This was meant to be the final part of the story but I've decided to add a fifth and, hopefully final section to finish it properly. I hope you enjoy.
As always constructive comments are welcome.
~~~~~~~~~ Chapter eighteen ~~~~~~~~~~
"What... what are you doing here?" Jack finally managed to speak after taking a moment or two to get over the shock of unexpectedly seeing his former girlfriend, "I thought... you... you would be living in London, with Peter."
"Jack... what.... I... you... you're.... in the... the army?" she stammered staring at him wide-eyed with a look of utter astonishment and not answering his question.
He couldn't help but grin flippantly despite the improbability of the situation and looked down at himself and his uniform, "Yeah... yeah I guess I am."
"I... I... never knew... where... where you had gone." Her hand went to her throat as she spoke.
"Didn't much care either I expect." He responded acerbically, having recovered some of his composure, "To busy being loved up with your new man. You know the one you replaced me with."
"Jack.... I... never..."
Just at that precise moment Franco strolled nonchalantly in through the hotel's main doors and, seeing the small group by the reception desk, made a beeline straight for Debbie, slipping an arm possessively around her waist.
"Hey babes, you all set for the night of your life?" he butted in to the conversation pulling her tight up against him.
"What... no, no I... I... wait...I?" she stared helplessly at Jack as her date manhandled her.
"Come on babe, who is this jerk." Franco glared contemptuously at Jack and started to pull her away from him, "Let's go you got a long night of pleasure ahead of you."
"No wait... wait... I need... to..." Debbie started to protest.
"You need what? My cock?" Franco laughed, "Let's go and you can have plenty of it."
"Your boyfriend I take it?" Jack looked back and forth between the pair of them for a second, his eyes filled with a pain she could clearly see but barely comprehend.
"Yeah, I am, so what soldier boy?" Franco smirked at him still trying to pull a resisting Debbie away, "And right now I need to give her some loving."
"No... Jack.... he's..." she tried to tell him.
"Have a nice night, Deb." His voice sounded pitiful and made her want to hold him, "It was... good to see you again."
"Please Jack, we need to talk." She looked desperately back at him as she was almost forcibly marched away, "Meet me tomorrow, at The Coffee Pot, please. At ten-thirty. Please."
"Come on babes. Forget the toy soldier, we need to get out of here. I have big plans for you." Her date persisted in trying to drag her towards the exit.
"Ten thirty.... Meet me... please." She repeated forlornly looking back at him.
Jack stood and watched silently as the only woman he had ever loved was unceremoniously steered away from him across the hotel foyer. Heading towards what was obviously going to be a night of passion by her leering arrogant arsehole of a boyfriend.
"Wow that was all totally unexpected." Claire's comment jerked him out of the moment, "I would never have imagined this happening when I came out for a drink."
"What... yeah, yeah I guess it was." He had forgotten she was there and nodded, his eyes never leaving his ex-girlfriend as she was maneuvered away from him.
"Look. Jackson, isn't it? If you want to have a drink with me, we can talk about this?" Claire asked pensively.
Jack shook his head, "Thanks all the same but I think I'll head up to my room and unpack."
"Ok just as you want but I can tell you she's trying to move on with her life now." Her words cut in even deeper into his heart, "Maybe you picked a bad time to come back."
"She did that a long time ago." He replied sourly and turned away, "And maybe I did."
Collecting his key from a rather bemused Jane, a thoroughly confused and miserable Jack made his way up the stairs to his room. Throwing his bag onto the bed he sat down heavily and wondered what had just happened.
He had never expected to see Debbie again and meeting her at the reception desk had been a complete shock for him. Feelings he had kept locked away for so long had surged to the surface and now he had to try to cope with them.
Then to see the cretin she now had for a boyfriend and his obvious intentions for a night of hard sex with her had left him feeling sick to his stomach.
What was she doing with a complete tosser like that? What had happened to Peter, the guy she had left him for? Why had she come back after being in London?
There were so many questions filling his brain he needed some time to think and try to make sense of everything.
He had never expected that she would be by herself after all this time. In truth, he had thought she would be married and living in London with Peter Wheeler. But seeing her with whoever the arsehole was, was just nauseating to him.
There was no need for him to analyse his feelings he knew exactly why he felt so miserable. He had never stopped loving her but he had kept it hidden, at least from himself, and under control until now. Seeing her again brought it all back and as he sat there, he thought about just picking up his bag and checking out. But it was late and, if he left now, he realised he had nowhere else to go.
Throwing off his uniform Jack decided to take a quick shower; he needed a drink and time to collect his thoughts instead of merely sitting around moping.
Once he had cleaned up and dressed, he headed downstairs.
Dodging the flirtatious receptionist Jane, he paused at the entrance to the hotel bar and looked around, immediately noticing that Debbie was ensconced at a corner table with her neanderthal boyfriend's arm draped around her shoulders.
He couldn't help but stare as Franco pulled her against him, kissing her firmly and trying to discretely grope her breast at the same time.
Unable to watch the sickening spectacle he turned away, concluding it would probably be best to avoid the hotel bar where Debbie was cuddled up with her prick of a boyfriend. He glanced across at the receptionist, Jane, who smiled invitingly at him but he knew she was working till ten.
Unsure of what to do now he just stepped out of the Royal Oak and stood in the street looking around wondering which way to go.
"Trying to avoid me?"
The voice behind him made him turn around quickly and he almost bumped into Jane, the pretty, coquettish receptionist.
"What... umm...no, its... err... it's not ten o'clock." Jack managed to splutter, "I thought you were working.".
Jane giggled and took his arm, "I got off early. Now we can go for that drink."
"Err... yeah great... so where shall we go then?" he agreed somewhat reluctantly, "It's been quite a while since I was last here."
She pouted, thinking for a second, "The Horse and Groom might be a good choice then. Do you know it?"
He told her he did and the pair of them turned and headed off through the darkened deserted streets. Walking along he tried to ignore Jane's frivolous chatter and come to some sort of a decision about what he was going to do now.
The last thing he had expected was to come face to face with her and now he had all the feelings he had kept suppressed were emerging again and he found he was at least grateful for the distraction of Jane's company.
"So, who was she?" she looked at him curiously when they eventually sat down in the pub with their drinks, "That blonde girl you were talking to back at the hotel."
"Just someone I used to know." Jack replied with deliberate vagueness.
Jane took a sip of her wine, "It seemed a bit more than that. Was she an old girlfriend maybe?"
He didn't answer and just took a mouthful of his beer.
"You both seemed surprised to see each other." She continued not getting a response from him.
"Let's just say she was probably the last person I thought I'd see coming back here."
"Did you live round these parts then?"
"Yeah, I did a while back." He told, "Before I joined up that is."
She considered his answers for a moment.
"Are you that soldier? The one from here who won some sort of medal recently? It was on the local news." letting the subject of Debbie and Jack's past drop for the moment, Jane tactfully changed the topic.
"Yeah, that's me." He reluctantly admitted.
Her brown eyes opened wide, "Wow, you mean I'm sitting here with a real-life hero."
"Hardly." He told her, "I was just lucky."
For the next hour or so they chatted about nothing in particular. Her mostly asking questions and Jack avoiding giving her to many direct answers.
"So, did you know her before you joined the army?" the conversation finally came back to Debbie.
Just finishing his second pint Jack studied the girl opposite him. Perhaps if things had been a little different, she might have been an interesting diversion for his leave. She was pretty enough even if she did seem a little air-headed.
"Yeah, I knew her before I enlisted." He replied quietly, staring into the distance as the memories came back to him.
Jane smiled and took his hand in hers "I'm not silly you know. You're still in love with her, aren't you?"
"Sorry. Is it that obvious?" he gave her a lop-sided grin.
She smiled sweetly "Sadly, it is."
He shrugged, "I'm sorry."
"Does she know what she's lost out on? A decent guy like you and you still love her after how many years."
"Too many." He took another mouthful of his drink, "It's about time I moved on to I guess."
After more than two hours and three pints Jack finally resisted the urge to invite Jane back to his room and simply said goodnight to her. Kissing her on the cheek, and ignoring the disappointed look in her eyes he made his way morosely back to the hotel.
He didn't feel any happier but talking to Jane had been a pleasant alternative to drinking alone and he had had the opportunity to think about what he would do with his leave now. Tomorrow, he decided, he would make some phone calls and think about moving on, maybe up to the lake district or even Scotland.
