‘Yes, but a little stiff,’ she said. ‘Try again. Just make it look easy and natural.’
His second attempt was more to Georgina’s liking, and she took his hand
and shook it.
‘What’s all that kissing thing though?’ he wanted to know. ‘Do I have to do that?’
‘It’s more for established friends,’ said Georgina. ‘Especially female friends. If you don’t know the woman well, it’s best to stick to a handshake.’
‘Good. Because it’d make me feel a right ponce.’
Georgina’s smile was tight at the corners.
‘Shall we make some more polite conversation?’ she suggested, launching into her next gambit without waiting for consensus. ‘Oh, yes, of course I’ve read all about you in the arts pages,’ she said. ‘I tried to get tickets for your show but, dear me – gold dust!’ She smiled with practised warmth.
‘Oh. That’s a shame,’ said Jason awkwardly. ‘Maybe next time I can get you on the guest list.’
‘That would be wonderful. I hear this marvellous new talent was a discovery of yours, Jenna, is that right?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Jenna. ‘And I thank my lucky stars our paths crossed.’
‘So . . .’ There was a glint in Georgina’s eye that made Jenna suddenly wary. ‘How did that happen then?’
Oh, she knew, of course, Jenna thought, annoyed at the sudden burst of heat on her face. Everybody did – everybody who read the papers or took the slightest notice of tabloid gossip.
‘I was kipping in her attic,’ Jason said matter-of-factly. ‘Dossing, like. She found me there, and saw my paintings on the wall.’
‘You were homeless?’
‘Do I have to go through the whole story?’ He turned to Jenna. ‘I mean, everyone knows. It were in all the papers.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Georgina. ‘But I knew that your situation was . . . unusual. I thought it best that you should be prepared for people’s perhaps excessive curiosity. Sometimes, when a story is as juicy as yours, people can forget your right to a private life.’
‘Juicy,’ said Jason contemplatively. ‘Yeah. It’s that all right.’
‘People may well pretend to know less than they actually do, just to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak,’ said Georgina. ‘And perhaps get a nice titbit that hasn’t been in the papers, to gossip over with their friends.’
‘Can’t I just tell them to fuck off, if that’s their game?’ said Jason.
Georgina laughed nervously.
‘Well, it’s your prerogative, of course, but it might not work to your advantage. I’d like to offer you some other options.’
‘Like what?’
‘You can simply point out that the story has been in all the newspapers, if they want to go and refer to Google. That should be enough to silence any overly zealous questioners. You can laugh it off. You can simply change the subject. Any of these will steer the conversation away from more intimate waters. Would you like to try it?’
Jason shrugged. ‘OK.’
‘Oh yes,’ said Georgina, ‘weren’t you on the run from the police?’
‘Yeah, with your mum,’ said Jason.
Jenna snorted with laughter.
‘Maybe that’s going a bit far,’ she suggested.
‘What? It’s a joke!’