Fijian Sunset part one

This weekend I thought I'd post something creative but different! 
Here is a short romance story I wrote last year!
Part one today - part two tomorrow!

I'd love to know what you think!

Fijian sunset  

 By Jill Shepherd    Copyright 2010

“I’m sorry madam, you must be mistaken.  A Mr and Mrs Hunter checked in under that reservation number about an hour ago.”  

            Sally flushed red with anger and embarrassment.  How could he?  She had won the holiday, not him!  She knew she should never have let him make the hotel booking.  How much of a fool had she felt the day before their trip when a friend had brought the paper to show her a wedding photo, of her boyfriend getting married to another woman!  That same friend had persuaded her to come to Fiji anyway, alone.  To get away from things and forget the toad who she had thought she had loved!  But now, it would appear she hadn’t gotten away from him at all.  He was here, using her prize holiday as a honeymoon for his new wife!  The nerve of the man.

            Sally turned and walked out of the hotel lobby and onto the beach.  Well at least if bad luck comes in threes, then that’s it done for me she thought, trying to see a bright side to her situation.  First my boyfriend marries another woman, then the airline loses my holiday luggage, and finally I arrive to find my ex has stolen my hotel room too!

            She walked along the beach for a while, carrying her small backpack, which was all that she had to last her for the week’s holiday.  Her swirling thoughts and anger made her largely oblivious to the stunningly white sandy beach, gently sloping into the shallow inviting turquoise water. 

Ahead, she saw a small cafe, where a man stood in front of it looking out to sea.   Sally approached him, and on seeing her, he smiled broadly, bright white teeth shining out from his deeply tanned face.

“Bula,” he said in greeting as she approached.

            “Bula,“ Sally replied, remembering that was the Fijian greeting that seemed to mean everything from ‘Hello’ to ‘Bless you’ when someone sneezed.  “Do you know where I can get a room to stay?” Sally asked hopefully.

The man nodded and gestured to the next building along the beach.  Sally thanked him and walked a few paces further to find a young girl, sweeping out a simple room.

            “Is this room for rent?” Sally asked politely.  The girl looked up, and giving her the same warm smile the man at the cafe had, she nodded.  She named a price, and Sally handed over enough cash to cover a week.  The girl’s smile got impossibly bigger and she promised to return soon with fresh towels and the key.

            Sally spent the rest of the day sitting on the beach in front of her little room wondering what on earth she was doing here.  She walked the few paces to the cafe next door for lunch and again for dinner.  It appeared that the cafe owner and the young girl who had been sweeping out her room were a couple.  Sally watched enviously the easy camaraderie between the two, the warm hugs

and genuine laughter as they cooked and served her delicious food.  Things had never been like that between her and her so-called boyfriend, Sally thought sadly.

            As the sun set over the sea, Sally sat sipping her drink, alone.  A stray tear spilled over from her eye and trickled its way down her cheek.

“Why would such a beautiful girl be so sad?” she heard a voice ask.

It was the cafe owner.  He pulled up the chair next to her and sat down.  He had brought two drinks with him.  He pushed one in front of her.  Then, lifting the other to his lips took a long gulp, set down his glass, looked at Sally, and waited.  Sally looked into his darkly handsome face.  There was something safe and welcoming about him, and Sally heard herself starting to speak, as she gradually told him her story.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said once she had finished her story.  “Don’t be sad.  I’m sure he isn’t.  You must enjoy your holiday too.”  And with that he took the now empty glasses to the back of the cafe where Sally saw his wife wiping down the small bar as they closed up for the night.

            Enjoy my holiday, Sally thought with a bitter laugh.  Some holiday this was, with her ex-boyfriend and his new wife staying in luxury, while she slept in a basic shack, alone, on the beach.  That night, Sally went to bed tired and angry.

The next day she woke up feeling much the same and quite unable to get the image out of her head of her slimy ex with his wife, enjoying her holiday in the luxury resort at the end of the beach.  The more she thought about it, the angrier Sally became, until something inside her snapped and throwing her dress over her bikini, she strode out along the beach towards the resort with a dark determination.  She intended to confront the toad, and demand he give her her hotel room back.

            On reaching the resort, Sally stormed up from the beach towards the elegant sun loungers spaced out around the sparkling pool.  Her eyes roamed over the few people relaxing in the early morning sun, the odd hotel staff member gently sweeping up a stray leaf or flower that had the temerity to land on the spotlessly clean white tiles around the pool.  Finally her gaze settled on a young couple sitting at a small table under the shade of an exotic looking tree.  Copious amounts of pink flowers were gently snowing down around them and they looked the picture of happiness, gazing into each other’s eyes.   Just as you would expect newlyweds to look.

            Sally’s stomach churned as she watched the scene.  Torn between blind anger at the man sitting there who had lied to her and used her and also jealousy as she watched how happy and in love the couple outwardly appeared to be.  That should have been me, Sally thought, her anger once again spurring her into action as she set off determinedly towards their table.

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End of part one.

I do hope you'll come back tomorrow to see how the story ends.....

Click here to read part two!