Still in my pyjamas, I slipped out of the cabin and popped my head out of the hatch. The air was already warm, and the sun was bright in the sky. No signs of life on deck either – a solo breakfast al fresco, it would be. Ducking back below, I quietly made myself a bowl of muesli with yoghurt and a mug of tea.

By that stage of the trip, I had perfected scaling the short ladder to the deck with both hands full, and I emerged topside without spilling a single drop of my tea. I carefully made my way down the side of the boat and sat myself down cross-legged on the bow. The sun immediately warmed my back, and I took in our surroundings as I sipped from my mug.

There I was, sitting in my pyjamas on the bow of a boat and not three metres away were people dressed for work and waiting at a bus stop. They were so close, I could hear the music from someone’s headphones. It was surreal. ‘Good morning, Greece,’ I said quietly to myself, enjoying a little giggle.

And of course, the person I immediately thought of – the one person who I thought would find the whole situation as amusing as I did – was also the person I had sworn to steer clear of.

‘This seat taken?’ He had snuck up on me, and I jumped a little. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.’ He hadn’t; what had startled me was that he’d appeared the very moment I’d thought about him. I craned my neck to look at him. He was also in his PJs – well, a T-shirt and sweat pants – and held a bowl, which I knew would contain muesli and yoghurt, like mine. ‘You didn’t scare me – just startled me a little, that’s all.’

‘Oh, did you want to be left alone?’ It was an excellent question, and the longer I pondered it, the more uncomfortable he seemed to get. ‘I can eat downstairs,’ he said as he turned away.

My plan to steer clear of him wasn’t getting off to a good start, but still, I couldn’t be rude to him. He didn’t deserve it. I could do polite – distant, but polite. It was just breakfast.

‘No, no, stay, please. Sorry – I’m a little out of it this morning.’ He looked relieved and sat down.

‘How cool is it that we’re here in our pyjamas eating breakfast, and right over there is a whole town heading to work?’ he asked, voicing the very thought I’d wanted to share with him – damn him. Polite, but distant, Sarah.

I nodded non-committedly, and added, ‘Mm-hmm.’

He laughed to himself. ‘Kind of surreal, actually. I can’t believe this is my life right now.’