I turn and walk back down the hallway towards the steps upstairs. Halfway up the ladder, an ocean breeze ruffles my hair. I resolve to put Hugh, and his woodsy-smelling, strong-gluted, aquamarine-eyed body out of my mind. I’m here for one thing only.

When I come back on deck, Vanessa is handing out stinger suits, which we are wearing instead of wetsuits because the water is warm and there’s jellyfish. I’ve never been so thankful to squeeze myself into tight-fitting Lycra. I feel both protected from the sun and from comparison to Natalie and Pippa. Before I know it, they’re lining us up to assign buddies.

I realise too late that the couples are buddied up together and that means I’ll be left with Hugh. My eyes flicker to his face and, as if he could feel my gaze, his eyes immediately flick up, meeting mine. My stomach twists in what must be nerves. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend I don’t have a clue who he is, and buddying up for dives won’t help me do it.

Hugh’s mouth opens,- and I find myself terrified of what he’s about to say. Will he finally admit he knows who I am? Say he’s already going to be spending enough time with me in our room and he wants a different partner?

Thankfully, before he says anything, Miguel steps in and says, ‘I’ll take Millie for the first dive.’ I smile at him, and catch Pippa trying to hide her grin. Miguel offering to be my buddy leaves Hugh with Vanessa. Hugh’s mouth closes and falls back into a line. I feel so grateful to Miguel that I feel weak in the knees, which I try to convey to him in a s-mile, but I think I smile too big, because Miguel looks at me like I’m insane.

As soon as Miguel turns his gaze elsewhere, Pippa catches my eye and winks at me. ‘Oh stop,’ I whisper, elbowing her gently. Neither of us can stop grinning. We’re giddy with excitement, or nerves, I can’t tell which.

Miguel and Vanessa run through the equipment with the entire group, passing it out as they quickly refresh everyone’s memory. Everyone has their own buoyancy control device (BCD), which is a fancy, industrial grade life jacket, a weight belt, an oxygen tank, a regulator that you breathe in and out of, plus an emergency regulator in case the primary one breaks. We all have little computers that help measure how slow we need to ascend and descend, and gauges that tell us how much air we have.