Read Please Forgive Me for Free Online Page B

wonderfully addictive about arriving in a brand new country, and even though there wasn’t a whole lot to see on the way in from the airport, it was still enthralling.
    On her own or not, this was the main reason she had come here. It had been over a year since her last relationship, and she wasn’t too hopeful of starting another any time soon. It was difficult being single in Dublin at thirty, as the old cliché of all the good ones being taken very much held true. And Leonie had tired of the merry-go-round of going with her friends to nightclubs and hoping to bump into Mr Right. It seemed like it was never going to happen and in all honesty, she no longer had the energy for that kind of thing. If she met someone, she met someone but she wasn’t going to actively search for him.
    Truthfully, she’d love what Grace had now; the lovely husband, gorgeous children and loads of extended family close by. But with her parents scattered on opposite sides of the globe and ne’er a man in sight, it was never really going to be an option, was it? Oh well, Leonie thought, trying to shake any negative thoughts out of her head, and focus on the lovely week of sunshine and relaxation that was ahead.
    All the way in from the airport, the architecture had been very ‘Arabian nights’, so she couldn’t help but feel let down when the taxi eventually pulled up outside a well-maintained, but disappointingly generic-looking tourist hotel. She’d been hoping for something a bit more exotic and interesting, but what the hell – after a few days she’d no doubt be glad of the home comforts!  
    Having checked-in at the front desk, she went to her room and was delighted to see that her balcony overlooked a large and hugely enticing freeform swimming pool. The room itself was basic but clean, although she realised, there was no air-conditioning!
    Rivulets of sweat were now rolling down her back and Leonie seriously needed some cooling off. She stared again at the cerulean blue waters of the lighted pool. It was by now late evening so the pool itself was empty and there wasn’t a soul to be seen in the surrounding area. A relaxing solitary dip would be just the thing to ease away the after-effects of the journey, wouldn’t it?
    Leonie put her case on the bed and unzipped it, intending just to whip out her bikini; she’d unpack the rest later. But instead of a familiar pile of colourful holiday clothes, to her astonishment (and immense dismay), she opened the case to find a selection of drab looking stuff she didn’t recognise.
    ‘Blast you anyway!’ she groaned, immediately realising she’d picked up the wrong bag. A man’s bag too by the looks of things, and someone who would probably be just as pleased to find a load of rainbow-coloured shorts, sun-dresses, and bikinis when he opened hers. Not to mention her underwear, she moaned, raising a sweaty hand to her forehead.
    Leonie couldn’t believe it. In all the places she’d been, all the flights she’d taken and the crappiest places she’d stayed in, this had never happened.
    But how had it happened, she wondered now. OK so she’d obviously picked up the wrong bag, but had the owner of this one – she began examining it for a name and hopefully an address – picked up her bag long before it even reached her at the carousel? Which would have caused her to automatically assume this one was hers.
    She flipped back the lid of the case and took a closer look at the front. Nope, there was absolutely no reason for her to assume it wasn’t hers, as it looked exactly the same – except of course, she thought, kicking herself, she hadn’t bothered to check the nametag. While she always included a forwarding address on her luggage tag this person hadn’t bothered, which meant that the task of getting her stuff back anytime soon was going to be even harder.
    But maybe there would be something inside?
    Leonie began searching through the packed clothes, the stifling humidity