Dear Diary,

I couldn't have planned this with Paul and Joanie better if I had actually tried. I never believed she was truly deluded enough to lie to me and not realise it would get back to him. I feel bad for Paul though, he seems so torn by his feelings for her and by what she is doing to him.

Oh God my hangover must be frying my brain that I am actually bothered about his feelings. I really wish my brain would stop over thinking things that involved Paul, clearly the walk I had didn't do much to clear my mind.

Steph xx

Shutting her diary Stephanie played with the cover briefly contemplating writing further but decided against it.

Sliding off of the bed she went over to her suitcase and packed it away nicely before removing some of her more sexier clothes, now that she was feeling a lot better she wanted to make the effort to look how she normally looked. The jeans and t-shirt she had put on earlier did nothing for her confidence and she wanted to change that.

After changing her clothes she picked her make up bag up from the table and walked over to the bed sitting back down to put her make up on.

Paul had walked away from Stephanie and had taken the elevator back to his floor, the ride was slow and gave him even longer to stew over what Joanie had told Stephanie and by the time he reached his room his anger was at boiling point.

Angrily pushing his key into the lock he waited for it to turn green before he slammed the door open against the wall half expecting Joanie not to be there when he returned but like a bad smell she never did go away.

Hearing the door slam against the wall Joanie jumped and looked up to see Paul stood there looking very angry, "have a good workout?"

Cocking his head to the side as he looked at her almost sizing her up, "it was just fabulous thank you."

It was hard not to notice the anger dripping from his tone, "what happened Paul? Did you get hurt?"

Starting to pace back and forth in front of her he stayed silent before coming to a standstill and turning to look at her, "it's funny that you should ask if I got hurt because I wouldn't have attributed that word to what I am feeling right now but I think it works quite well."

She was confused by his behaviour and even more so by his words so standing up from the bed she went over and placed her hand on his arm, "whatever it is I'm sure it will be fine."

He shook her hand from his arm before stepping back and looking at her incredulously, "I think it's gone past the point of being fine Joanie, don't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Paul, you're confusing me as you're talking in riddles."

Putting a look of mock pity and a pout on his face he answered her, "oh dear, poor ickle Joanie is all confused."

"Paul! I don't know what has gotten into you but you're acting like a child."

"I'm acting like a child? This is rich coming from the woman who doesn't believe her own boyfriend when he says nothing is going on between him and another woman and it is just work."

Throwing her hands up in the air she turned away in frustration, "oh for Christ's sake, we're back to that again are we? Can't you just move on from that?"

He snorted, "I would but somehow you find a way to involve Stephanie in our lives when she doesn't even ask for it."

Spinning back around to look at him her frustration was growing, "what the fuck are you talking about now Paul?"

Putting a hand to his chin he pretended to think, "hmm let's see . . . oh I know what it is, apparently we're getting married which is news to me."

Joanie's face fell, "oh."

"Oh? Is that all you have to say about it? You tell your love." For effect he made air quotes, 'rival' that we're engaged and all you can say is 'oh'?"

Stepping closer she grabbed his arm again, "I'm sorry Paul, I really am but it just slipped out. Long before that bitch came along I wanted to marry you and you know it so I don't see why we can't."

Before he knew what he was saying it just slipped out, "maybe because I don't love you any more."

Paul was shocked by what had just come out of his mouth but he wasn't as shocked as Joanie who stood there with eyes wide and mouth open, "what did you just say?"

His face softened as he looked at her, "I don't think I love you any more."

Her anger flared as she stood there in front of him, "after four years together you are throwing it all away because of the Princess dripping poison in your ear."

Closing his eyes and rubbing his temples he trued to keep his anger in check because this was as much of a shock for him as it was for her, "this has nothing directly to do with Stephanie and you know it. I've tried so hard for so long to just put up with things because I loved you that the love has just gone Joanie, it's over between us."

Gently he removed her hand from his arm as she continued to just stare at him, "I think it's best if you leave Joanie. I'm going to go and shower to give you a moment to gather your thoughts before you leave."

With that he gathered up his clothes and walked into the bathroom shutting and locking the door behind him.

As soon as he was safely in the bathroom Paul turned on the shower before he leant against the door and closed his eyes.

Once Paul had left the room Joanie sat down on the bed, his announcement had come completely out of the blue for her and she was genuinely shocked by it.

Having had a nice hot shower he walked back out of the bathroom a little shocked to see Joanie still sat there on his bed but he wasn't in the mood to fight with her any more, "I'm going out for a bit. Joanie please don't make this any awkward than it needs to be by still being here when I get back. I don't want to hurt you but we've still got to work for the same company and we want things to be civil for all."

Lifting her head she glared at him, "you mean you don't want me to make waves with Vince for you and the Princess."

Shaking his head he bent down and pulled his shoes from beneath the table and slipped them on quickly tying them up, "stop it Jo, there is nothing going on between me and Stephanie and you know it."

"Ha! So you say but it's funny you've suddenly become so unhappy since you started hanging around with her."

Grabbing his key card from the table he slid it in his pocket, "forget it, I am not getting into this argument for the thousandth time."

With that he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and walked out of the door.

Stephanie was just finishing off her make-up when there was a knock at the door, almost reluctantly she put her make-up back in the bag and got up from the bed dropping the bag in her suitcase before opening the door surprised to see who was on the other side, "Paul? I thought you would be spending time with Joanie."

Shaking his head he tried not to scowl at the mention of the other woman's name, "I wondered if you wanted to go out for a bit and have dinner as planned and just do stuff outside of this hotel."

"I . . . I'm not sure Paul."

His face fell, "oh okay then, don't worry."

As he turned to walk away she couldn't help but feel like she had just kicked a puppy by his response, "hang on, let me just grab my bag and we can go."

Turning around she quickly grabbed her bag from the top making sure she had her phone and her key card before she turned back to him and walked out of her hotel room, "okay I'm all yours, let's go."

The two of them walked towards the elevator in silence quickly falling into step together.