‘Right. Yes, I suppose I was just thinking that I, too, have always wanted to see it.’
Callum looks as surprised as I feel to have found another thing in common.
‘Apparently it takes about twenty hours to cross by ferry,’ I supply, filling in this awkward discovery of mutual ground with trivia.
Callum makes a quiet whistling sound, which is all the encouragement I need to bombard him with all of my facts. Turns out being pent up in a plane with no one to talk to has made me happy to engage even the devil himself in conversation.
‘It did used to be an actual sea,’ I’m saying, ‘but about five million years ago a tectonic uplift meant it became landlocked. Apparently it’s not as salty as the oceans but it’s not fresh water either, it’s kind of a mix.’
Callum nods, as if this is a normal amount of information about some random sea just south of Russia to have in my armoury. ‘You’ve got quite a few Caspian Sea facts up your sleeve there, Moss.’
‘I love geography.’
It’s at this point that I realize he is watching the romcom I forwent for the sake of the hefty epic I’m struggling to get through. Note to self, Oscar nominations don’t necessarily make for a fun watch.
‘Is that Ryan Gosling?’ I ask wistfully.
‘Yep. It’s pretty cheesy but quite amusing. Are you watching that foreign language epic everyone’s raving about? Very worthy of you, Moss.’
I roll my eyes.
‘Is it good?’ he asks.
‘It’s … hard work.’
He nods. ‘I’m a romcom man myself.’
‘Me too.’
‘Careful now, Moss, or we’re going to find that we actually have some things in common.’
I give him a look. Callum has jutted his chin out and even I can’t help but notice that strong jawline of his. Such a shame it was wasted on the god of the underworld, Hades himself.
‘For research?’ I ask.
‘Sorry?’ Callum frowns.
‘Watching romcoms,’ I explain. ‘Is it for research? So you can figure out how to lure in your next victim?’
Callum sighs, exasperated. ‘It’s not normal to be so discourteous.’
‘It’s not normal to be so annoying,’ I bite back. ‘And yet here you stand.’
‘I’m actually sitting.’
‘See! Urgh. So annoying.’
‘Whatisyour problem, Moss?’ Callum looks deeply vexed by now.
‘My problem? You’re the one with the problem. And will you please stop using my last name? We’re not in secondary school now, in case you hadn’t noticed. My name is Nina.’
‘Nina,’ Callum says. The way my name sounds in his mouth. Oof. I watch, mesmerized, as his Adam’s apple bobs. ‘I do apologize,’ he adds.
‘What was that? An apology? From Callum Bang? Did someone get that on tape?’ I ask, pretending to look around for witnesses. ‘I need to alert the elders! Hold the front page! I can see the headlines now. “World’s rudest man apologises”.’
Callum folds his arms in front of him.
‘Enjoying yourself?’ he asks.
