‘Please,’ I snort as Callum looks at the weight display next to the conveyer belt, where my bag is currently perched.
‘Heavy,’ he says. ‘Are you trying to take a dead body to Australia?’
Mel’s forehead creases in alarm.
‘What the hell?’ I huff. ‘Of course not!’
To assuage Mel’s fears, I unzip my case to reveal all the clothes. ‘Why must you keep going on about me and dead bodies, Callum?’
I know instantly that I’ve made a mistake. Callum’s face is a picture of surprise as he tries to compute what I just said. Of course, he doesn’t ‘keep going on’ about me and dead bodies, does he? That part of our journey hasn’t happened yet. If I remember rightly, it happened at the layover in Singapore and only during Monday Two, because way back on Monday One we were busy chatting about something else with Clio and Brody in the departure lounge.
I internally chastise myself as my heart starts to pound.
‘For the life of me I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he says smoothly as Mel, now satisfied that I’m not trying to smuggle a corpse onto the flight, hands back my passport.
I loiter as Callum checks his much more modest case in.
Mel keeps shooting furtive looks from him to me, as if trying to figure out the dynamic.
‘You know,’ she says, ‘this isn’t a full flight. Looks like I can upgrade the two of you to business if you’d like?’
My eyes widen.
Business class all the way to Australia?! Now this is a plot twist I can get on board with!
I find myself abandoning thoughts of a switch back intoeconomy with Hamish. I know I ought to be spending more time with him, and somewhere deep down I’m beginning to suspect that he’s crossing my path again for good reason, but come on. Business class?!
‘Mel,’ Callum says, smoothly reading her name tag and dazzling her with one of his looks. ‘That’s incredibly kind of you. Thank you.’
Mel, the turncoat, visibly flutters at this attention from Callum.
I’ll let her off, though, because business seats to Australia! Oh my word!
‘Mel, that’s amazing! Thank you so much,’ I enthuse as Callum begins to move away.
‘No problem.’ She leans closer again, speaking in a quiet voice. ‘I thought that if you’ve got to put up with him, at least you can do it in the lap of luxury. Although … is he really that bad? Seems quite sweet to me.’
‘Oh Mel,’ I say sadly. ‘He does that to people. Casts spells like a sexy magician.’
‘He is sexy.’
I wrinkle my nose, horrified with myself for letting that admission slip out.
I can hear Mel chuckling as I scurry off.
Callum is waiting for me a little way off and we silently join the security queue together, tension crackling between us. It’s a bit less busy today, so I guess I must have hit a hectic period in my first two bites at the cherry, but there’s still a line of people up ahead.Something to remember for Monday Four, I find myself thinking before having a sharp and horrified word with myself.
No, Nina!
It would be super dangerous to start assuming that this is going to happen forever. I will one hundred per cent lose the plot. Even entertaining that kind of defeatist thought will not help. I’ve got to stay positive and have hope. Maybe a physicist is working on theanswer to my problem right this minute! Maybe there is help out there. This glitch won’t last forever.
‘EINSTEIN!’ I shout suddenly, and quite loudly, as I finally remember the name of a famous science boff. Embarrassing that it took this long, to be quite honest with you.
Callum turns to me, eyebrows sky high, jaw set in surprise.
‘Have you … spotted him?’ he asks, amused.
‘No,’ I backtrack. How do I style this one out?Quick, frazzled brain of mine, think! ‘I was just playing a game with myself. The … “name some famous physicists” game.’
