"Alex, what the hell are you doing here?" James asked her slightly louder and more aggressively than he had intended.
"I came to see you, James. I wanted to see you on your birthday. Hi Anna, we've never met but I've heard about you from Danielle."
"Hi. James, I think you could probably do without me here." Anna said to him letting go of his arm. "Can I use your spare room key to get some things I left last night?"
"Of course, you can. Why don't you wait for me there? I won't be long." She took a step to leave when she turned back and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
James had no idea what was going on. In the past 15 minutes he had gone from happily waking up on his birthday with Anna, to being face to face with his ex. He watched Anna leave seeing Alex glaring at her.
"Why are you here Alex?" He asked her seriously.
"She's a bit full on, isn't she? I like how she wanted to tell me that you two slept together last night." Alex stated, not listening to James's question, or even looking at him.
"Why are you here?" He asked her again.
"She is cute though. I can see..."
"Alex!" He snapped, starting to lose his patience with her. More staff were in the lobby now and were watching the exchange with worry.
"OK. I want you back James. I have missed you so much. I know I did a stupid stupid thing, you have no idea how much I regret it." She said, tears starting to build in her eyes.
"Are you insane? You chase me halfway across the world, acting like a stalker, and you think that will want me to get back with you? Not to mention that you cheated on me."
"James it was a mistake. Just a stupid mistake. Why can't we forget about it? Look at what you booked for us? Or have you forgotten that this was meant to be our trip?"
He had booked this trip for them. He had booked it just before finding out that she was cheating on him, by walking in on them in her office. He had booked it to coincide with his birthday today and their anniversary in two days' time.
"That's another thing. How did you know where I was? I never told you the name of the hotel. Danielle gave me her word she wouldn't tell you." James asked her. In the past week Danielle and him had become friends and he didn't think she would have broken her word.
"Look. I'm going to give you some time. How about we meet for lunch? Unfortunately, they wouldn't give me our room key without your permission so I had to get a room in the other hotel. I'm only allowed in here as far as the lobby without you." She knew she had shocked him. That's why she had waited till now to see him. She had arrived the night before and even though she knew about Anna, and what they would probably be doing, she wanted the full impact this morning.
"I don't know. Alex, I'm seeing someone." He told her hoping this would get her to leave him alone.
"What, your little holiday crush? You will get bored with her." She replied.
"You don't even know her. I'm going back to my room. Goodbye Alex." He was about to leave when she reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Please James. I'm here for a week whether you like it or not. Could we have lunch together. Don't answer now. I will have my phone on the whole time."
James didn't answer but just walked away. He walked back to his hotel room his mind once again all over the place. How could she do this? This was meant to be a break away for him. Some time to rest and get his head back together after seeing his girlfriend of five years cheating on him. And then he met Anna.
He hadn't expected to meet anyone while he was away. Of course, he had hoped for a bit of fun while on holiday, but he hadn't expected to meet someone he got along with so well and liked so much.
How had she known where he was? He knew Danielle wouldn't have told her, after all, Anna had told him that if there were sides to a breakup, she was on his.
He got back to his room within five minutes. It wasn't long enough to clear his head, or to even think clearly. He wasn't upset seeing her, it was more the rush of those feelings of betrayal flooding back to him that just hurt.
When he got back to the room Anna was sitting outside on the patio with what looked like a fresh cup of coffee. As soon as he joined her outside, she stood up giving him a strong bear hug.
"Are you OK James?" She asked him carefully.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He replied trying to keep emotion out of his voice.
"Oh, I don't know maybe because your ex just turned up to find you in another country, no another continent." She said sarcastically.
"Alright, granted its slightly, no, massively creepy, but there isn't much I can do about it. Luckily, the hotel won't give her a room key." He told her.
"And what about you? Do you want to give her a key?" She asked.
"Of course, I don't. You don't think I want to get back with her, do you?"
"Well maybe a little. That's why I got a last kiss in. Just in case." She said shyly. Now he knew she hadn't been trying to make Alex jealous, or mark her territory. She had thought it might the last kiss she got.
He cupped her face in his hand forcing her to look at him. He leant his head down giving her a tenderly soft kiss on the lips. "That won't be the last kiss you will get from me."
He kissed her again, this time feeling her reciprocating and kissing him back. It didn't last too long, breaking the kiss off before they both got carried away as had happened a few times already over the past week.
"James, what happened between you two? I know the end result but not really what happened. Would you tell me about it?" She asked him. She didn't want to upset him, but she also wanted to understand.
He dove straight into it. He told her what happened from catching them together and the month off work and how he had spent that time hiking alone getting his head back straight again.
"I really don't know what to say. That's horrible. I guessed it was messy otherwise Danielle would have said. I did ask her, but she wouldn't say." She told him.
"I never really wanted to get into it, but I guess now she has turned up and you and me have got close it's only fair you know."
"Why did you spend the month off? Whenever I have had a break-up, I bury myself in work, wasn't it lonely?" She told him honestly.
"It was at first, but it gave me time to get perspective. I think if I hadn't had that time to myself, her showing up could be much worse. Remember what you said about coincidence and fate that first day we were here? If I hadn't caught her cheating, she would be here right now, and you wouldn't be." He said seriously. He didn't want to come on too strong with her. As far as he knew, she thought this was just a bit of holiday fun.