Page 72 of The Bookshop at the Cornish Cove

This was my moment. I just had to be brave. I could either back out now or I could do something that could change mine and Dennis’s lives.

I gave Dennis’s name and asked if he was free.

‘Gosh, not another woman here to see Dennis.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Take a seat and I’ll try and get hold of him for you.’

As I sat on the very low and quite uncomfortable reception chair, I wondered what she meant.

I was surprised that she hadn’t even asked my name and when she sashayed across the foyer to me in heels and a verytight short pencil skirt that were both more apt for a nightclub than an office, in my humble opinion, I smiled, trying not to judge.

‘He’s in a meeting. It’s not long started so he’ll probably be a while. Do you want to come back later?’

I quickly thought about what might be best, feeling very on the spot.

‘Would it be OK if I wait?’

‘Suit yourself.’

Gosh. Talk about an attitude.

I was trying not to keep glancing at the clock above the desk but failing miserably. I kept locking eyes with Miss Prim and Proper; the more I tried not to, the more I failed. When I noticed that an hour had passed, suddenly desperate for the loo, I asked her if I could use the ladies’. She pointed a long-manicured finger in the direction of the corridor and I headed that way.

Checking that I still looked reasonably put together in the bathroom toilets, I took a deep breath and opened the door back into the corridor.

A familiar voice drifted towards me although I couldn’t work out the words until the person speaking was much closer. There was a male and a female voice, and I pulled the door to, peering out through the gap that I’d left open, my heart beginning to thump so loud, I thought they might be able to hear.

The woman who stood with her back to me, just about three metres away, was tall and elegant with her platinum blonde hair pulled back into a swingy high ponytail. In cream tailored trousers, bronze high-heeled shoes and a heavy giraffe-print coat, her style radiated glamour, and the heavy gold bracelet dangling from her wrist seemed to ooze class and money.

I took a sharp intake of breath when she raised her hand and cupped Dennis’s face which he, to my horror, seemed to be enjoying.

‘Don’t take too long to make your mind up, Dennis. There’s a place on my yacht with your name on it, just waiting for you to say yes. Just imagine what a fabulous time we could have. Just like the last time. You know it makes sense.’ She made the shape of a telephone with her hand and simply purred, ‘Call me!’

As she turned to walk away, I could see that she was beautifully groomed, with perfect make-up, and ruby-red glossy lipstick. She was simply stunning and, looking down at my second-hand outfit, I felt like a frumpy old country bumpkin compared to her. Why would Dennis ever look at me when he could have a woman who looked like that?

I turned and locked myself in one of the cubicles and banged on the door in frustration.

I couldn’t believe how ridiculously stupid I could possibly be. I’d come all the way here, assuming that Dennis would be waiting for me, ready to fall into my arms. When all along, he’d got other women just waiting in the wings. Keeping his options open no doubt. My only saving grace was that he hadn’t known I’d been here at all.

When the tears stopped, I took another deep breath and bravely opened the door into the corridor, checking that there was no one around. A glance towards the reception desk told me that Miss Prim and Proper was talking on the phone and I walked as quickly as I possibly could past the desk and out through the revolving door, leaving the shouts of her yelling ‘excuse me’ behind.

As I stepped out onto the street, the tears fell and this time I didn’t even bother to let them stop as I started to run.

Maybe Ididread too many romance novels. Not everything tied up nicely at the end and the happy couple lived happily ever after. I was a fool. An absolute idiot. Happy-ever-afters obviously never happened in the real world. Life was not a fairy tale after all.

48

When I arrived in the foyer back my hotel, I asked if I could check out early and get a refund, but sadly, they wouldn’t refund the extra night. It was the night before Christmas Eve but their Christmas spirit was clearly not at the forefront of their customer service. My heart and my soul was completely deflated and I didn’t care how much money it would cost me now, but I just wanted to go home and lick my wounds in my familiar surroundings. But fate had other ideas because when I checked the train time app to change my tickets, there were no more trains until the following day anyway.

I left the hotel, not knowing where I was going but knowing I didn’t want to go and sit in my room alone.

All my visions of spending time with Dennis in London were now long gone. When he’d talked about how fabulous the Oxford Street lights were at this time of year, and how beautiful Covent Garden was, I had envisaged us wandering around hand in hand, taking in the sights and then coming back to the hotel and spending the night together, truly being with the one I loved.

I wandered for miles before I realised I hadn’t a clue where I was. Being lost in London made me realise just how out of mydepth I was and how I should never have come. My battery had run out on my phone so I couldn’t even use Google Maps and if I stopped to ask someone, I probably would have scared them to death. I was pretty sure I looked like Alice Cooper. I was sat on a stone bench somewhere in London, with a cold backside, not knowing where the hell I was and not knowing a soul apart from someone who didn’t want to see me.

A beep of a horn startled me, and bizarrely the taxi driver from yesterday was dropping off a fare.

‘Small world, eh? What’s the chances of seeing you here?’ He laughed out of his window before he saw that I was clearly not happy. I’d spent the day looking at faces that I didn’t know, yet when I saw this man’s friendly face, I burst out into tears again.

He pulled over a little further up the road and was suddenly beside me on the bench.

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