The next afternoon

"Let's go, ladies. Pottery class awaits," Julie said in her ever-cheerful tone.

"Don't they know that I am not a creative person?" Vi asked, her fingers flying on her phone as she texted Charles.

"Nope and they don't care. This will be fun. Come on."

Elizabeth walked out in her shorts and very bright Hawaiian shirt. "I'm ready. Let's go make pottery."

They sat in an air-conditioned room in the resort a few minutes later. There were about fifteen to twenty people there, mostly couples but some singles as well.

As the class got under way, Elizabeth noticed someone walk in late and slip in the back to a pottery wheel there. She glanced and tried not to stare. Lucas.

"Welcome, everyone," the teacher began. "We are going to have so much fun today!"

Lucas snorted and Elizabeth looked back at him. He nodded at her. "Hi."

"Hi."

About an hour later, she heard, "Crap," from the vicinity of Lucas' station.

She turned around and looked, trying not to laugh. He had been attempting to make a pot, like the rest of them but apparently instead he decided to drop the clay on the floor.

She stood up and walked over to him. "You having fun?"

"Not so much."

"You need some help?"

"No. I'm not sure why I'm even here."

"Wanted to learn something new?"

"No. I thought my girlfriend would like it," he admitted.

"Oh, is she coming?"

"No. I paid for the class so I didn't want to waste my money."

Elizabeth felt bad for Lucas. He seemed touchy about his girlfriend, which made sense, since she was flirting with other guys. She wondered if he knew that.

"I think your clay is too wet," she told him.

"You know more about that than me. I'm not a very crafty guy."

He bent down to grab the glob of wet clay that had stuck to the floor. "Disgusting," he mumbled.

He had told the truth. He paid for excursions and classes that he figured he and Janette could take together. Most of them were for her. Now, he wasn't wasting that money, even if he was doing it alone.

Good thing was, he hadn't told her about them so it was only a remote possibility that she would be in any of the classes. She'd have to pay for them herself so…

Elizabeth and her sisters finished their pottery and would come back the next day after they were fired and ready to use.

Lucas took a walk on the beach to think. The waves were comforting to him and right now, that's what he needed.

How could he have been so wrong about Janette? He thought that if they reconnected here, where they had always wanted to go, that they could be in a better place.

He froze as a couple, wrapped up in each other's arms, kissed passionately in front of him at the water's edge. He'd know that red bikini anywhere. "Janette?"

She pulled back and looked at Lucas. "Hey, Luke."

"Didn't take you long to move on, did it? With the bartender? Really?"

Lucas walked away but then turned back. "I hope you are happy, Janette. That's what I've always wanted."

"You too, Luke."

He seriously doubted she cared whether he was happy. Very obviously, she was only concerned with himself.

He walked further down the beach, far enough where he wouldn't be seen by Janette and sat down in the sand. He was alone so he could think and stew in his new-found freedom.

As he stared out at the water, listening, watching, he let his tears fall. It wasn't that he missed Janette. It was that he had failed somehow. How had he missed how far things had gotten? They were serious about each other when they moved in together.

"You work too much," he muttered to himself. He did work a lot. He was a branch manager at a large bank and often stayed late after closing to finish paperwork and such. If was continuing to be honest with himself, he had started working extra hours when they had grown apart. It was easier than being home with her and not knowing how to fix anything.

"Hey," a soft voice said from behind him. He wiped his cheeks quickly and looked.

"Hi."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll leave you be." She didn't want to intrude and the man was obviously hurting.

"No. Its…fine."

She raised her eyebrows at him and he nodded. She sat down about a foot from him in the sand and stared at the water too. She didn't speak. She'd let him be the first to do that.

"I thought this trip would fix things," he mentioned. He wasn't quite sure why but it felt safe to spill his guts to this woman he barely knew.

"It didn't?"

"No. She told me that we haven't been happy for a long time and she had her two friends move her stuff out of our house while we were here."

"Wow."

"Yeah and even though she had planned to move, she came with me anyway for the free trip."

"Stupid," Elizabeth muttered. "Sorry, but…she doesn't realize what she has. Had."

"You don't even know me," he pointed out.

"No, but if I had someone in my life that I cared enough about to move in with, I'd fight to keep him."

"You don't?" he asked. She was gorgeous and kind and easy to talk to. Why was she alone?

"Nope."

"Huh."

"What?" she asked, chuckling.

"I mean…I don't know you either but…you seem like someone who would have found someone."

"Thanks but…it just doesn't happen that easily for some people." As if he needed to know, she then concluded with, "I'm a party planner."

He raised his eyebrows. "Is that supposed to explain it?"

"I work a lot."

"Me too."

"What do you do?"

"I manage a branch at a bank."

They chatted a bit longer and then stood and went opposite ways, both wondering if maybe they'd see each other again during their prospective trips, but not expecting it. Really, what were the chances on the whole island of Oahu?

…..

Later that evening, Waikiki Beach

Lucas sat in a chair about 50 feet from the large screen where they would be showing Elf, the best Christmas movie in his opinion. Janette never appreciated it. Tonight, he could enjoy it, even if he was alone.

He looked around and realized he was hungry so he got up to head over to the vendors that were selling everything from traditional Hawaiian food to cheeseburgers and hot dogs to things he considered fair food like corn dogs, elephant ears and deep fried Snickers bars.

As he looked around, he saw Italian food. About ten minutes later, he had scored spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread sticks and headed back to the chairs.

As he dug into his meal, he noticed someone sit down a few seats away. He just continued to eat, hoping they didn't think he was rude that he hadn't looked up.

"Hi," a voice said. It wasn't Janette's and it wasn't Elizabeth's. He looked over.

"Hi." He nodded at the girl and went back to eating.

"You here with someone?" she asked.

Before he could answer, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up. Perfect timing!

He touched the seat next to him and she took it, a hot dog and French fries in her hands.

The girl that had been talking to him stopped once Elizabeth sat down.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

She nodded. "To tell the truth, I just saw you sitting here. I needed a chair and thought it would be more fun to sit with someone."

"No sisters tonight?"

"Nope. Julie has morning sickness and Vi is taking a bath and going to bed early."

The movie started a bit later as the sun set and Elizabeth squealed. "I love this movie!"

He smiled. "Me too."

It didn't escape his notice that every scene where he laughed, she did too. It was nice to share a similar interest, even if all it was was a silly movie.

After the movie was finished, they stood and stretched. "I'm going to go take a walk along the water," she mentioned.

"Alright. Enjoy. Thanks for watching the movie with me."

She smiled. She had hoped he would ask to join but then why? He had just broken up with someone. She was really the only one that could or would potentially welcome something developing between them.

"Goodnight, Lucas."

"Night."

As he strolled back to his rental car, he looked behind him a few times to see if he could still see her walking. Perhaps he should have offered to go. Was it really safe for her to walk alone?

He stopped and then walked back toward the water. As he got closer to the water, he removed his flip flops and carried them, his eyes on the stretch of beach. He then saw her sitting on a rock outcropping. She wiped her cheeks and his body reacted. His stomach dropped, wondering what was causing her sadness.

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up and wiped her cheeks, putting a brave smile on her face.

"You alright?"

"Of course. What are you doing out here?"

He put his hands in the pockets of his shorts and shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"I appreciate that. I am prepared though," she mentioned, holding up a small pepper spray and pocket knife from her own pocket.

"Well, that's good. I guess I can go then."

"Or…you could maybe stay?"

"I can. I just don't want to intrude. I know you didn't know I was watching but I could tell you were crying."

"Just feeling sorry for myself, I suppose."

They started walking and she opened up. "I just wish sometimes that I had made different choices. You know what I mean? They say hindsight is 20/20 but I feel like maybe if I had done something different…"

"You mean not go into party planning?"

"No. I am glad I made that choice."

She stayed quiet for a moment and wiped her cheeks again. "I was engaged once. I thought I loved him. When it got to choosing a date for the wedding though, I broke it off. I was young though, and I realized that I wasn't ready to get married."

"So if you hadn't broken it off, you think you'd be happier? Still married to this guy?"

"I don't know. What if?"

"My mom always says that playing the "what if" game is dangerous. Why live in the past? Just make different choices now."

"It is dangerous. I can see her point. I mean I'm crying because I am not happy like my sisters."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked quietly. "That's rhetorical, by the way. You barely know me. I don't need to know that."

"Julie says I should go on a dating app. Before I always said no."

"Now you are thinking about it?" he asked in a tone that told her what he thought of that.

She laughed. "Don't think that's a good idea?"

"It doesn't matter what I think."

"I'd like to know."

"Well, with my step-sister, she went on one of those apps, talked to a guy for a few months, started falling for him and then when she suggested meeting him, he agreed and then didn't show. When she tried to contact him again through the app, he had removed his profile."

"Jerk."

"Right. My point is, and I told her this too in a non-judgemental way, you can't really know who you are talking to online. It could be anyone or anything."

"Yeah."

"Might as well find someone in person, at a party or a bar or a wedding. That's how people have done it for centuries."

"Sometimes it doesn't work out, no matter how you meet them." He couldn't argue with that.

"That's true. I don't know. Dating is hard and finding love is hard. There's always risk involved, whichever way you do it."

"I just want a family, Lucas. A husband, kids and a dog. You know? I'm thirty years old."

"I get it. I do. I wanted, or thought I wanted, that with Janette. I'd love to be a dad, but I guess I need to start over to get there and that scares me."

He was almost thirty five. By his age, his dad had been a husband and father for ten years already. What did Lucas have? A job. A house.That's all.

Not that it was nothing to have those things. However, if he expected that he would have more by now and he didn't have it, he wondered if he ever would.