Austin had developed a swagger as he drifted over to Jenny and I followed him and tried not to be nervous. As soon as he introduced us, that feeling of unease and edgy tension seemed to lift. She smiled and her eyes creased at the sides when she laughed at something Austin said. He had a way with women and I was learning just from watching him in action. He went off in search of more drink and this gave me my opportunity to tell Jenny that I thought her art was beautiful.

It was the right thing to say because her work was just that. It was like a reflection of her own beauty and I told her this in a roundabout way. I mixed up the mention of her inner beauty with the wonder of the sea to make it sound more natural. I was drawing her in, and in truth I was somewhat taken aback by her vulnerability when she mentioned that no one had bought any of her pieces, and yet little red dots were appearing, as if by magic, beside the other artists’ work. I had a desire to hold her there and then and to tell her that everything was going to be fabulous.

I told her to give it time; it was early enough. I looked to my left wrist and stared at a blankness where there should have been a watch. It’s early, I repeated, and said, any day now I will wear a watch.

I desperately wanted to appear interesting and I sensed that discussing the wearing of a wristwatch wasn’t going to cut it. So I asked her all about herself; where she came from, her family, her favourite colour, the works. By the end of my first glass of wine, I was enjoying myself and had relaxed. Jenny had that way about her of making me feel at ease. I wondered why she had been alone earlier because she seemed so personable. People wandered over to her from time to time, mainly to congratulate her on her paintings, and she had kind words for all of them. When I asked her what was with the long face earlier on, she said that someone had let her down and hadn’t shown up. I didn’t make too much of a deal about it but I did worry that she might have been waiting for a bloke.