In Bed With Lord Byron

substitute toothbrushes.
    ‘I can sleep on the sofa,’ Anthony volunteered.
    I was about to agree when I saw how exhausted he looked.
    ‘Well, we can put a bolster in the bed,’ I said, blushing. My voice took on the prim tightness of a Victorian governess. ‘We can use some pillows, and those cushions on the
sofa.’
    We made a squashy line down the centre of the bed and then got in and switched off the lamp. We lay for a while in the grainy darkness, listening to the traffic outside. Then Anthony rolled over
to face me, nestling his face in the pillow.
    ‘Now,’ he said. ‘tell me everything.’
    So I told him everything. I told him how upset I had felt when we’d broken up, and how I had gone to visit Byron. I told him how I had ended up in 1813.
    ‘Jesus!’ Anthony cried. ‘Shit – I mean – that’s just unbelievable. I mean – what was it like?’
    ‘Just like 1813,’ I said, laughing. ‘Ballgowns, carriages, that sort of thing. That’s why I’ve been using that costume shop, you see.’
    ‘Aha, now that makes sense. And you really seriously met Lord Byron.’
    ‘Yes . . .’
    ‘Lucy, you didn’t . . . ?’ Anthony asked.
    I bit my lip, fretting he might be jealous, but he let out a whoop of laughter.
    We both laughed then, but I stopped before him and began to pleat the covers nervously, watching him wipe hysterical tears from his eyes.
    ‘God – I want to go back and have love affairs with Cleopatra. And Marilyn Monroe. And Sylvia Plath.’
    ‘Sylvia Plath was mad,’ I pointed out.
    ‘I’d make her sane,’ Anthony said with a dash of irony, and we both giggled again.
    ‘And who else – Greta Garbo. And Katharine Hepburn—’
    ‘Well you can’t,’ I interrupted petulantly. ‘Because the time machine – it causes trouble.’
    ‘What? Lucy, it doesn’t cause trouble, it causes adventure. I mean – fuck – it’s like – it’s better than the best computer game in the world. People
would
die
to have something like this.’
    ‘But Anthony, we have to be careful. I mean, look, when I went back to Roman times, I suffered a near-death experience . . .’ And I told him all about Tiryns and her baby, and my
fight in the gladiator ring.
    ‘Good God, Lucy!’ Anthony shoved the top pillow out of the way and held me tightly. ‘You could have been killed!’
    ‘Exactly,’ I said emphatically. ‘That’s why I think we should just leave tomorrow, before we get into any trouble. All we have to do is go back to the exact spot that we
landed in, and the time machine will reappear. I’m not sure if I know the way back to the speakeasy, but we can ask the police, make up some story about something we need to investigate
there.’
    ‘I guess.’ Anthony’s hand paused on my hair. ‘But . . .’
    ‘But?’
    ‘I don’t know, Lucy. I mean, I know what happened to you was terrible, and I never want anything like that to happen to you again,’ he said, kissing my forehead. ‘But I
mean – fuck – this whole thing – I can hardly believe it’s happening, and I’m totally freaked out, but I just think that if this is the last time we’re going to
use it – and I agree it should be the last – then couldn’t we just stay one more day? I mean, don’t you want to even
meet
Al Capone? C’mon, Lucy! Al
Capone!’
    ‘He might not live up to our expectations.’
    ‘Lucy – just one more day. Please. Then we’ll go. We’ll go before the big bust-up happens. And we’ll stick together – that way we can protect each
other.’
    I pulled a face. My intuition was telling me that this was a bad idea, that the danger was too great. But then I looked at Anthony’s face. I hadn’t seen him like this in a long time;
he looked like a little boy who had just been promised he could meet Santa. And I had to admit that meeting Capone
was
an interesting prospect . . .
    ‘OK,’ I relented, and Anthony pulled me into a big hug of gratitude.
    We both agreed then that we seriously needed some sleep. Anthony mended the bolster and we lay there, the room gradually becoming cloudier with darkness.
    ‘This really is so weird, isn’t it?’ I said out loud, but when I turned to face him, I saw he was asleep. I smiled and snuggled up under the covers, and it struck me, as I sank
peacefully into sleep, that tonight I felt closer to Anthony than I had done in months.
    iv) The Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
    The following evening, Anthony and I found ourselves at the Green Mill