Friday 10th July 2009

To the marble rooftop palace of the Riverside multis. Before dinner, from the south terrace, we view their properties which are most of the nearest buildings. We see an actual tenant in his garden, not doing anything wrong. The penthouse has terraces on all four sides, so the Multis are enthroned above all of London and most of the surrounding counties.

The other guests are Trenton, a director of one of the London’s most important contemporary art galleries and (a phenomenon we shall encounter frequently) his somewhat younger partner, although I thought Trenton’s having, as he revealed, three personal trainers and going to the gym six times a week had achieved spectacular results. Trenton was extraordinarily forthcoming and generous. By the end of the evening I had the impression I knew everything about him: he takes a taxi to work every day at 10, he flies about the world visiting billionaire art collectors on their private estates which are patrolled by security guards; he has never spent more than £7000 on a painting but fortunately some of his investments have done spectacularly well; his collection is kept in storage except when pieces are loaned for major exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery or wherever. The Multis showed him their bathrooms; in the gold-onyx one, Trenton said, ‘Keanu Reeves has one just like this in his apartment in New York.’ Even the Multis were non-plussed. ‘How come you know that?’ they said. ‘I went there for supper.’ Trenton was very casual and just a little indignant. ‘You know him?’ ‘Why yes.’

What an absolutely perfect life!  I felt very little, I can tell you – and envious.

To cap it all, there was Karol – the younger partner, who, at first, said little.  I caught just a hint of a Southern accent. He was from Savannah, now moved to Miami and studying texiles. Later he blossomed. ‘Are you addicted to exercise?’ one of the Multis asked him after Trenton had described his gruelling routine. ‘Ay most certainly aim naat addicted to exercise,’ he drawled. His favourite thing was going out on his balcony during a hurricane. He was enchanting.