This Was A Man (30 page)

‘Congratulations,’ said Jessica.

‘What’s a chairman?’ demanded Jake.

‘Someone who’s in charge of everything and everybody, rather like a high mistress.’

‘I’d never thought of it quite like that,’ admitted Sebastian, as Samantha burst out laughing.

Jessica walked around the table and gave her father a hug. ‘Congratulations,’ she repeated.

‘Hakim seems far too young to retire,’ said Samantha, as she sliced the top off Jake’s egg.

‘I agree,’ said Seb, ‘but he’s fallen in love.’

‘I hadn’t realized that if you were the chairman of a bank and fell in love, you were expected to resign.’

‘It’s not compulsory,’ said Seb, laughing, ‘but banks generally prefer their chairman to reside in the same country, and the lady in question lives in
Copenhagen.’

‘Why doesn’t she come and live in England?’ asked Jessica.

‘Kristina Bergström is a very successful landscape architect with an international reputation but she has two children by her first marriage and she doesn’t want to move them
while they’re still at school.’

‘But how will Hakim occupy his time, given he has the energy of ten men?’

‘He plans to open a new branch of Farthings in Copenhagen, and Kristina’s company will be his first client. She’s already agreed that once the children leave school,
she’ll set up a practice in London.’

‘And when Hakim returns, will he resume the role of chairman?’

‘No. He couldn’t have made his position clearer. On September first, Hakim will become president of Farthings Kaufman, before I take over as chairman in the new year, with John
Ashley as my CEO.’

‘Have you told Victor?’ asked Samantha.

‘No, I thought I’d wait until it’s official.’

‘I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that meeting,’ said Samantha. ‘Have you ever met Ms Bergström?’

‘No, I only saw her in the witness box when she gave evidence at Hakim’s trial. As he was in custody at the time, it must have been love at first sight.’

‘Men often fall in love at first sight,’ declared Jessica, who had remained silent until then. ‘Women rarely do.’

‘I’m sure we are both grateful, Jessica, for your considerable insight on the subject of love,’ said Seb, ‘as we were for your grasp of macroeconomics.’

‘It’s not my opinion,’ said Jessica, ‘but D. H. Lawrence’s. It’s a quote from
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
, which although it wasn’t one of
the English set texts at St Paul’s, Claire thought I ought to read anyway.’

Sebastian and Samantha glanced at each other.

‘Perhaps this is as good a time as any,’ said Jessica, ‘to tell you I’m planning to move out.’

‘No, no, no,’ said Jake.

While Seb might have agreed with his son, he didn’t interrupt his daughter.

‘Claire and I have found a small flat just off Gower Street, only half a mile from the Slade.’

‘Sounds ideal,’ said Samantha. ‘When will you be leaving us?’

‘In about a fortnight’s time. If that’s all right with you, Pops.’

‘Of course it’s fine,’ said Samantha.

‘No, no, no,’ repeated Jake, pointing his spoon at Jessica.

‘Don’t point, Jake,’ said his mother.

‘T
ODAY
’
S LIFE DRAWING
class has been cancelled,’ said Professor Howard. A groan went up around the room when
the professor added, ‘Our model has once again failed to turn up.’

The twelve students were beginning to gather up their equipment, when a young man Jessica had never seen before rose from his seat, strolled into the middle of the room, stripped off and sat
down on the dais. A round of applause followed, as the first-year students returned to their easels and set about their work.

Paulo Reinaldo was the first man Jessica had ever seen naked, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was like a Greek god, she thought. Well, a Brazilian god. She sketched a charcoal
outline of his body with a few sweeping movements, an exercise that would take her fellow students considerably longer, and without the same results. Next, she concentrated on his head, which she
began to capture in greater detail. Long curly dark hair that she wanted to run her hands through. Her eyes travelled down his body and she began to wish she was a sculptor. His torso rippled, and
his legs looked as if they were built to run a marathon. She tried to concentrate as her tutor looked over her shoulder.

‘You’ve caught him,’ said Professor Howard. ‘Most impressive. But I need you to think about shadow and perspective, and never forget, less is more. Have you ever seen the
drawings Bonnard did of his wife climbing out of a bath?’

‘No.’

‘You’ll find some excellent examples in the academy library. They are the proof, if proof is needed, that if you want to know just how great an artist is, you should study their
preliminary drawings before you even consider their masterpieces. By the way, try not to make it quite so obvious how much you fancy him.’

During the next week, Jessica didn’t come across Paulo again. He was never to be found in the library and didn’t seem to attend lectures. After Professor
Howard’s remarks, she made no attempt to find out more about him from her fellow students. But whenever his name came up, she stopped talking and started listening.

‘He’s the son of a Brazilian industrialist,’ said a student from the year above her. ‘His father wanted him to come to London and brush up on his English, among other
things.’

‘I think he only intends to hang around for a couple of years, then go back to Rio and open a nightclub,’ offered another, while a third said, somewhat testily, ‘He only comes
to figurative drawing to scout out his next victim.’

‘You seem well informed,’ said Avril Perkins.

‘I ought to be, I slept with him half a dozen times before he dumped me,’ the girl said casually. ‘That’s how he spends most of his time, except the evenings.’

‘What does he do in the evenings?’ asked Jessica, unable to remain silent any longer.

‘Makes a close study of English nightclubs, rather than English watercolours. He claims that’s the real reason he’s over here. But he did tell me he plans to have slept with
every female student at the Slade by the end of his first year.’

They all laughed except Jessica, who was rather hoping to be his next victim.

When Jessica turned up for life drawing the following Thursday, two other girls were already seated on either side of Paulo. One of them was Avril Perkins. Jessica sat opposite
him on the other side of the semi-circle of students, trying to concentrate on the model, a middle-aged woman who looked bored and cold, unlike Avril.

Her eyes eventually returned to Paulo, to find he only needed one hand for drawing, while the other rested on Avril’s thigh.

When Professor Howard suggested a mid-morning break, Jessica waited for Avril to leave before she strolled around the circle of drawings, pretending to study her fellow students’ efforts.
Paulo’s wasn’t bad, it was dreadful. She wondered how he could ever have been offered a place at the Slade.

‘Not bad,’ said Jessica as she continued to look at his drawing.

‘I agree,’ said Paulo. ‘It’s awful, and you know it, because you’re so much better than any of us.’

Was he flirting, or did he really believe what he’d just said? Jessica didn’t care.

‘Would you like to come out for a drink tonight?’ he asked.

‘Yes please,’ she said, immediately regretting the ‘please’.

‘I’ll pick you up around ten and we can go clubbing.’

Jessica didn’t mention that by that time she was normally in bed with a book, not out clubbing.

She rushed home straight after her final class, and spent over an hour deciding what she would wear for her ‘losing her virginity date’, constantly seeking Claire’s opinion.
She ended up with a short pink leather skirt, Claire’s, a leopard-print top, hers, black patterned stockings and gold high heels.

‘I look like a tart!’ Jessica exclaimed when she looked in the mirror.

‘Believe me,’ said Claire, ‘if you’re hoping to finally get laid, that’s the perfect outfit.’

Jessica gave in to Claire’s superior knowledge on the subject.

When Paulo turned up at the flat thirty minutes late (evidently that was also fashionable), two things happened that Jessica hadn’t been prepared for. Could anyone be that
good-looking and own a Ferrari?

‘Tell him I’m available tomorrow night,’ Claire whispered as they left the flat.

The third surprise was just how charming and sophisticated Paulo was. He didn’t immediately jump on her, as her fellow students had claimed he would. In fact, he couldn’t have been
more solicitous. He even opened the car door for her, and on their way into the West End, chatted about the impact she was making at the Slade. She was already regretting her choice of clothes, and
kept trying to pull down her skirt.

When he parked his Ferrari outside Annabel’s, a doorman took the keys and drove the car away. They descended the stairs to a dimly lit nightclub, where it quickly became clear that Paulo
was a regular, as the maître d’ stepped forward and greeted him by name, before guiding them to a discreet corner table.

Once they had selected two courses from the largest menu Jessica had ever seen – it was almost a book – Paulo seemed keen to find out all about her. Although she didn’t raise
the subject herself, he seemed well aware who her grandparents were, and said he always saved the latest William Warwick for the long flight back to Rio.

The moment he’d finished his meal, Paulo lit a cigarette and offered her one. She declined but took an occasional puff of his. It didn’t taste like any cigarette she’d ever
smoked before. After coffee, he led her on to the crowded dance floor where dimly lit became black. She quickly realized that, unlike drawing, dancing was a skill Paulo had mastered, and she also
noticed that several other women were no longer paying much attention to their partners. However, it wasn’t until Chaka Khan was replaced by Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’, that
Paulo’s hands strayed below her waist. She made no attempt to resist.

Their first kiss was a little clumsy, but after the second, all she wanted to do was go home with him, even though she had already accepted that she probably wouldn’t still be on the menu
the following evening. They didn’t leave Annabel’s until just after one a.m., and once they were back in the car, Jessica was impressed by Paulo’s ability to steer a Ferrari with
one hand, while the other moved up her stockinged thigh. The car never moved out of first gear.

It continued to be a night of surprises. His Knightsbridge apartment was stylish and elegant, filled with pictures and antiques she would have liked to spend more time admiring, had he not taken
her by the hand and led her straight to the bedroom, where she was greeted by the largest bed she’d ever seen. The black silk cover was already folded back.

Paulo took her in his arms, and Jessica discovered another of his skills, undressing a woman while he was kissing her.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ he said, after her top and skirt had been deftly removed. She would have replied, but he’d already fallen to his knees and was kissing her again,
this time on her thighs, not her lips. They fell back on to the bed, and when she opened her eyes, he was already naked. How had he managed that, she wondered. She lay back, and waited for what
Claire had told her would happen next. When Paulo entered her, Jessica wanted to cry out, not from pleasure, but pain. A few moments later he withdrew, slumped back on his side of the bed and
mumbled, ‘You were fantastic,’ which made her wonder if anything else he’d whispered to her that evening could be believed.