Only, Hamish isn’t there.
‘Excuse me?’ I call over a flight attendant, when I realize that his bag is also missing. ‘Where’s my friend gone?’
She bends down to whisper in my ear. ‘He’s been unwell and we are keeping him up front with our medically trained team for the rest of the flight.’
‘Oh no! Is he going to be okay? What happened?’
‘Just some digestive issues, ma’am, he was very sick, but it should pass.’
Oh. Ew. Poor Hamish.
‘Will he come back?’
‘It’s not too long until we land now, so we’re going to keep an eye on him up front until landing.’
DAMN IT.
‘Okay, could you tell him I hope he feels better soon, please?’
‘Of course.’
I spend the rest of the journey inwardly screaming.
FIFTEEN
Callum is leaning against a glass wall, waiting for me in Perth’s arrivals hall. I try not to feast my eyes on how good he looks, to remind myself that I’ve got enough going on right now and certainly don’t need to be ogling the artist formerly known as Lord Voldemort who thinks we should forget about our aeroplane clinch, at this particular juncture in my life.
‘Good flight?’ he asks.
‘Not really, Callum.’
‘Trouble with Humphrey?’
‘It’s Hamish,’ I huff irritably.
‘He likes you, a lot,’ Callum says.
‘How do you know that?’
‘He told me. We were sitting together for quite a bit of the first flight, after you and I—’ Callum clears his throat. ‘Hamish and I got chatting. He started telling me in great detail about his first girlfriend, this fiery redhead from Cornwall, who he’d just seen again for the first time in years. He was clearly feeling wistful. He said he should never have let her go.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’
Callum sighs as I trot along beside him. ‘You said you needed him for something. I didn’t know if this information might be useful.’
‘You know what would be useful?’
‘What’s that, Moss?’
‘It would be useful if I could just wake up tomorrow and find that it’s not actually Monday, again.’
Oh boy. I’m saying it. The fuck-it mantra of this loop is still going strong.
‘Yes, that’s right, Callum. I keep waking up on Monday morning. I’m in my own personal Groundhog Day, also known as hellfire. And the only way out of here is the path I really don’t want to take and you’re the one who has messed it all up. It’s all your fault!’
Callum is frowning at me like I’m a lunatic which, when you look at it rationally, is exactly where I am at mentally right now.
‘Moss,’ he begins in that delicious deep voice that seems to rumble through me.
