He startled her, creeping up behind her the way he did, putting his hands on her hips and calling her name.

“W…w…what do you want?” she stuttered when she turned and saw him.

“That’s no way to greet your almost ex-husband!” he said with a smile.

“What are you doing here? Who invited you?” she asked him as she backed away, wondering how he had known about the party.

“You shouldn’t have come,” she told him as she backed against the wall behind her.

Tim continued to edge forward. “So how are you?” he asked her.

“I…I…I am fine,” she responded, feeling uncomfortable with his presence.

He reached with his hand and softly brushed her hair away from her face and stroked her cheek with his finger. “And is he meeting ALL your needs?” he asked her.

Amanda pushed forward to move him away but he stood his ground and she found herself pressed up against him. “Yes he is,” she replied.

“I know that he doesn’t meet them all,” he told her. “Not like I used to,” he added as he dropped his hand and gave her a couple of playful slaps on her bottom.

She tried to avoid eye contact with him but he lifted his hand to her face again and gently moved her cheek level with his. “I am always available!” he told her.

Amanda watched him walk away. She was angry. Not just at meeting her ex-husband but also because she had argued earlier with her current boyfriend. He was away on business in Berlin and had told her that he might be staying another two weeks. She was lonely and she missed him.

Her anger had subsided four days later, by the time she had received her notification of her decree absolute in the post. In fact, she felt a tinge of sadness that a part of her life was over. It was time to move on now, but the way things were looking, there was no one else to move on with. She was still musing over her life when her secretary called her before leaving for home. “You won’t forget your 5:15pm appointment, will you, Amanda?”

“Mr Thwacker?” She responded. “I don’t remember making an appointment for a Mr Thwacker!”

“He rang the other day. He said he had spoken to you and made the appointment!”

Amanda was puzzled. She couldn’t remember the appointment, but that was not entirely unusual. She had told people before to ring and make an appointment and had forgotten about it. “Maybe I did. I have had a lot on my mind lately.”