Page 22 of Hook, Line and Single

‘What time is it?’ I ask.

‘Quarter to four, but we’ve got to check in two hours before the flight leaves.’

‘OK, OK. Give me a moment.’ I push myself up into a sitting position and stare blearily around the room, before carefully levering myself out of bed and opening the curtains a crack to look outside.

‘Bloody hell, it’s still dark,’ I complain. ‘And it’s pouring with rain.’

‘Perfect going-on-holiday weather,’ Sam enthuses. ‘Get on the plane in rainy Britain; get off a few hours later in sunny Rome. You’ve probably got time for a quick shower if you hurry.’

I glance at her again, taking her in properly this time. She’s already fully dressed and her make-up is flawless.

‘How long have you been awake?’ I ask.

‘A while. I never sleep that well in a strange bed, and you were snoring a bit.’

‘I do not snore!’

‘Fine. You were breathing a little more audibly than usual, then. Better?’

‘Not really. How long have I got?’

‘Twenty minutes, max. The shower’s not very enthusiastic, so probably just do the basics.’

I hurry into the bathroom and peel off the T-shirt and knickers I was sleeping in, before stepping under the shower and turning it on. Sam’s description of it being unenthusiastic is spot on. It would probably take all day to get enough water out of it to wash my hair, so I do as instructed and focus on the basics before drying myself with a towel, brushing my teeth and applying the bare minimum of make-up. When I come out, she’s not quite pacing as our room isn’t big enough for that, but she’s definitely fidgeting.

‘Five minutes, Ruby,’ she almost barks.

‘It’s fine. I’ve just got to throw some clothes on and put my overnight stuff in my case.’

When we hurry across to the terminal, I’m expecting to find a busy throng of people queueing to check in, but it’s actually fairly quiet. It takes just a few minutes to deposit our bags and we pass pretty much straight through security.

‘I could have had another hour in bed,’ I mutter as we head towards the café that Sam looked up online to check it would be open at this time of the morning. ‘We still would have had plenty of time.’

‘Better to be safe than sorry. The ship won’t wait for us if we miss our flight.’

‘Where is everyone?’

‘Early morning during termtime, so not exactly family holiday friendly. I expect most of these people are travelling for work.’

‘What kind of job forces you to be in an airport at silly o’clock in the morning? It’s inhumane.’ As I look around me, I realise she’s right. There’s a distinct lack of holiday vibe here; the duty-free shops are quiet and most of the other passengers are sitting quietly, engrossed in their laptops and glancing periodically at the departure screens to check whether their flights are boarding.

‘It probably works for them,’ Sam explains as a server leads us to a booth and gives us menus. ‘Get up early, fly to wherever for a day of meetings, home in time to see the kids before they go to bed.’

‘Sounds like hell.’

‘You’re just grumpy because you need coffee. Come on, what do you fancy to eat?’

* * *

By the time we board the plane an hour or so later, I’m feeling a lot happier. The two espressos I drank with my breakfast of eggs royale have definitely kicked in, because I’m feeling wide awake at last and actually looking forward to the holiday again. According to Sam, we will hand over our luggage to the cruise line as soon as we’ve cleared security at the other end, and it will magically be waiting for us in our cabins when we board the ship this afternoon. In the meantime, we’ll have around four hours to explore Rome before we have to get back to the meeting point so the bus can take us to the port.

‘Did you buy Sistine Chapel tickets?’ Sam asks once we’re above the clouds and the fasten seat belt sign has been switched off. Although I don’t mind flying generally, I’m not great at the take-offs and landings, and turbulence makes me very uneasy. Our climb through the rainclouds was very bumpy, so Sam wisely left me to my thoughts until things smoothed out.

‘No,’ I reply. ‘On reflection, I decided it would be too tight time-wise. If the flight had been delayed, or the queues were longer than normal, we would have missed it. I’ll get some for the day we leave.’

‘Probably a good plan. So what’s on the list then?’

‘All the greats. The Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Forum and the Pantheon.’

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