the waiting minibus and it sets off swiftly across the runway. The flight is only thirty minutes. How bad can it be? I’ll be up and down before I even know it.
The propellers are already whirring loudly as I clamber up the metal stairs. Gosh, it’s even tinier inside than it looks outside, I realise, glancing in through the porthole windows to see only a handful of seats. And so noisy! Ducking down so I don’t bang my head, I climb in through the doorway, where a stewardess in a pair of headphones is waiting impatiently to grab my shopping bags from me and hurry me to the last remaining seat, before rushing back to close the door.
Flustered, I quickly sit down and fasten my seatbelt. Just in the nick of time. I’ve barely had a second to catch my breath or take in my surroundings before the engines grow even louder and suddenly we’re off, accelerating down the runway. I close my eyes tightly, listening to the propellers whirring, feeling the wheels juddering on the tarmac, and then the nose of the plane tips up and we’re in the air, climbing steadily.
I feel a beat of relief. Great, that’s the worst part over.
‘Would you care for a refreshment?’
I open my eyes to see the air stewardess, minus her earphones, standing next to me.
‘Just some water, thanks.’ I grab the in-flight magazine from the seat in front of me and start flicking through.
‘And for you, sir?’
‘Nothing for me,’ u€hing forûme, he says gruffly.
I freeze mid-flick. I know that voice.
Up until now I’ve only been vaguely aware of a person in the seat next to me, as I haven’t so much as glanced in their direction, but now every single cell in my body is on full alert and is plummeting downwards like I’ve just jumped out of a plane without a parachute. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. At least that would be one way to finally escape.
Instead I continue staring at my magazine, willing it not to be true. For the person sitting next to me not to be the person who I know is sitting next to me. In fact, by not even thinking his name to myself, I can pretend it’s not real. I’m hallucinating. Or having some kind of lucid dream, and any moment I’m going to wake up and find myself back in my apartment in New York, and not twenty-five thousand feet in the air, on a tiny nine-seater plane, sitting next to—
‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Lucy?’
Bang goes my lucid dream.
Having slunk lower and lower behind my magazine, in an attempt to hide, I look up from behind its parapet. ‘Oh, hi, Nate,’ I say, trying not to meet his eye. As if somehow I can still act as if this is not really happening.
I mean, seriously.
THIS CANNOT REALLY BE HAPPENING.
But of course it is.
‘Jesus, it is you!’
‘There you go.’ The stewardess reappears with my water.
‘Oh . . . thanks.’ Grateful of the interruption, I take a large gulp. This flight is only thirty minutes. We must have done five already. Briefly I consider trying to ignore him for the next twenty-five.
‘What on earth are you doing here?’
Only it’s not that easy when he’s sitting inches away, staring at me aghast, and is insistent on talking to me.
‘Flying to Martha’s Vineyard,’ I deadpan, turning to face him finally. ‘How about you?’
He frowns. ‘That’s not funny, Lucy.’
‘Trust me, I know,’ I agree ruefully. ‘Do you see14" ‘Dan>< {see me laughing?’
We both stare at each other. I’ve never actually seen Nate lost for words before, but now he genuinely seems at a loss for what to say or do. I know how he feels. This is getting beyond ridiculous. I mean, what am I supposed to do now? It’s not as if there are any rules to follow in a situation like this, are there?
No, but there’s the Strategy.
Suddenly I hear Kate’s voice in my ear and stiffen. Maybe she’s right. Perhaps it might work. After all, nothing else has. Robyn’s spell was a complete disaster – I was lucky I didn’t wind up in jail – and this would be the perfect opportunity to put the Strategy into effect . . . I pause, my mind turning. All my life I’ve listened to my big sister in times of crisis. She always knows best.
Sod it. That’s decided. I’m going to go for it. I’ve got nothing to lose, except Nate.
OK, so first I