I heard Jenny’s name being called and Jerome appeared and said they had to go. He headed in the direction of the door and I was quick to notice that Jenny didn’t appear particularly happy about having to leave with him. I took my opportunity and asked Jenny for her number and I whispered to her that I would love to see her again, even if we could just talk about art.

Tell your boyfriend it’s business, I said.

She laughed and said that she would do just that.

She gave me her card. It was cream-coloured with a swoop of turquoise that I presumed signified the sea. Jenny Mitchell was in gold lettering and there was an icon of a shell over the ‘i’ in Mitchell. Now I could find her again. I flipped the card over and stuffed it in the back pocket of my jeans.

Andy looked over at me and gave me a wink.

We got back to work.

4. The Chase

May 1995

So it was official, Jenny had a boyfriend. I knew I was on dangerous ground but I didn’t care, not really. I had to have her. She couldn’t be happy with him, if she was she wouldn’t have had sex with me the night I met her.

I didn’t waste any time. I rang her the next day. When she answered my call, there was a caginess in her voice. I ignored it and filled the awkwardness by talking up her art, reassuring her, saying it was wonderful, how it had intrigued me. I reiterated that Andy was interested in showing it in the Crown. She seemed delighted with that and as she talked about the difficulties of securing a solo exhibition or even a group show regularly in any of the galleries in Dublin, I could hear her breathing quicken as she described what it took, how you had to push yourself, how you wouldn’t get anywhere without a real drive. I told her that sometimes ambition could be a scary thing but she had to try to go along with it. I made a few self-deprecating remarks, to make her feel, I hoped, better about her prospects, how I couldn’t really paint, for love or money, but despite that I still believed in myself. I said it was a matter of switching her mindset, if she believed she could achieve something, she would. I could sense her tone changing from negativity to a more positive one. Asking her out that night on a date seemed like the natural course of action, even though Jerome was on my mind.