She wavered, judging the wisdom of making another appeal to him, but his eyes were dark with anger and pain. She turned on her heel and followed Kayley to a small room beyond the scope of the art exhibition.
When she opened the door, she saw Tabitha, her friend, gallery owner and co-ordinator of the whole show, sitting in deep conversation with the errant rock star ex-husband and another woman in a tight black dress and matching little pillbox hat.
‘Jen, at last,’ cried Deano, standing up, his face wreathed in smiles as if this were some kind of joyous reunion.
He came over to her, arms extended, but she sidestepped his embrace and went to sit down beside Tabitha on the brand new cream leather sofa.
‘You could have called,’ she said, keeping her voice as flat and unemotional as she could.
‘Well, yeah, I could. But where would be the fun in that? I wanted to surprise you, babe.’
He slunk back over to the sofa and picked up his champagne glass.
‘I don’t like surprises. I would have thought you’d have worked that one out, after nearly twenty years together.’
‘Mm, I forgot. Been too long, hasn’t it? When I saw the news about your exhibition, I couldn’t resist. Booked a flight right away, didn’t I, Parker?’
He appealed to the pillbox-hatted woman who, Jenna thought, on giving her a proper look, bore a strong resemblance to Lucy Liu.
‘That’s right,’ she said, leaning ingratiatingly towards Jenna. ‘He’s so spontaneous.’
‘And you would be …?’
‘Sorry, babe. This is my new agent. Parker van Steenburgen.’
Jenna nodded stiffly. ‘Jenna Myatt,’ she said. ‘You’re an LA agent? I haven’t heard of you.’
‘New kid on the block,’ she said. ‘Hoping to follow in your incredible footsteps. I mean, seriously, you’re like my idol.’
Jenna acknowledged the flattery with a cold inclination of her head, then she turned to Tabitha.
‘Could you go and talk to Jason?’ she said. ‘He’s not happy and he could do with some support.’
‘Of course.’
‘And perhaps you could leave me and my husband to talk in private,’ she suggested to Parker, who looked momentarily affronted before rising with a polite echo of Tabitha’s, ‘Of course.’
Jenna took a glass of champagne for herself. She’d earned it, she thought. All she’d done all night was crisis management, and now she was tired of it.
‘So, why are you really here?’ she said. ‘Sabotage? Self-promotion? Idle curiosity?’
‘Babe, I thought we were being amicable.’
‘Stop calling me babe.’
‘Jen, come on …’
‘I’m serious, Deano. You didn’t tell me you were coming – I suppose because you didn’t want me to put you off. If you knew that was likely, why are you here? Why have you come to trash Jason’s all-important opening night?’
He paused before answering, raising his eyebrows and smirking in a way that made Jenna want to slap him. That face she had loved, that expression that had made her heart flip. Now all it did was give her fantasies of violence.
‘You’re getting your Bleddy accent back, girl,’ he said. ‘You sounded just like your mum then.’
‘Shut up. Why?’
‘Oh, Jen, I miss you.’ His face crumpled into sorrow. ‘My life’s going to shit without you. I’ve been a fool. I didn’t treat you the way I should.’
‘Put it in a song,’ she said.