One:

Anna couldn't have been more than five minutes away from the bar when she was barrelled into quite harshly. The person in question let out an 'oof' sound, as the large brown paper bag she had been balancing precariously in her arms fell to ground in spectacular fashion. The pineapples once nestled nicely within her grasp tumbled to the dirty, dusty path like skittles, some bouncing along the road at random as she watched in disdain.

"What the hell are you doing?! Can't you look where you are going?" Anna snapped at the tall man before her, cursing creatively in French as she started scrambling around to pick up her fruit.

"Oh Jesus! I'm really sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" He stammered quickly, crouching down next to her to help with the pineapple rescue operation. "Let me help you!"

"The bag is split!" Anna groaned as she noticed him trying to jam a few back into the now torn paper bag. He started piling as many as he could up into his arms, peeking over the sharp pointed leaves.

"Where are you headed? I'll carry these for you,"

"Catherine's bar, up the road aways," Anna sighed as she gathered up the remaining pineapples, striding past him. "This way. And don't drop them again!"

"I know where Catherine's bar is. She's the Mayor too, right?" The stranger asked as he rushed to catch up, grasping the fruit tightly in his large hands. She noticed the quite heavy, thick suit he had on and wondered how on earth the man wasn't dying in the heat.

"Yeah," The reply was swift, Anna's sandals tapping along the ground. Her day hadn't been going smoothly, what with the water pipe in her bathroom bursting, her boyfriend Miguel saying he wanted them to 'go on a break'. Which, by his own definition, meant he wanted to go out and sow his oats elsewhere until he got bored and came back. And now, in the blistering Saint Marie midday sun, she was balancing eight pineapples in her arms due to the imbecile striding next to her.

"I'm new to the island me. Haven't been somewhere so hot in ages, it's roasting," He let out a small laugh. "Not here long though, have to get back home,"

"Do you cause this much trouble back there?" Anna grumbled.

"Oh no. Well, not usually anyway,"

They strode into the empty bar and across to the store room. Anna dipped inside and noted he had to duck quite substantially to avoid knocking his head off the doorframe. She silently began stacking the fruit onto a few shelves and he mimicked her actions rapidly.

"So, erm, my name's Neville Parker. I'm the covering DI, until they can find someone permanent," Neville spoke into the slightly darkened room, full to the brim of boxed rum, various fruits and all other manner of items.

"You're the new Detective inspector?" Anna asked in utter surprise, having thought he was just some English tourist who'd stumbled onto Saint Marie for the 'experience'.

"Er, yeah, that's me,"

"You're younger than the last one," She remarked, sliding the last pineapple away and clapping her hands together to shake off the debris. "I liked the last one."

Neville patted down his own trousers, catching her regard of him and flushing. "Well, I probably won't be here long enough for you to even notice,"

"That's what they all say," Anna shrugged, spinning on her heels and heading for the bar. She heard the detective inspector scrambling to catch up.

"You didn't tell me your name?"

"Oh. I'm Anna Hagan,"

"That's not a French name, right?"

"I'm not French," She corrected. "I mean I speak French, but I'm actually English by birth. I lived in London until I was seven,"

"Right, yeah, that makes sense. Your accent is a bit muddled," Neville babbled. "I'm a Northerner, Manchester to be exact. Did you ever go there?"

"Not that I remember, although it was probably too cold for us," Anna replied as she started cleaning up a bit behind the bar, not entirely sure why she was telling this man her life story. It just seemed so easy to talk to him, as if they'd known each other for many years. "Why do you want to go back to that chilly place?"

"It's home," He rubbed the back of his neck a little erratically and she noticed how pale his complexion was. The man was going to burn in a second if he wasn't careful. "Plus, I'm getting bitten to death out here,"

"Here," Anna fumbled into one of the drawers behind the large bar, pulling out a tube of cream and holding it out. "It's citronella gel, use this and they'll leave you alone – not too much though, it's strong,"

Neville eyed it up as if it were a bomb about to explode. "Ah well, the thing is I am kind of on a strict prescription list from my doctor back home and..." He caught the exasperated expression on her face and took it from her fingers quickly. "On second thought, I could give it a go. Thank you,"

"You're welcome," Anna nodded, wondering if it was too early to have a stiff rum.

"Right well, I'd better be off then, work to do," He breezed, jamming the gel into his backpack and giving it a shake so the contents rattled within. "It was nice to meet you Anna. You know, for the brief time I'll be here and all that,"

"Yeah, you too. Oh, and here," She grabbed hold of a pineapple and tossed it to him. Neville started but managed to catch it neatly in his arms. "You can have that, on the house. Just try to look where you're going next time, eh?" Anna grinned.

"Thanks, I will," He murmured with a small smile of his own, and Anna saw him take a backwards glance at her in her peripheral vision before he strode away from the bar.

…