A Holiday to Remember

This is the first in a short series of stories, that I hope to submit fairly quickly. I hope everyone enjoys it.

James had always looked forward to his holidays. This time, that wasn't the case. Sitting there in his bedroom, packing his suitcase, he had a sudden feeling of isolation.

A month ago, he had booked a holiday for his girlfriend, Alex, and him. They had always talked about going to Mexico together, lying on a nice white sandy beach, drinking cocktails, and relaxing. That was when it all went wrong.

He had gone to her office in Leeds to surprise her with flowers and news of the trip, but it was him who got a surprise. He got off the elevator on the 5th floor, walked down the corridor to her office and was about to knock when he could hear her moaning in pleasure. What was she doing? Was she masturbating at work? The office was empty at this time anyway and he knew she had a high sex drive.

He opened the door quietly wondering what he was about to see her doing to herself, but he never would have guessed what he would see. She was sitting on her desk, eyes tightly shut with her legs wide open and her intern's head between them. The little shit was going down on her. That little 18-year-old prick, was licking his girlfriend's pussy right in front of him.

He was about to say something when she opened her eyes and saw him standing in the doorway.

"Oh fuck" she stammered.

James couldn't speak. All he could do was look and watch her trying to push the guy away from her. When he finally got the message and pulled away from her, he saw James standing there, watching them.

"Hey, do you mind getting out of here and giving us some privacy?" He asked James.

"Some fuck is licking out my girlfriend and you want me to give you privacy? Are you kidding?"

The kid didn't know what to say. He obviously had no idea who James was and maybe he didn't know she had a boyfriend at all.

"Your girlfr..." he trailed off looking both at James and Alex in turn. He stood up with his hands up in surrender. "Hey man I didn't know... I mean she never told me she had a..."

"Get out of here now, before I throw you out." James told him.

He looked at Alex as if hoping she would step in, but she could only look down trying to right her clothes. He quickly left, obviously scared of James.

James turned to his girlfriend saying, "so this is why you're late home? Five years together and this is what you have been doing?"

Alex looked as if she were about to burst into tears. "James please, let me explain."

"You know what? I don't want to hear it."

With that he turned round and left her office. He passed the intern on his way out but didn't say a word, just leaving quietly, there was no point in threatening the kid. He obviously had no idea what he had got himself into.

He didn't want to go home straight away. He knew he probably shouldn't be driving upset, but he didn't know what else to do, he wanted to drive some fast roads and blast out some music for a while. He decided to head out of town into the windy roads of the Yorkshire Dales.

The drive didn't last long, just a couple of miles when he realised there were too many cars on the road to be able to drive properly. He wanted to put his foot down, to throw his Ford Mustang GT into the tight corners, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. He went for option two, go home and get drunk and stoned.

It only took him twenty minutes to get back home and was surprised that Alex wasn't already there. But that was good, it would give him time to try and process things.

He wasn't angry, he wasn't upset, he just felt numb. He parked the car on the drive, leaving his jacket and briefcase in the boot and went in. He went straight to the bar he had built in his office. It wasn't a huge house, but it was carefully furnished, very rich looking with high ceilings. His bar held some of his favourite drinks, but he wasn't going to waste them on tonight. He didn't want an 18-year-old whisky, just something to take the edge off. He poured himself a generous vodka tonic and rolled a joint.

He didn't want the house smelling of the stuff, so he took both of these onto his patio out the back, his neighbours had smelt the stuff a couple of times and weren't particularly bothered by it.

It was his house. Alex stayed with him most nights, only staying at her apartment in Leeds a couple of times a week. He was grateful now that she had never fully moved in. This would be much harder if she had.

He finished his joint and drink quickly, feeling not exactly better but even more desensitised and fairly stoned. He went through the different rooms, collecting her things and put them in a black bin bag as he went. He wanted her and her things out of his life now. He wasn't a fan of dragging things out.

Alex turned up around 8pm, she had brought home takeaway, Chinese by the smell of it, his favourite. She noticed all her things from the house missing and packed into bags dumped for her by the door.

"James, can we talk?" She asked him carefully.

"You talk if you want but I'm not listening" he replied as he walked in from the garden.

"Please we need to talk this through."

"No, we don't, we are over and it's that simple. Your stuff is in the bags by the door, leave your key and go."

She could smell that he had been smoking weed. She could always smell it.

"OK look, I will go back to my apartment now OK; I will come by in a couple of days and we can talk when things have settled a bit."

"Don't bother. I've made up my mind, and we are done. I don't want to see you, hear from you, or have anything to do with you. I don't even care if this is the first time, the first guy or what. I'm simply not interested. But I will tell you why I came by your office. I have just booked us a trip to Mexico for the end of July."

"You mean for...?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah for my birthday and our anniversary"

"Please I love you. I know you don't think that now, but I really do. I just made a stupid mistake."

"I love you too, but it doesn't change anything at all, and to be honest I wish I didn't. We are done."

Closing the topic, he walked to his office, made himself another drink and went back into the garden. He could hear her crying as she separated his key from hers, leaving it on the counter. He was not looking at her as she left but he heard her slam the door as she left. He leaned back into his chair enjoying his drink but feeling miserable.

He called in sick for the next 2 days. He could not stand going to work and he had been working overtime almost every week for the past 6 months. Alex had tried calling him many times those first two days, but he never answered or checked the voicemails. He just did not want to hear from her.

He realised he needed a good long break. At first, he thought about cancelling the holiday but why should he have to suffer. He decided to still go but now he would be travelling alone.

He decided to go one step further and book more time off work. June and July were normally quiet times for his firm, so he called his boss and explained the situation. She understood and let him have the time off. He had plenty of holiday days to use up, including 10 from the previous year. He was very grateful to her; she really was good to work for.

"Honestly, James, take the time off, you sound like you need it and you definitely deserve it. Enjoy the trip to Mexico and bring me back some tequila." She added ending the call.

Knowing he had so much time off work started to frighten him at first. So much time without Alex, not much to do around the house. Suddenly he was thinking that this was a bad idea.

For the first few days he moped around the house, not even bothering to get dressed, watching daytime, and lying on the sofa all day. Suddenly it hit him. He didn't need a girlfriend or anyone for what he would do. He had been living on the outskirts of Leeds for years and he had never really enjoyed the Dales except for somewhere to break the speed limit and not get caught.

He spent the next three weeks hiking all over. He went to all the main tourist hikes like Malham Cover and Ingleton Falls, but also the other, less travelled routes. He was enjoying the time on his own, waking up early to be at a starting point by 8am. Spending a full day walking and listening to music and podcasts. He was enjoying being single again not arranging things with anyone or having to explain what he was doing.

The day before he was meant to leave for Mexico, Alex called him. He hadn't spoken to her since he told her to leave, and he was curious what she wanted. He guessed though what it might be.

"Yes" he answered the phone coldly.

"Hi, I just wanted to see how you were, and how things are." She said, trying to be as sweet and innocent as possible.

"No, you don't, what do you really want?" He asked her coldly.

"I wanted to talk to you about the trip to Mexico. I want to come with you." She said abruptly.

"I'm sure you do want to go to Mexico but I'm also sure you don't want to go with me. Why don't you go with the intern?" He asked her, feeling slightly petty but enjoying the pain he was causing.

"You know I'm not with him. It was never anything but a stupid mistake. I want to go with you. I love you James and that has not changed. Why don't we go together? It could be exactly what we need to get back to us. I have already booked the dates off work, your boss told me them."

"Nothing has changed on my side either, meaning I still don't want to see or hear from you. Why would I want to go on a two-week trip with you? And what do you mean she gave you the dates?" He was barely keeping the anger out of his voice.

She snapped then. She obviously really wanted to go. "I called her the other day to speak to you and she said you were going on holiday. She didn't tell me the dates at first, but I told her the truth, that I want to get back together, and she gave me them."

He was furious that his boss had given out his personal information, especially when she knew they had broken up. "Well, it doesn't matter. I still don't want you to come." He said.

"What so you're going to go on your own? You will be constantly thinking about us the whole time there. Don't you think that's a little sad and depressing?"

"It beats going with a cheat. I'm sure I will be able to enjoy a beautiful resort and country on my own. Now if you don't mind, I got packing to do." With that he shut off the call, leaving himself actually feeling better about things.

The next day he was at the airport. He couldn't lie to himself, sitting in the lounge he had booked for the two of them, he couldn't help but feel a little lonely. Sitting there eating and drinking alone didn't seem as fun without company. This was a good idea he kept telling himself.

While sitting on the plane he realised that it was the first time he had ever travelled alone. Normally he would be with family or Alex, but not this trip. He got himself comfy before take-off thinking that with Alex's seat empty beside him, he would be able to stretch out a bit. Obviously, the airline didn't have anyone on standby but let's be honest, except him, who would be flying to Mexico alone?

He was wrong. After everyone had boarded there was a last passenger, a medium height blonde girl, out of breath from what he could only guess was running. He was only slightly surprised when she sat next to him, after all it looked like the only empty seat on the plane.

Like James had, she spent the first few minutes getting herself comfy and sorting her in-flight entertainment for use. Like him she also had her kindle and tablet out, no doubt she would be buried in them.

They watched the usual safety briefing and took off safely. He wasn't exactly looking at what she was doing, but he noticed she had downloaded a few episodes of "Schitts Creek". He couldn't blame her, he had done the same but with "24". He sat back, putting on the first episode as she did the same.

It wasn't until the first round of drinks came by that she said anything to him. Noticing that he wasn't doing anything except sitting there she turned to him saying "finally, I'm gasping here."

"Me too actually, it's strange that drinking before noon on a flight is fine, but do that at home and you have a problem." He said to her, thinking it wasn't a bad ice breaker.

"That's very true actually. Thinking now whether I should get one.. yeah right of course I am." She said all this very fast with a wide smile on her face. She had a cute smile. Great sized lips that although small, seemed to fill her entire face when she smiled.

She ordered herself a glass of wine while he ordered himself a vodka and tonic. Neither of them noticed or cared about the person sitting in the other chair, fast asleep with his head against a pillow.

"So what's your story then?" She asked him abruptly.

"What do you mean my story?"

"Well I know why I'm travelling alone, what about you? Couldn't you get seats with your partner?" Again she said this all very quickly and without taking a breath.

"Actually, I am travelling alone. You are sitting where my girlfriend should have been. But we broke up and I decided to come along anyway. I haven't had a good break in years." He confessed, hoping that she would not think he was a sad case.

"That sucks. I'm really sorry. I'm travelling alone too. Me and my girlfriends were meant to be on the flight together, but the airline overbooked. They are joining me in two days. So, I'm the same as you, holidaying alone. At least I will get a head start on my tan." She didn't seem too upset to be travelling alone.

"Well, I will drink to that" he said, holding his drink up. She just smiled back and clinked her plastic cup against his saying "cheers."

"So have you ever been to Mexico?" She asked him, obviously just making small talk.

"Nope, first time. Been to the States years ago but never been south of the border. You?"

She giggled at this little unintended joke. "Yes, I have, the girls and me went to Cancun a couple of years ago and always said we would go back. But we are a little older now so we are going somewhere a bit quieter for some rest and relaxation. When they get there that is."

"I'm James by the way." Holding his hand out to her. "Anna" She replied taking his hand.

"So whereabouts you are staying when you get there?" He asked her, hoping he wouldn't sound like a complete freak.

They made idle chit chat for most of the flight, she was very easy to talk to. It wasn't anything deep or meaningful, just typical travel talk about what they wanted to see and do when they got there. It looked as if both were going to relax and forget about the world, although she was going with friends which made her trip a little more exciting.

The flight touched down at Cancun Airport and they departed together, him helping her reach her hand luggage, when he realised this was the first time he had actually paid attention to her when she was standing and he had to admit she was beautiful. Not in the traditional swimsuit model way but in her own way. She was medium height, only a fraction smaller than him. She looked as if she had a good-sized chest too, but he couldn't tell properly as her clothes were very loose fitting. He was starting to wish he were on holiday with her.

They passed through passport control and collected their luggage without any incident and made their way out to the coaches to transport them to their hotels.

"Well, I guess this is see you later. I booked a private transfer as my hotel is a long way from the airport." He actually felt a little sad that he was leaving her.

"Yeah, I guess so. I hope you have a great time and who knows, might see you again on the flight home." She seemed like she actually meant it too.

With that he left her there and headed to the transfer car. It only took 40 minutes to get to the hotel and he wasn't disappointed. The place was beautiful, the pictures didn't do it justice. He was greeted at the door with a glass of champagne and escorted to the check-in booths.

"Good evening senor, it's a pleasure to have you stay with us. I'm sorry to ask but we have your booking for two people, you and a young miss?" He seemed very awkward asking this, not wanting to offend him.

"It's just me now. Something happened and turned out I'm here alone." James told him. He didn't want to be rude just didn't want to go into it properly.

"Very good senor. Well in that case we will ensure you have the best vacation ever with us. We just have a few things to sort here then we can get you to your room. I took the liberty of booking you a table at our Italian restaurant. I hope that is satisfactory?" The receptionist asked again looking slightly awkward as if he had overstepped his position.

"Thank you very much, that's really thoughtful." He replied, genuinely shocked with the care and attention of the staff.

"Of course, senor. If you need anything while here, please let us know."

It took only another 10 minutes to sign all necessary papers and complete documents, in that time being served another glass of ice-cold champagne.

He was taken to his room by the complex's shuttle golf cart service. It was great sitting back being chauffeured around, drinking a glass of champagne. He wondered what hotel Anna was staying at, she had never told him.

His room came with an accompanying butler. He showed him round his room, showing how to order room service through the TV and explaining the different services that the butler offered. It was truly an amazing hotel.

As it was booked for him, he thought he would go to the restaurant and he wasn't disappointed. The meal was fantastic, and the service impeccable. It truly was the best hotel he had ever stayed at. As he was near the lobby, he thought he would go for a nightcap at the bar before crashing out.

It was perfect, sitting there with a whiskey and ice, just watching the new arrivals, he wondered if they had been on his flight. Then he knew they had been because he saw someone he recognised. He saw Anna being escorted to check-in.

He couldn't believe it. What are the chances, the cute girl from the plane was in the same hotel? It was an amazing coincidence.

He couldn't help it; he had to go and say hi. He tried to be as casual as possible, trying to keep the obvious joy from his face.

"Well fancy seeing you here. You stalking me or something?" He asked her.

She hadn't seen him as she entered. At first, she looked confused but then comprehension came to her face.

"James, hi," She exclaimed. "We sit together on the plane and now at the same hotel. What next will we be in the same room?" She seemed slightly scared as she said this.

"I'm sure we won't be, well I just wanted to say hi. I will leave you to get checked in. We should have a drink sometime when we are here."

"Yeah maybe." She replied.

"Well see you later. Again. Night"

The next morning he felt refreshed as he fell asleep almost immediately. It was a good day for relaxing by the pool reading his book, he thought. Except he had to attend the standard welcome meeting from his travel rep.

He went for a quick breakfast at the restaurant by the beach. It felt weird at first eating alone, but it did have its advantages, the waiters took special care of him and kept him filled with coffee and champagne. It was a first for him being served champagne for breakfast and he could get used to it.

The welcome meeting was the same as always. Different things people could do, numbers guests could call if they needed help and everything else that might be useful. The meeting was only half an hour, but it felt like it dragged on. He wasn't planning on any trips with the travel company, so he felt it was a bit of a waste of time. He did see Anna at the meeting but apart from smiling to each other they didn't speak.