She had drained her latte, pulled her hat low and scarf high, and left the coffee shop and the horrible little street and Essex for the last time to the tune of the sirens that blared out as they passed her.

And now here she was, in a room that smelled of fresh paint and newness. Time to begin the next part of her life. A part she had earned.

In the corridor, she heard the soft click as the door to the Expedition Suite closed. She skipped to her own door, put her eye to the peephole and watched as Tommy Ellis marched away from the suite. Her lips curled upwards in a smile. She could easily follow him; even though he had turned the corner out of sight, she had no doubt she would find him in the bar. Taking a step away from the door, she smoothed down her shirt and shook out her short hair, then moved over to the mirror to scrutinise her reflection. Five days of intense tanning in the salon down the road from her hotel had done wonders. She slipped her fitted top off one shoulder and inspected her skin. No tan lines. Just an entire sun-kissed body, golden and thinner than she had ever been.

She staggered slightly and clutched at the wall, wondering if the ship was setting sail already before realising she was light-headed.

But this was no time to eat, and no time to go chasing Tommy either.

No, that could wait. Well-versed in the move she was planning to make, Anna knew that it was imperative she get the wife on board first.

But the wife was enclosed in the cabin next door, and there was plenty of time for all that. Snatching up her bag, Anna gave herself one last look in the mirror before sweeping out of the room and heading in the opposite direction to where Tommy had gone.

Paula sat on the edge of the bed and stared out at the sea. This wasn’t the way this trip was supposed to begin, Tommy being huffy and weird and disappearing before they’d even set sail.

Automatically she reached for her phone, was halfway through tapping out a text before she remembered she had pissed Julie off, and her best friend wasn’t speaking to her. She tipped the phone out of her hand onto the bed.

She knew why Tommy was mad: because she’d chastised him for his stupid dick joke on the quayside. He was worried that the porter had overheard. Not worried that he’d overheard his crassness, but angry that he might have heard Paula telling him off. That was the thing with Tommy, he always worried about the wrong thing.

Had she overreacted?

Probably. She usually did, or so Tommy said anyway.

Maybe she should apologise.