In Bed With Lord Byron

possibly last – that it was so good I didn’t quite deserve it.
    I lay there, watching him sleeping, terrified he was going to wake and, like one of those fairy tale heroes released from a spell, wonder what he was doing with me, an Ugly Sister, and go off to
find a proper princess.
    That is the trouble with fear. It’s as though the universe listens to those little whispers of worry that scuttle about in our minds and decides to make them come true.
    Then came the dinner that changed everything.
    We were sitting in a restaurant in our hotel. We had just ordered food, giggling meekly on how lame we were for not being able to handle the strong curries. We sipped lassis and yawned between
sentences; we hadn’t been able to sleep properly in the heat and our tiredness was catching up with us.
    I suddenly became aware that the guy sitting at the next table was listening in on our conversation.
    He looked quite nice. Classic backpacker material: tanned, Hawaiian shirt, dyed blond dreads worming down his back, a weather-beaten face, slanting blue eyes. He also seemed lonely.
    When I glanced over, he quickly looked away, embarrassed to have been caught out. I gave him a reassuring smile.
    ‘Hi,’ I said. I was vaguely aware of Anthony giving me a dirty look, but I ignored it. I just wanted to be friendly. ‘You out here on your own?’
    ‘Yeah,’ he said. He was Australian. ‘Hiya.’ He leaned across and proffered a hand to shake. ‘I’m Dom.’
    Anthony and I immediately looked at each other, remembering the wonderful Dominic on that first fateful plane trip who had brought us together. We repressed giggles.
    ‘Don’t worry, private joke,’ Anthony said to Dom.
    Dom looked a little hurt; I felt like pinching Anthony for his lack of tact.
    ‘Well, I should leave you guys to it,’ said Dom.
    ‘No, no, it’s fine,’ I said. ‘Look, come and join us if you like. Come on. There’s room at the table.’
    ‘Are you sure . . . ?’ Dom asked.
    ‘Sure!’ I said, ignoring Anthony’s ‘what-the-fuck-are-you-doing?’ glances.
    Dom sat down and we all started to chat. Well, Dom and I started to chat. Anthony fell decidedly silent. I felt exasperated with him – couldn’t he just join in, be friendly for once?
And Dom, as it turned out, was buzzing with interesting stories. He’d been travelling for the past year. He’d experienced all kinds of adventures, from meditating in the Himalayas, to
getting robbed in Kerala and suffering dysentery in Delhi.
    ‘Wow, that’s so interesting, isn’t it?’ I turned to Anthony and grinned. He looked back at me stonily and declared he needed the loo. I noticed then he’d barely
touched his food.
    Suddenly I felt sheepish. Dom, who was now telling a story about just how bad his dysentery had been in terms of toilet-flushes per minute, was beginning to grate a bit on my nerves. And I had
spoilt our romantic dinner; maybe I wasn’t being very fair on Anthony.
    Anthony returned from the toilet. He picked up his jacket which had been slung over the chair.
    ‘Well, I’m off,’ he announced, staring at me with livid eyes. ‘Hope you two have a nice dinner together. I’ll leave you to it.’
    ‘
Anthony!
’ I cried.
    For a moment I sat there in shock, watching his retreating back. I thought:
this has to be a joke.
If I followed him, I knew he’d turn around and shriek with laughter and say,
‘Got you, Lucy! I had you going there for a minute, didn’t I?’
    But he didn’t come back.
    Dom winked and said, ‘Well, I guess that leaves room for you and me to gel, babe.’
    ‘What!’ I leapt to my feet. ‘Anthony is my boyfriend!’
    ‘Well, we could always try a threesome . . . ’ Dom’s voice faded away.
    I set off across the restaurant. The stupid buggering lift was broken, so I went clattering up the long staircase, bursting into the hotel room in a sweat. Anthony was sitting on the bed with
his back to me, staring out of the window.
    ‘Anthony! What the hell was all that about?’
    When he turned back, I was shocked by the rage and pain in his eyes.
    ‘I’m sorry I got angry,’ he said, sounding a lot more angry than sorry, ‘but you clearly didn’t want to be with me down there. I mean, everywhere we go, you flirt
like mad, but this is the last straw – I mean, for God’s sake!’ His voice rose. ‘Why go out with me if you’re going to chase after other men?’
    ‘What? Anthony! What are you talking about? I mean, that guy down