The more Derek mansplains, the more annoyed I get. I force a smile at him through clenched teeth, trying to ignore Hugh’s amusement. At least I’m being social! How was I supposed to know I was signing up for a lecture from someone who knows less than I do? And, in my defence, it was hard not to ask him questions, given he lugged his camera back upstairs into the captain’s room and had his feet around the box like he was protecting a human life inside of it.

Mercifully, at some point Vanessa interrupts Derek to ask what his camera is doing on deck. She is not amused that he’s already gone against her rules. I turn away as she stares him down, trying to stifle my own laughter. I hear Derek tell Vanessa that the ‘sea breeze is good for drying out the equipment after all the humidity in Cairns’. I can practically see Vanessa’s eyes roll all the way back into her head. ‘But it’s an underwater camera,’ she points out.

I look around for another conversation to join but Pippa and Andrew are holding hands and watching the shoreline get smaller and smaller, Aaron is poring over a map and saying something into a radio, and Hugh has stood up and walked over to the railing to look out to sea. His hair has been ruffled by the ocean breeze and looks even more shaggy than it did when we met. We go over a larger wave than usual, and I watch as the veins on his forearm pop when he grabs the railing of the boat to steady himself.

He turns around and we make direct eye contact. I feel so caught in the act of staring at him that I immediately stand up, which forces me into an awkward situation of pretending like I have somewhere to go. Reluctantly, I make my way towards the front of the boat, where Miguel is readying our scuba equipment. The sun is beating down and the heat is unrelenting once I’m out of the shade. The aluminium guide rails are hot to the touch. I can’t wait to get into the water. To get to Miguel I have to pass Hugh, which turns out to be impossible given how much space he takes up and how narrow the sides of the boat are.

‘Excuse me,’ I say, attempting to edge around him but not wanting to touch his backside.

He shifts his torso completely so he’s parallel to me, effectively cutting me off from where I was headed.

We stand, in a stalemate, warily glancing at each other.

‘I was just going to sit back down,’ Hugh informs me.

‘I was just going to talk to Miguel,’ I reply. Neither of us move.