As the plane lurched, I vehemently regretted the hot chocolate and cake I’d eaten earlier.

‘Oh!’

Lorcan had been asleep within minutes of us taking to the sky, which suited me perfectly, but at the jolt his eyes flew open and he leant forward a little to check on Bod. As he did so, he caught sight of my face and made the wise choice of pulling out the sick bag from his side and handing it to me before attending to the dog, which, as it turned out, was an excellent decision as I immediately made use of it.

‘Not a good traveller, eh?’

I didn’t reply, misery surrounding me, wrapped within an outer casing of embarrassment.

The plane bounced some more and Lorcan pulled another bag from in front of me, deftly opening it as I fumbled. Moving his hand to my hair, he held it back with one hand, gently rubbing my back with his other.

‘There you go. You’ll feel better now.’ His words were soft, the gentle lilt calming my senses, which was just as well as the plane continued to bounce about and the captain advised us we would be experiencing some turbulence. No shit, Sherlock. A member of the cabin crew appeared at Lorcan’s side and he discreetly handed him the two bags I’d made use of, asking for some more in case, just as subtly.

‘I think I’m done.’

The captain’s voice came over the tannoy again. ‘I’m sorry about this, folks, but it’s going to be a little bumpy for a bit.’

My eyes widened. ‘That wasn’t bumpy?’ I croaked.

Lorcan pulled a sympathetic face as the captain continued. ‘Cabin crew, please take your seats.’

The man from earlier reappeared at Lorcan’s side, gave him a handful of sick bags and me a sympathetic look, before heading off to buckle up himself.

‘Is Bod OK?’

‘Yeah.’ Lorcan nodded. ‘He’s grand. A seasoned traveller.’

The plane lurched again and a few people let out shrieks and sounds of what could have been surprise or terror. In my case, it was a mixture of both.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ Lorcan said.

I shot him a disbelieving look.

‘It’s fine. Happens all the time. We’ll be there soon and you can have some proper food to settle your stomach.’

I snatched one of the bags and emptied the remainder of my stomach contents into it.

* * *

After a while the weather calmed until we broke through the clouds in preparation for landing. According to the captain, a storm was rolling in off the Atlantic and, I quote, it ‘might get a bit bumpy again’ as we came in to land.

I turned to Lorcan. ‘It might get a bit bumpy? It’s already been bumpy. Surely that’s more than enough bumpiness for one short flight?’