The other woman

Denial

Aleksandra headed into the hotel restaurant, ready for breakfast. She was starving hungry and nothing less than a full English would do. That's because of all the exercise you had last night, her subconscious sneered, rearing it's ugly head. She tried to ignore it; she'd been mad with Seb last night, who did think he was sticking his nose in like he had?! He had no right turning up at the pub like he had, trying to act like her knight in shining armour when he'd really just been a jealous prick, not wanting anyone else to get near her. She'd fucked him because she was angry with him, she'd done it to get back at him and that's all there was to it. Now she had what she needed, she had the bomb that would destroy his marriage, all she had to do was light the fuse.

She soon spotted Britta sitting at a table for four by the window but unusually there was no sign of Seb and Britta looked worried. He never missed breakfast whether it was just with themselves or his team.

"Morning Aleksandra." She looked up from her phone as Alex pulled her chair out to sit down. "Seb's not eating with us this morning, he's text me to say he's not feeling very well, says he's got a bad headache."

Headache, my ass, he's just avoiding me; Alex thought to herself. "Morning Britta."

"Do you know if he went out for a drink with anyone from his team last night?" Britta asked. "Only I knocked on the door to his room last night and he didn't answer, it wasn't that late either, it was only nine PM so I knew he wouldn't be in bed."

She picked up the menu card even though she knew what she wanted to eat and gave a small shrug, "I don't know, I was out myself."

"Yes, I know. I tried knocking on your door too to ask if you knew where he was. So you wasn't with him then?"

"No." Alex looked her fully in her eyes as she lied, knowing full well that he'd been with her last night.

"If he's hungover I'll have no sympathy for him." She carried on, "although it's not like him to go out and get drunk, especially since the kids came along."

Pulling her phone from the pocket of her green jeans, she placed it on the table beside her. If only Britta could see what was lurking on there, she'd be preparing herself for a major media shit storm!

"You've got his spare room card haven't you?"

Alex looked up from her menu, waiting for Britta to continue.

"Do you think you could pop up there and make sure that he's alright?" She asked, fidgeting with her phone in her hands out of worry.

Alex wasn't worried, she knew he was pulling a sickie to avoid her. He wasn't ill at all. Well, maybe he was. Sick with guilt was her diagnosis. "I'll pop up after breakfast, if he doesn't go to the factory then neither will I, it'll be a rare day off for me." She smiled.

Britta grimaced, "actually it'd stop me worrying if you went up there now."

"Now?"

She nodded, "if you don't mind."

Alex could see that Britta wouldn't stop worrying until she knew how Seb was. "Why don't I give you the room card and you go?"

"If he's sick, I can't afford to get whatever he's got, not with my job. My work never stops." She admitted.

Alex put a hand on her chest, that kind of sounded like a dig, like Britta's job was more important. "And I can?"

"You just said yourself that if he doesn't go in to the factory then it's a day off for you, my work with the media and as his PA never stops." She waved her phone at Alex as it started to buzz again with another call. "This thing never stops."