Anna linked her arm through mine. We automatically headed towards the cove. We didn’t speak. It was the last time we would tread this route together and I wanted to savour every moment.

At the end of the walkway, Anna’s eyes flickered to the padlocks, the way they had every evening since our first.

‘I have something for you. For us.’ From my pocket I pulled out a lock and a marker pen.

‘A love lock!’ She looked at me uncertainly.

‘A friendship lock.’ Her face fell and I mentally kicked myself. ‘Anna, I…’

Don’t fall in love, you big twat. Josh had said. He was right. It was the wrong time for me. For her. Impractical.

Shit.

‘It’s a lovely thought, Adam.’ She took the lock from my hand. ‘To symbolize our… friendship. What should I put?’

‘How about just “Adam & Anna”?’ Our names fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

Anna took her time, writing in cursive script, before clipping the lock onto the chain.

‘Adam…’ Her eyes met mine. They glistened with tears.

I felt helpless. Useless.

‘Anna, I…’ I stroked her cheek with the back of my fingers. She gave a tiny shake of her head before forcing a smile.

‘Last one onto the beach buys breakfast tomorrow at the airport.’ She sprinted away from me, leaving me fumbling with the wine and glasses before I could follow.

‘Hey, that’s not fair!’

Ahead of me, she laughed. The stretch of her arms, the vibrancy of her dress, reminded me of the bird I had unchained. For a nanosecond I contemplated leaving her there and then. Preserving this as my last memory of her. Happy and free.

Instead, I chased her. Making a production of swiping my hands towards her but each time letting her slip through my fingers.

Eventually, we flopped onto the damp sand. I unscrewed the bottle of wine and we raised a silent toast.

Unlike previous evenings we were quiet. It wasn’t the time for talking.

After we’d drained the bottle of wine, we flopped back on the sand. She rolled onto her side to face me. My thumb stroked hers and somehow that was enough. We didn’t make love. Not that time. We’d tried that on the beach and decided we were better off in the apartment. It really wasn’t as romantic as it looked in the movies. Sand gets everywhere, and I mean everywhere. It was an experience neither of us were in any rush to repeat. We must have dozed because when we woke, the sky was turning from black to grey to pink. My eyes held hers, imparting all of the things I wanted her to know. All the things I couldn’t say.

The static of hope crackled in the air, invisible to the naked eye but palpable nevertheless. I brushed it aside.

It was time to say goodbye.

Chapter Seven

Anna