‘I shall wash your jacket and return it next week.’

‘No need, you only wore it for a few minutes. My mum’ll sort it.’

Irene bristled. ‘Why would a grown man let his mother do his laundry? Do you enjoy being treated like a child?’

Jaxx pulled his head back in surprise. ‘Well, no, but…’

‘And another thing. You are clearly not a total deadbeat, despite trying to appear otherwise. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to start dressing in a way that demands respect. No one – and I mean no one – not even the type of young woman whose opinion you might care about, and believe it or not I was once young enough to know – wants to see your nipples.’

I choked back a burst of laughter. Underneath his hoodie, Jaxx had been wearing one of those basketball jerseys with no sleeves that was, to my unfashionable eyes, at least three sizes too big. The neckline hung below his breastbone instead of anywhere close to his neck, and every time he moved the whole thing gaped, revealing a pale, skinny chest.

Jaxx crossed his arms, pinning the top in place.

‘Don’t blow this,’ Irene snapped, nodding at the workbook in front of him. She then spun on her sensible shoes and clomped away.

Jaxx and I agreed to meet again, same time and place, nipples thoroughly covered up.

12

On Friday afternoon, I had more back-to-back sessions with Yasmin and Trev. Trev arrived five minutes early, nervously shuffling up to where Yasmin was hunched over her book.

‘Afternoon, Ollie. Is it all right if I wait here?’

I took in Trev’s frayed, but immaculately ironed, bright blue shirt and jeans. A flat cap covered his skull tattoo, and it completely changed his look. He’d trimmed his beard, and I caught a whiff of spicy aftershave when he lifted one arm to nervously adjust his cap.

‘No, of course. If that’s all right with you, Yasmin?’ I glanced at her, still engrossed in the book, the end of a pencil pressed against her bottom lip, thick hair tumbling around her soft face.

She nodded, not bothering to glance up. Trev eyed the chair next to her, before deciding to take the one opposite.

Yasmin finished a couple of minutes later, letting out a heavy sigh as she packed up her things. ‘This is hard work, Ollie.’

‘You’re doing great. You’ve made genuinely amazing progress for only three sessions.’

‘It feels amazingly slow when another bill comes through the door. Or somebody smiles at me with terrible teeth and all I can do is tell them to floss more often.’

‘I can imagine. But trust me, we’ll be booking you in for an exam in no time.’

She stood to leave, causing Trev to spring out of his chair, too.

‘Oh, I don’t think you two were properly introduced last week,’ I offered. ‘Yasmin, this is Trev. Trev, Yasmin.’