I open my phone and growl. The damn battery is flashing again. It’s like it’s taunting me. “Stupid thing. Why now? Why pick now to start dying on me?”
Gus tries not to laugh and hands me his phone over the table. I google flights but everything that’s from an easy airport to reach from Kotor has a switch in either London or Paris. We might as well go home. And besides, I don’t fancy dragging Popstar through a busy terminal and queuing for security. He’ll almost certainly be recognised, and where would that leave me?
I’m searching for ferries that cross from Kotor to somewhere in Italy when his phone lights up with a call from ‘Grace’. I practically throw it at him like it suddenly became a live, slippery fish. Gus catches it and groans when he checks the name. It’s probably a girlfriend or a hook-up, surely popstars have a few of those on speed dial? I expect him to hang up and shrug it off as nothing (you know, like a lot of men would) when he answers and pops her on speaker phone.
“What do you want?” he asks, dryly.
“Just checking you’re not dead,” the woman says.
“Why would I be dead?”
“Your security team is on to you. Apparently, they find it surprising your phone hasn’t moved from the ship at all, despite docking several times. They actually asked me if you’re just hiding in your room. You know, like a fucking freak.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said that’s likely. Because Gus is a fucking freak.”
He grins. “Good. Glad you cleared that up.”
She drops something at the other end of the line and curses. “I didn’t tell them I have this number or that you’d decided to abandon the cruise.”
“No idea what you mean.”
“Oh please! You were seen in Dubrovnik three hours after your cruise left port with a pretty blonde, dickhead.”
Gus bites the inside of his cheek and eyes me from under his curls. “Wasn’t me.”
“Alright, Shaggy.”
“Have you handled it?”
She sighs. “I tried. The girl who posted it isn’t replying to my DMs. I reckon you’ll be ok though because your face is fairly obscured. I think they’re more interested in the woman, truthfully. Which, speaking of, who is she? She’s not in my social circle. Is she a model? She looks tall. Or an up-and-coming actress? Fair play if she is, that’s a great way to get your name out there. Oh, ofcourse. That’s who I sent money to, isn’t it? It better had been for a good cause.”
He glances at me again. I’m pretty sure the warmth in my face is giving me away. “It’s… actually not like that.”
“Shut up,” she says. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“But you like her? Oh myGod. Was she on the cruise? Is she somenormie?”
Gus cringes. “Grace,” he warns. “She’s right here.”
There’s a moment of silence down the line.
I mouth, “Is this your sister?” at Gus. Who nods slowly, a spark of humour in his eyes.
“She’s a whirlwind,” he mouths back.
“Erm… Ok, first of all,” Grace begins, “I don’t appreciate being bombarded like that. Secondly,hi?Gus’s new…friend?I guess?”
“Sara, meet Grace. Grace, meet Sara. Grace, Sara is helping me, well,collaboratingwith me to get back on the cruise. She’s been a lifesaver so far since my burner phone doesn’t have any banking set up.”
“Wow,” she says, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “You’re such a moron.”
“Thank you, as always, for your kind and loving support.”
Then she cracks up laughing. “So,wait. This cruise you went on to prove you could holiday by yourself for two weeks…” More laughter. “You ended up missing the boat on the second day and now you need some poor stranger to help you?”
