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Hannah couldn’t help but notice how Caleb’s longer than average legs were pressed against the seat in front. Surely sitting in the middle would be uncomfortable? To Caleb’s credit he’d not man-spread into her area – at least not yet, anyway.

‘Hi, I’m Caleb,’ he said, thrusting his hand out towards her, and out of politeness and surprise, she gingerly shook it. At his touch, a shiver ran down her spine that had nothing to do with discomfort, and everything to do with yearning.

Shouldn’t she be over that after all these years?

‘Hannah,’ she answered reluctantly, wondering if there would be any recognition now. There wasn’t; he smiled pleasantly, and she slipped her hand free from his hold.

‘You going home or on holiday?’ he asked casually, and it was further confirmation he didn’t have a clue they’d met before.

‘Home,’ she replied, trying to ignore the way her stomach sank at the word.

‘In Dubai?’

‘Sydney. Dubai is my connection.’

‘Same!’ he declared almost triumphantly.

As his face brightened, hers fell. ‘Cool.’

Unsure of what else to say, she grabbed her bag and began to rifle through it, hoping her lack of enthusiasm would be enough of a hint that she wasn’t interested in chatting to him throughout the entire flight.

‘You don’t sound like you’re from Sydney,’ he said curiously, and for a moment, she wondered if he’d realised who she was.

Suspicious, she raised her head and met his eyes. She was instantly transported to grey and rainy afternoons long ago, all the hours spent studying with him and longing for something more. Reliving the memories of his beautiful green eyes, always sparkling with mischief and changing according to his mood and the light. Now they were the same green as the beer bottles he used to steal from his stepfather’s stash. She remembered him drinking from one once when the summer exams approached, the condensation dripping down the glass, his Adam’s apple bobbing with each gulp. She’d wanted to kiss him so badly that day.

Blinking, she forced her mind to focus on his question. Had it even been a question? Something about her not sounding Australian – which was probably her East End accent giving her away.

‘Neither do you,’ she replied tartly, and immediately squirmed at her own rudeness. This was not how their reunion should play out! Where was the glory? She wanted to shove her carefully built confidence in his face and saunter away without a backwards glance. She twisted in her economy seat; there would be no sashay away. She only hoped he would continue not to recognise her.

Caleb’s wide mouth spread into his characteristically wicked grin. ‘From LA originally, but I get around. I’m going to Australia for work. You lived in Sydney long?’

‘A few months.’ She shrugged. She got out her e-reader and one of her lemon sherbets to suck on. The fact that her mouth was full would surely put him off from making further conversation.

No such luck.

‘Not long then? What made you decide to leave the UK?’ He shifted in his chair but made no move to put his seatbelt on. For some reason that irritated her. Was he going to jump out of the window like he had during that lesson? Or, argue about the safety merits of a lap belt, as he had with the department head about sliding down handrails? ‘Look! I’m still holding on!’ he’d shouted with a lopsided shrug, his adoring crowd laughing as he flew down the banister.

She had to pop the sweet to the side of her mouth to speak. ‘I’m a nurse. The work–life balance is better over there, and I wanted to try something new. You should probably put your seatbelt on. They’ll be doing checks in a minute.’

As he tilted his head, a lock of hair fell forward in front of his face, and he swept it back with one hand. His expression grew serious and thoughtful. ‘What was wrong with your old life?’

Startled by his sudden and intrusive question, she stumbled over her thoughts. Covering her mouth to stop herself from spitting out the boiled sweet, she snapped back, ‘Nothing!’ Unable to break free from his expectant gaze, she stumbled over her words. ‘I wanted to live a little. Be different.’ She frowned at her confession, dropping her hand from her face and deliberately forcing herself to stare down into her lap.

‘Be different?’ he asked with concern. Or was she reading too much into his tone?

Why hadn’t she lied? She’d been lying to herself and everyone else for months. With a deep breath, she added casually, ‘I wanted to experience new things and travel. Australia is beautiful, and the weather is so much better than here.’ She gestured with her chin to the drizzle running down her window for emphasis. The outside view was a kaleidoscope of greys, and she gave a derisive snort that usually had most people agreeing wholeheartedly with her. But Caleb’s gaze shifted to the window and then back to her again with a curiosity she found unsettling.

‘Seatbelt, please,’ said the air hostess.

‘Oh, I’d love to, but I can’t.’

Here we go! Hannah thought and clicked her tongue. To her horror, Caleb turned back to Hannah and added, ‘She’s sitting on my buckle.’

She gasped and almost swallowed her sweet by accident. To stop it from lodging in her throat, she lunged forward, giving herself an accidental Heimlich manoeuvre with her own tightly strapped seatbelt. The sweet flew, wetly cracking against the seat in front and then dropping to the floor. She had to scrabble around to find it, worried the air hostess would tell her off for littering as well.

Caleb’s big hand began to rub her back in a soothing gesture. ‘Hey, take a minute.’

She glanced up at him, covering her mouth in the hope of hiding any spittle as she choked on a cough. But the sweet was now stuck to her hand, and she had to scrape it off with an old receipt from her bag. The air hostess had moved on, and all she could see was Caleb’s annoyingly amused face.