‘No,’ said Minnie staring off into space, still shell-shocked. ‘Quinn Hamilton is bringing his.’

New Year’s Eve 2015

Quinn had booked a private dinner on the beach. He’d been deliberating between the hotel’s ‘Romance at Sunset’ package and the ‘Anniversary Package’. Optional extras included a serenading violinist, your own personal butler, or an upgrade to the waterfront gazebo complete with ‘waterside entertainment’, whatever that involved. When had eating food become so complicated? He’d opted for the basic ‘Romance at Sunset’ with none of the optional extras – good to keep this simple.

Throughout the afternoon, hotel staff had been back and forth to the beach outside their villa setting everything up. Jaya had spent the day at the spa and, when she returned, Quinn shut the villa blinds while she got changed so that their dinner plans would be a surprise. As he led Jaya outside, he saw how much effort the staff had gone to. A trail of paper lanterns made a path across the beach to a solitary white-linen-covered table. Tiki lights were positioned in a circle around it, demarking an island in the sand, and garlands of opulent white flowers hung between the flaming tiki lights.

Jaya gasped, ‘Oh Quinn, how romantic!’

‘The hotel set it up,’ said Quinn, anxious not to get too much credit for this ostentatious display.

They walked through the screen doors onto the sand and Jaya paused, bending down to take off her heels. Quinn wore a dark blue linen suit and Jaya was dressed in the green silk evening gown that Quinn had bought her during their stopover in Munich. She looked beautiful; the dress hugged her body in all the right places and she’d spent hours at the hotel salon, getting a blow-dry and various other treatments Quinn had soon lost interest in hearing about.

Quinn put one hand against the small of her back, guiding her forwards; with the other he pulled out the white cotton-covered chair for her. He noticed there was a pink bow tied to the back of it. It looked slightly frayed on one side and he wondered how many ‘Romance at Sunset’ packages this ribbon had been witness to.

It had been Jaya’s idea to come to India for the holidays. She wanted to see her family in Mumbai and she’d persuaded him to come too, promising him a week on the beach in Goa at the end of their trip. On one level the trip had been a success; Jaya’s family had all greeted Quinn like some celebrity, parading out cousins and aunts to meet the ‘man from Cambridge University’. Now they were at the most luxurious resort Quinn had ever stayed in, or paid for. Jaya had been an obliging companion, as insatiable as ever. He wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but last night he’d wondered if, just once, they couldn’t simply watch a DVD and not have sex four times.