The next morning, I braved the beach again, this time wearing sunglasses and a big floppy sun hat I'd borrowed from Kat. Which sunlounger seemed the safest? In the end, I picked one close to the water that gave me a good view of anybody approaching, meaning I could dash into the sea at a moment's notice to escape.

At least that was the theory. It went to pot when I fell asleep.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

This time, the voice that interrupted me was French, and I'm afraid to say I snapped. Why couldn't everyone just leave me alone? This was meant to be a holiday. A break. I wasn't paying good money to get bothered every five bloody minutes.

"Yes, I'm Callie. Yes, my fiancé left me three days before our wedding. No, I'm not looking for a new husband and, no, I don't want to go to lunch with you. Or dinner."

The man started to back away, hands raised as though they'd protect him from the obviously crazy woman sitting in front of him.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you. I was only going to ask whether you'd be interested in making an introductory scuba dive. We're offering them free today."

I put my head in my hands. Once again, I'd made a complete fool of myself. The story of my life.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's just, well, my mother seems to have been encouraging the hotel staff to play matchmaker, and I can't get any peace."

He gave me a wry grin. "Yes, now I recall. I did get the memo. I didn't recognise you under the hat and glasses, though."

Oh heck, there was an actual memo? Next thing I knew, my face was going to be plastered around town on lamp posts, like some bizarre take on a missing cat poster. I had visions of boys handing my flyer out on the street, nightclub-style.

The man must have seen the horror on my face because he tried to reassure me.

"I swear that's not why I'm here. Between you and me, you're not my type."

A couple of tears leaked out—I couldn't help it—and the man took a rapid step backwards.

"No, no, it's not you," I told him, trying to suppress a sniffle. "I just can't seem to attract the right sort of men. Yesterday, a man who stuffs animals for a living told me I was boring. What else is wrong? Am I too tall? Too fat? Is my hair the wrong colour? Come on, you can tell me. Please?"

He offered a look of sympathy and crouched down beside the sunlounger. "If you must know, it's none of that. For me, you're too female."

Oh. "Oh."

"You might want to ease up on the attitude a bit, but I can assure you, you're not lacking in the looks department. I may not be attracted to women, but I can still appreciate beauty when I see it."

That was the sweetest thing anybody had said to me in a long time. Why did all the good ones have to be gay?

"So you don't think I should cut my hair?" I asked, just to clarify.

"It's perfect as it is. Most women would kill to have hair that thick and shiny." He blushed a little. "I dated a hairdresser once."

I sighed. "So it must just be my personality. Peter said I should be more adventurous."

"Peter?"

"The taxidermist."

"Right." His lips twitched at the corners. "The taxidermist. In that case, why don't you come with me and have a try at diving? That'd be an adventure. There's a whole other world down there, just waiting for you to discover it. And now that I recognise you, I also know your mother paid for the deluxe activities package."

Even though I hadn't enjoyed my wakeboarding lesson, I'd felt a sense of accomplishment when I stood up at the end. Maybe diving would give me the same buzz but without the choking?

"You know what? I think I will. This is going to be the new me. I'm going to try as many different things as I can on this trip."

"That's the spirit." He reached a hand down to help me up. "You never know, you might fall in love with one of them."

"I should think that's highly unlikely."

But as my mother always said, I wouldn't know unless I gave it a go.

"I'm Gabriel by the way. Gabe."

"Gabe. What part of France are you from?"

"I'm from Switzerland. They speak a mixture of French, English and German there, and my mother was French, hence the accent."

"Your English is excellent."

"I went to boarding school in England for a few years. The first thing I learned was all the bad words, and then I worked on improving the rest."

"So why did you come to Fidda Hilal? Why not go back to Switzerland?"

"Switzerland is known for its snow, cuckoo clocks, and diplomacy," Gabe told me. "I rebelled as a teenager, and what better way to do it than to come to a region where it rarely rains, there's no concept of timekeeping, and the main export is dictators?"

I couldn't argue with that. If you were going to rebel, you might as well do it in style. I only wished I had the guts.

Diving wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd thought. Instead of heading for the water as I'd expected, I found myself in a classroom, watching as my would-be instructor inserted an old-fashioned VHS tape into an ancient video player.

"We need to go through the basics so you stay safe in the water," Gabe explained. "This stuff might be boring, but it's necessary."

"Safety is my middle name."

Half an hour later, and I was trying to squeeze myself into a wetsuit. Trying and failing. I nearly overbalanced as I hopped around.

"I don't think this one's the right size."

"It's supposed to be tight. Wetsuits work by trapping a thin layer of water next to your skin. If it's loose, the water washes around and you get cold."

"It'll be even colder if I can't get it on."

"Here, I'll give you a hand."

Between the two of us, we managed to get me into the wetsuit. That felt like an achievement in itself. Where was my trophy? But the suit was absolutely skintight, and I peered down in horror at my bulges. Everything showed.

"I can't go out like this."

"Nonsense. You're perfect. And remember, most people here will be either wearing a wetsuit or a swimsuit. You'd look more out of place in a kaftan."

I took a deep breath and remembered my pledge to be more adventurous. I can do this.

"So what's next?"

"You learned from the film that scuba stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. So we need to get you a BCD and regulator, plus boots, fins, and a mask."

I stood, feeling like an idiot as Gabe first shoved my feet into a pair of neoprene boots, and then screwed together the parts that would help me breathe. He put the waistcoat thingy with an air tank strapped to it, the BCD, onto a bench and motioned for me to sit in front of it.

"Just lean forward and put your arms through the holes. That's it." He fastened me in and smiled. "All done. You can stand up now."

Alrighty then. I tried to stand up. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Do you have any idea how much this stuff weighs?"

"Twenty kilos, give or take. We've still got to put the weight belt on you."

"There's more?"

By the time he'd helped me to my feet and strapped seven kilos of lead around my waist, I was stuck to the spot. If I leaned one way or the other, I was going to overbalance and fall over.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," he said cheerfully.

"Is it too late to back out? I could go snorkelling instead. That doesn't involve turning yourself into a pack pony, right?"

"No, but it's too late to change your mind now. You've got all the kit on. Tough luck."

I sighed. Or at least I tried to. I was struggling to breathe in the wetsuit. "In that case, is there a trolley or something that you can wheel me to the sea on? How about one of those things that they use for the suitcases?"

"You can walk, trust me. I'll help you."

He put his kit on effortlessly in thirty seconds flat, lifting his contraption onto his back as if it weighed the same as a bag of crisps. Then he beckoned me to follow him. I shuffled over.

"Do we need to put the flippers on?" I pointed at the two pairs he was carrying.

"Fins. We don't call them flippers. Flipper is a dolphin. And no, we'll do that once we're in the water."

He made it sound so easy. I wasn't sure I'd even make it to the water. It seemed an awfully long way. We set off, trudging slowly.

"So, judging from the way you bit my head off this morning, I take it you've had a few man-related disasters?" Gabe asked.

"Three so far at the hotel, plus one that my so-called best friend arranged for me."

"Which has been the worst?"

"They were all so different. The German was bitter, the Egyptian was weird, the Russian was rude, and the English guy just left me feeling depressed."

"And the Swiss guy? How are you finding him so far?"

I gave Gabe a thumbs up. "Better."

And then we were at the water. How on earth did we get there? "You tried to distract me."

Gabe glanced over his shoulder as he waded into the sea. "It worked, didn't it?"

I stumbled in after him, and he put his breathing thing, the regulator, into his mouth for a moment, then dipped under the water to slide my feet into the fins.

"Now, put the regulator in and just breathe normally. I'll do everything else. You remember what I said earlier about clearing your ears?"

Equalising, he'd called it. As I descended in the water, I had to hold my nose and breathe out until my ears popped, otherwise the pressure would damage them.

I nodded. "Got it."

He spat into my mask, then rinsed it in the sea.

"Eew, what was that for?"

"It stops the mask from fogging up. Don't worry, I haven't got cooties."

I suppose he had at least rinsed it. He slipped it over my head and gave me the "OK" sign, forming an "O" with his thumb and forefinger. I repeated it back to him.

He put his own regulator in again, then used a button to deflate my jacket, and slowly, slowly, we sank beneath the surface.

The water was cold on my face, and my fears about not being able to breathe proved unfounded. It was just like breathing above the surface, except noisier as the air bubbles gurgled around my head.

And it was magical. Just feet from my head, a school of silvery fish darted back and forth, responding to our movements. A long, thin fish swam among them. As I watched, it changed colour, going from stripy grey to pearly white.

The sun shimmered down on the water, and shadows and patterns danced on the sandy slope that led out to the blue. Yellow, black, and white fish swam past regally, daring me to follow.

As we went deeper, Gabe supported me, changing the amount of air in my jacket to ensure I floated beside him. I wanted to smile, to let him know how much I was enjoying myself, but the regulator in my mouth made it impossible. I tried to tell him with my eyes instead.

Did he get it? I think he got it. At least, he took his regulator out and grinned at me. Show off. I wouldn't be attempting that trick.

The bottom changed from sand to coral: blues, yellows, and pinks. Small fish darted in and out of anemones. I pointed at a pair of yellow fish in front of me. Nemo. The little asshole flew at my finger, trying to bite it, and I hastily withdrew my hand. Next to me, Gabe's eyes crinkled in laughter.

It was over all too soon. Gabe turned us around and lazily kicked us back to shore. As we walked up the beach, two waiters and the towel boy gave us a small round of applause.

"Well done, Miss Callie."

"Was it beautiful?"

"Thanks, and yes, it was," I replied, a little breathless.

Somehow, the equipment didn't seem so heavy on the way back. I wasn't sure whether it was because I'd used up most of the air or because I just felt lighter inside.

Gabe helped me to take off the kit, then showed me how to rinse it in the freshwater tanks and hang it up to dry. I felt a pang of sadness as I glanced back at my gear. It had been the gateway to something special.

"So?" Gabe asked.

"So what?"

"I saw that look. Do you want to have another go?"

"Yes. Yes, I think I do."

Even if it had left my hair sticking out in a thousand different directions. I tried to flatten it down by combing it with my fingers, but the saltwater left it tangled.

"I have a course starting tomorrow if you'd be interested in joining? There's only one other person on it so far. It'll be nice and quiet. And I promise not to try setting you up with every man that walks past."

"What's involved?"

"It's a PADI open water course. You need to make nine dives, and after that, you'll be a certified diver."

I thought it over. Underwater, there were no rude Germans, Russians, or Egyptians, just peace, pretty colours, and fish. Even if Nemo had been a bit grumpy, it wasn't a hard decision.

"Okay, I'll do it. Am I being adventurous now?"

Gabe gave me a high five. "Nine o'clock tomorrow morning. You'd better get some sleep tonight."

It was only once I'd got back to my villa that I realised I hadn't thought about Bryce for the entire afternoon.

Yes, I was going to like this diving lark.