A/N - I'm planning to upload the remainder of this story tonight, possibly tomorrow morning as well if it gets too late. I knew uploading it it would divide opinion, I just hope it's been an enjoyable read and something different. Thanks for your feedback.

I've achieved a promotion at work, so free time I thought I would have to update Playdate and Someone Like You will not be as frequent as I was hoping. I have 5 chapters planned for each story, so watch this space if you are following those stories.

11

John slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to his surroundings. Events the evening previously came to mind, and he quickly looked over his shoulder. He was alone. Anna had obviously gone back to her room. Had he been a crashing disappointment? She had seemed to enjoy his touches, the things he had done to her. John felt himself becoming warmer just thinking about it. Looking at the clock it was nearing nine in the morning. Perhaps she had gone next door for a shower before their flight home.

Rising from his bed, John decided that didn't sound like a bad idea. Walking to the bathroom, he turned on the water and waited until it reached the desired temperature. God, Anna had been a wonderful lover. Her hands all over his body, so sure, so determined. John was certain there was no greater sensation in this world.

It had never felt like that with any other woman, let alone his ex wife.

Stepping inside the shower, John closed his eyes and let the warm water drip down his body. They were flying back to Seattle today. John's flight back to England was booked for two days time. Anna was staying in a hotel for another couple of nights before flying home. And in a mere forty eight hours his life would go back to the mundane.

As he felt the tightness in his limbs as a result of sleep slowly ease, John's mind also became clearer. He had promised Anna no pressure, assured her if they walked away there would be no hard feelings. But last night, it must have meant something to her as well. There was no way it couldn't have done. She couldn't have faked the way she had responded to him.

John had promised himself he would tell Anna how he was feeling before they left Vegas. It had to be this morning. After lathering himself in shower gel, John rinsed his body before stepping out into the bathroom. He reached for a towel, rubbing himself dry with a new found urgency. Now he had made the decision to tell Anna, John couldn't wait to tell her.

After throwing on his clean clothes, John took a look at his reflection in the mirror above the dresser. He wasn't anything special. Not really. He had had his fair share of admirers in his younger days but age had not been kind to him. His divorce had not been kind to him. But John did know one thing. His heart had the capacity to love the woman in the next room for the rest of his days. John could make Anna happy, if only she would give him the chance.

Knocking softly on the door, John waited for a couple of beats before slowly opening it. Anna was sitting up in the middle of her bed, now in her pyjamas, her brow creased. She obviously wasn't yet properly awake. He watched from the door as she acclimatised, before she met his gaze.

He was frozen to the spot, watching as Anna regarded him with an expression he couldn't read. She definitely wasn't smiling. This didn't feel good. Didn't feel good at all.

'Are you alright?' Anna asked, her voice gruff with sleep having just woken up.

'Can I come in?'

Anna nodded, bunching the covers up around herself. John's steps were tentative as he walked to the chair by Anna's dresser, picking it up and setting it down at the end of her bed. She was waiting for him to speak, and John was trying desperately to find the right way to voice what was going on inside. He sat, before lifting his head to meet Anna's unreadable gaze. Clearing his throat, John began.

'Last night was incredible, Anna.' She looked down upon hearing his words, and John felt his heart sink. He was unperturbed however, continuing on with what he had planned in his mind. 'I'm sorry, but I can't deny it. I've never had a night with a woman that meant more.'

'John, I….'

'Please, let me finish,' John interrupted, reaching out to place his hand upon Anna's. She didn't move it away. 'These past few weeks, getting to know you, I can say hand on heart I've never felt like this, Anna. And I'm sorry if that scares you, but I am far too long in the tooth to keep these things to myself anymore. I've never, ever followed my heart but this feels right to me. You must feel it too, Anna You must do.'

He held her gaze, and John could see the shimmering of tears in her eyes, before his fears she was about to cry were realised and a solitary tear fell down her cheek. An uneasiness flooded through him. John didn't want to believe it but he was suddenly realising this wouldn't end the way he wanted it to.

'I have to tell you something,' she whispered, her voice breaking as she spoke. John felt his own emotions threatening to overtake him. 'Before you say something you might regret. I haven't been entirely honest with you.'

Creasing his forehead, John removed his hand, sat back and folded his arms. This didn't sound good. He could feel his heart aching already, and Anna hadn't told him what she had been hiding yet. She couldn't have lied to him, not Anna. She was the purest woman he had ever met.

'Go on,' John found himself saying, although he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she had to say.

Anna fiddled with the corner of the duvet as she spoke, looking down as she played with the material between her fingers. 'I am engaged to someone back home. My childhood sweetheart.'

As her revelation hung in the air above them, John felt as though the bottom of his world had fallen out. Engaged. To someone else. Anna had promised to spend her life with another man, despite all they had shared, despite everything they had shared with one another. Before he had a proper chance to process this information, Anna was talking again.

'I came on this trip to decide if I wanted to get married, if I could see myself with this man for the rest of my life. Whilst I've been in America putting myself first and having the time of my life, he has reminded me that he has been back home putting all his efforts into organising the wedding of my dreams. I can't let him down now.'

John rose to his feet then, resting his hands behind his head as he paced to window in Anna's room. He stared at the fountains, the same fountains he had walked beside hand in hand with Anna. And all this time she had been harbouring this secret life, another man. John couldn't lie, it felt like his heart had been ripped in two.

His voice was measured as he spoke, not turning to face Anna but keeping his eyes on the fountains in the distance. 'So, you've led me on this whole time? Had one final fling before this man makes an honest woman of you?'

'No John.' He could sense she had risen from the bed and was standing behind him, but he still couldn't look at her. 'This is more than a fling. What I feel for you, it's very real. It's the realest thing I've ever felt. But if I call off the wedding now, I would be letting too many people down. I can't do it.'

All of a sudden, John was tired of being put second, like he had been for most of his adult life. His ex wife had cheated on him numerous times, he always put others before himself. Robert thought nothing of uprooting him to America for six months. It was time to think of his own needs for a change.

'But what about me?' John turned around, meeting Anna's eye. He placed a hand over his heart. 'What about the way I feel for you? You've made me fall in love with you Anna, with the things you've said and the things you've done. What about all we've shared?'

'I shall treasure these days, John.' Anna stepped a little closer, and despite wanting to move away with every fibre of his being, John just couldn't. She placed her hand on his forearm. 'It's not the travelling that has made me see there is more to life, it's meeting you. You have shown me that there is more to me than being just a village hairdresser. That I could attract a man like you, with such intellect, such kindness. A man so handsome, so incredible as you. It overwhelms me.'

John clenched his jaw as he looked deeply into Anna's eyes. She wasn't wavering and for all she had hidden, John knew her words were genuine. 'So you'll just go back to him. After everything you tell me you feel, he's your happily ever after?'

'I'm not sure there is such a thing as happily ever after.'

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, John exhaled a heavy breath before walking past Anna. 'I need some air.'

'John, don't leave like this.'

He didn't listen, walking straight out of the door and closing it with a slam. John strode towards the elevator, trying his hardest not to let his emotions show. He brushed at his eyes roughly as he stepped inside. Once in the hotel lobby, he could feel the craving for a drink, a craving he had not felt for a while. Thank goodness it was only ten in the morning, and the bar was not yet open.

Deciding to walk out into the Nevada sunshine, John stopped and inhaled. He took a few moments to compose himself. How could Anna have kept this from him? It was such a monumental thing to hide from someone. But then John thought if she had told him, he never would have pursued her. The moments he would have missed out on. It frustrated him that he couldn't feel angry at Anna, that his feelings were unchanged.

Losing it all was preferable to never having these days with Anna to look back on. It was little consolation, but God knew it was the truth. The knowledge that John was capable of loving a woman with all his heart and soul gave him hope perhaps he wouldn't spend the rest of his life on his own, ending up bitter and lonely.

If Anna couldn't be the one to share his days, perhaps the next best gift she could give him was the belief that someone like her deemed him desirable, that he could find someone else.

Why was she so selfish? Anna had spent most of the time John had been gone, crying. She had no right to be upset, it had been her that caused all the pain, all the anguish. If only she had just been honest from the start, all the heartache would have been avoided.

But she was feeling it too. The thought of John thinking badly of her, of never seeing him again. It was eating her from the inside. She was doing the right thing, marrying Chris was the right thing to do. But she wished she could find the courage to be braver.

The sound of John returning to his room caught her attention, Anna looking to the door that separated them. Her bags were packed, she had never really unpacked, but the logistics of their situation took hold. The flights back to Seattle were in John's name. He held all the documents. She couldn't expect to fly back with him, not now.

Reaching for her phone, Anna quickly looked up flights on her phone. Flights were only a hundred dollars one way, she could stretch to that. She couldn't just leave without saying goodbye, so she left her phone on the bed before walking towards the door. She knocked on the wood gently, waiting to hear John's voice.

'Yep.'

She opened the door to find John picking his suitcase. He hadn't lifted his head to look at her. Anna couldn't blame him. She couldn't bear the thought of looking at herself in the mirror at the moment as it was.

'I'm sorry, John.' It sounded weak, and pathetic. But it was all she could offer him. He didn't reply, instead continuing to pack. 'Look, I'll sort myself out getting back to Seattle. I wasn't comfortable with you paying beforehand, I'm definitely not now.'

'Don't be silly,' he said, his tone harsher than she had ever heard it. 'The flight is all paid for. I'm sure we can be adult enough to share a flight together.'

'But John, I…'

'Anna, it's fine.' He looked at her then, Anna startled as he met her gaze. 'We'll go home together. We need to leave in the next half an hour.'

'I'm all packed.'

'I'll meet you down in lobby in twenty minutes?'

'Okay,' Anna replied, her voice wavering. She left the room then, quickly closing the door behind her.

God, this was awful.

Their shuttle ride to the airport was taken in silence. Anna felt her heart twinge as she took in the strip for the last time. The day she had shared with John exploring it had been wonderful. But now her memories were tainted, and it was more than she could take. A tear left her, but she quickly wiped it away. This was her own doing. Now Anna had to face the consequences.

John had seen Anna crying on the shuttle. It took all the strength he had not to take her into his arms. He had insisted he bought her a sandwich at the airport, the aeroplane food not being up to much. For the first time, the silence between them was awkward. John hated it.

As they waited to board the plane, John could feel Anna becoming jittery beside him. She was nervous about the flight, and where he would usually take her hand, that didn't feel right. Not anymore. Not knowing she belonged to somebody else.

'You'll be fine,' he told her gently as they neared the plane doors, she offering him a weak smile in response. 'We can watch something on your tablet together if you'd like.'

'I would.'

At least with the distraction of Anna's programmes, they wouldn't need to talk. Sharing her earphones, a handful of episodes of a different show, The Big Bang Theory, were more than enough for the time to pass until they landed in Seattle.

Once back on solid ground, John was relieved they reclaimed their bags quite quickly. They walked to the taxi rank, before coming to a stop.

'You're not going back to the hostel?'

'No, I thought I'd use my credit card and treat myself to a proper hotel for the last couple of nights I'm here.'

'Which one?'

'It's alright, John. I can probably find my way back from here. But thank you all the same.'

A taxi pulled up then, John gesturing for Anna to take it. The driver got out, lifting Anna's suitcase and rucksack and putting it in the trunk.

'So…' Anna said, her voice trailing away.

'So,' John shrugged, praying for this moment to be over with as quickly as possible. 'Safe trip home.'

'And you,' Anna replied, John feeling his chest tighten as her bottom lip began to wobble. He looked away, opening the passenger door for her. She got in without another glance, John shutting the door behind her. After a few seconds the taxi moved away, he watching until it disappeared into the distance.

Lifting his gaze to look up into the sky, John released a heavy sigh. 'Bollocks. Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks.'

He felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. Knowing he would never see Anna again, it killed him. But she had made her choice. And now John had to find the strength to carry on with the rest of his life. From where, he did not know.