that I found the
change from loafers to flip-flops liberating. Previously I’d been
worrying about cash flow and overheads, but now my biggest
concern was how many rips DKNY were putting in their jeans that
season or if my beads were the right colour.
A few months after I stopped work I received an invitation to
go to the Entrepreneur of the Year awards at the Grosvenor House

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