Eventually, I calm down enough to sit up and take the tissue from the incontinent woman smiling hesitantly beside me. Slowly, I wipe my eyes and blow my nose. My make-up must be a disaster, but I don’t care. Which is saying something.

I glance at lavender guy, who’s still got the palm of his hand on my back. There’s a big wet patch on the front of his T-shirt.

“Sorry,” I mutter, waving at his chest.

“Forget about it. It’ll dry.”

I’m not embarrassed by my crazy outburst, even though I should be. Instead, I feel drained. Completely and utterly drained.

“Here.” The man lifts his hand off me and leans forwards to rummage in his bag under the seat in front. He pulls out a bottle, opens the lid and holds it out. “Coconut water. Very hydrating.”

My hand shakes as I take a sip. I’ve never been sure about coconut water, even though it’s become popular, especially with everyone at the gym. The few times I tried it, I’d stop after a few gulps because it left a sickly-sweet and slimy taste in my mouth. But this coconut water tastes magnificent. I have another sip and another. Then I gulp down half the bottle and hand it back.

“Thanks.”

“My name’s Scott.”

“Trish.”

“Pleased to meet you, Trish.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “You sure about that?”

Scott laughs and I can’t help but smile.

“It’s certainly a memorable first meeting,” he says.

“Just so you know, that’s only the third time I’ve cried in twenty years.”

Scott puts a hand over his heart. “Well if that’s the case, I not only feel honoured but also slightly disturbed.”

“Why?”

“I cry at least once a month.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

He tips his head to one side, his expression serious. “What is ridiculous is that you haven’t cried more. You take suppressed emotions to a whole new level.”

I know he’s teasing me, but at the same time he’s probing and I don’t like it.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

I start to lower my tray table, but Scott’s hand shoots out and stops it.

“We’re about to take off,” he says firmly.

“Oh.”

I let him clip my tray back into the closed position and glance past the lady, who’s pretending she’s not listening to our conversation but is clearly lapping up every word. Runway and grass whip past the window as we pick up speed. I can’t believe we haven’t even made it off the ground yet. I feel like I’ve been on the plane for hours.