“I think I’m going to eat at the hotel,” I say to Lila.
She returns my gaze solemnly. “That’s nice for you.”
I open my mouth, and the corner of hers twitches. She knows exactly what I want, and she is still going to make me say it.
“Do you… Would either of you like to join?”
“Can we get chips?” Priya immediately pipes up, eyes wide with excitement.
“As long as you order something green as well.”
“Fine,” Priya grumbles. “If I have to.”
“So that’s a yes, then?” I hazard.
Lila beams. “That’s a yes. Ewan, Angus, you want to join us?”
“Fuck yeah,” comes Ewan’s shout from inside the tent. He launches upright and groans when he bashes his head on one of the poles. “Anything’s better than another bloody sandwich. Even more time with you lot. Coming!”
“Angus?” I ask, when he doesn’t respond.
“What?”
“Do you want to come and have dinner with us?”
He gestures to his stove with the fork he’s been using to stir. A few beans cling to the prongs, sticky and uniformly coated in a sauce the colour of mud. “I’ve got dinner.”
Priya creeps up to his side and sticks her face near the stove, inhaling loudly. “It doesn’t look like dinner. What is it?”
“Bean stew.”
“Smells like feet. Are you sure you’re cooking it right?”
The line between Angus’ eyes deepens, his grip tightening on the fork. “Yes.”
“And there’s not very much there either. Won’t you be hungry after?”
“No.”
Lila stands and dusts her hands off on her hiking trousers. “Leave the poor man to enjoy his sad dinner in peace, Priya, as he so obviously doesn’t want to socialise with us anymore.” She turns to me, her eyes glinting. “Shall we?”
“I like being alone, alright,” Angus grumbles. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Oh no, nothing wrong with that at all,” Lila says. “You enjoy your solitude and your stew. Have a lovely evening.” She turns back to me. “I hope they have fish and chips. I could kill for a battered cod right now.”
“I’m going to ask for a toastie.” Ewan clambers to his feet. “Extra cheese.”
“I thought you said you were sick of sandwiches?” I ask.
He looks shocked. “A toastie’s not a sandwich! What are you on about? It’s an entirely different thing.”
“Two slices of bread, butter and a filling?” Lila joins in. “That sounds like a sandwich to me.”
“No, but it’s toasted. So the filling goes all gooey and melted inside. It’s about the experience, right, and the experience of eating a toastie is completely different to eating a sandwich. A sandwich has structure. Layers.”
“I didn’t realise we were defining things by the experience now.” I amble across the bridge, my rumbling stomach impatient to reach the warm insides of the hotel and get my hands on a menu. “That opens up a world of possibilities.”
“Everything’s about the experience,” Ewan says passionately. “Like what’s hiking and what’s walking?”
