‘Yeah, man,’ he says as we put our hand luggage through security. ‘I owe you an apology.’
‘Oh?’ I should be giving him my full attention, because it’s only polite, but truth is I just can’t summon much enthusiasm for chatting to Hamish right now.
‘About the way things ended between us,’ he continues. ‘I know it was a long time ago but seeing you today, wow, Nee, it brought back a lot of happy memories for me. We had a good time, right?’
‘We did,’ I admit, surprised at this Hamish 2.0.
‘And I messed up, not getting in touch like that. I should have been in contact. I thought about you a lot when I first landed.’
‘Hmm,’ I say.For a matter of weeks.
‘Ultimately, I was scared. We were still so young and I’d gone off on this shiny new adventure, and I wasn’t ready for a proper commitment. I just wanted to be a big kid still.’
‘Right,’ I say. ‘And now?’
‘Mate, I’m thirty now. The big kid days are over. I’ve actually got some big plans for the next year. Going to combine what I’ve always loved and this time, I’m going to monetize it.’
‘Withobjets trouvésand travelling around Australia in a campervan?’
Hamish looks at me wide-eyed. ‘How did you know?’
‘Just a good guess.’
‘See! This just proves how well you know me, even after all this time.’ He beams, leading me to a seat by the departure gate. I spot Clio and Brody up ahead, give them a wave, but still no sign of Callum. Where the hell is he?
‘How are you?’ Hamish adds. ‘Tell me everything.’
It’s a lot to be suddenly faced with a Hamish who wants to know more. Who is actually apologetic for the way he treated me. This is precisely what I wanted from him the first time around. At last he’s behaving more like the Hamish I’ve held a candle for all these years, like the Hamish of my memories. But now, post-Callum, I can’t even drum up any enthusiasm about it. How am I meant to deal with this? There’s a little voice in the back of my head still insisting that Hamish probably is my ticket out of here, because it cannot be a coincidence that he’s resurfaced – after a decade of me pining for him – on the very day I get stuck in a time loop. Can it?
‘It’s sweet of you to ask,’ I say, ‘but look, I’m pretty tired right now.’
Hamish nods. ‘I feel you, my man. I’ve done this journey a lot. One of the best ways to deal with jet lag is to orgasm, did you know that?’
I drop my bag down on a seat in surprise.
‘Sex cures jetlag,’ Hamish continues enthusiastically. ‘I’d be happy to oblige, if you fancied a little trip down memory lane. There are plenty of places around here where we could go for some alone time.’
I am staggered.
If you’d have told the me from four Mondays ago that by the time I’d got to Singapore airport I’d have bumped into the one that got awayandhe’d be offering to shag away my jetlag, I would have been beside myself. I couldn’t have imagined a better outcome.
But now?
I look Hamish up and down, his eyes twinkling at me. A lifelived by the ocean has served him well. He’s still the sand-haired salty sea dog I fell in love with. And he’s literally offering himself up on a plate. It’s exactly what I need to get out of here, right? I’ve spent the past decade of my life looking back on old times, wishing I could rekindle them.
Finally, here’s my chance.
And suddenly, I just don’t want it.
All I want is my former arch nemesis and ridiculously hot colleague by my side.
‘It’s a no from me,’ I say as politely as possible.
‘Ah well, if you change your mind,’ he says with a wink. ‘Oh look, here he is. Cal, my dude!’ Hamish has broken into a smile as he looks back over my shoulder towards the security scanners.
I turn to find Callum walking towards us and my breath catches in my throat.
‘Hello, Hamish,’ Callum says. ‘There you are, Moss,’ he adds.
