My Holiday Hook-Up

Chapter 1: Same Old Love

This is what I get for calling my boyfriend before I leave the state.

I get to catch him cheating on me, listen to his lame apologies and then hear him admit that he has been meaning to break up with me to date the biggest slut in our school, Eliza Summers. Then I hear her voice in the background and realize that she's still in the room and can hear every word.

His voice was hasty and sounded a little raspy like he had just been caught in a three hour long make-out marathon. "Come on, Jo, it's not like that. She just came by to–"

"Have s*x with you. Yeah, I get it. I get that you're an unfaithful bastard and that we're done here," I hissed and hit 'end call' before he could try to explain his yet another screw up.

I was just done, so done with having to always expect the worst from my boyfriend. We had been together for seven months and he had now cheated on me twice. I should have trusted my gut when it kept telling me that Stefan was a bad guy. I had been lost in some kind of a haze and even forgiven him after sleeping with some random girl he met on a ski trip with the boys. But no more. This time it was over for good.

"Josie!"

I groaned under my breath when I heard my grandma call my name. When I had agreed to spend the winter break traveling with her I hadn't realized I would be this cranky after a bad breakup. But then again I couldn't wait to leave this town behind and pretend Stefan didn't exist.

"Are you ready to go?" Grams kept hollering at me.

The last thing I wanted to do after calling it quits with Stefan was to hang around my inquisitive and often much too blunt grandma. After finally admitting that ‘I + Stefan’ could never equal true love I expected to spend the entire holiday moping around and acting pretty bitchy. With my grandma I couldn't do it though and if I didn't get over Stefan during the holidays I might do the unthinkable and want him back once school started again and he'd have a way to get near me again.

"Sure, let me just grab my stuff," I said with a forced smile on my face.

After leaving my grandma waiting on the yard until I came back my expression dropped back to gloomy. God, I hate Stefan. Is being faithful really so f*****g hard? I wondered bitterly as I dragged my suitcase to the driveway where a taxi was waiting to drive us to the airport from where we'd fly to a luxurious holiday resort right outside of Salzburg. That 'luxurious' part was pretty much the reason I had agreed to spending my winter break in some castle in Austria. Not that I didn't like traveling because I did; but abandoning the chance to hang out with my friends would have been pretty insufferable if it weren't for the fact that during our vacation we were going to stay in a five star hotel.

The flight was a short one but I still had time to get pissed about every little thing that didn't go my way and curse Stefan's name repeatedly. I didn't want Grams thinking that I was a brat though so I simply sat and seethed in silence. Grams just kept blabbing away about her plants while I imagined a thousand different ways to murder an annoying man who was sitting in front of me.

My mood got a little better once we arrived at the resort. They had a runway so we could land right to their yard and didn't have to take another taxi to get there. It was the perk of being rich: everything was made as easy as possible for you.

The castle was incredible. It looked like a winter palace straight out of a fairy tale and I had hold back a fit of squeals that tried to escape my lips. The brochure Grams had been reading out loud since we landed promised that although the exterior had a strong sense of fantasy and utopia the place still had every modern convenience. It also claimed that inside the castle's stone walls was a spa, several gardens, ice skating park, an amusement park and even a small mall. The hotel had 103 rooms, five swimming pools and 24-carat-gold leafing on the study's mosaic floor. There apparently was also a squash court, bowling alley, tennis court, 200-seat screening room, heated marble driveway and a helipad.

Damn, could all that really fit in one place, even if it was as huge as this one?

An employee of the hotel appeared and carried our bags while we were also approached by an attractive woman in her late thirties who called herself Fleur and introduced herself as our hostess. She showed us to our rooms and made sure we had everything we could possibly want before leaving.

I had a co-joining room with Grams and although it may not have been my choice it was better than sleeping in the same room with my snoring grandma who also tended to wake up every morning at 6 am. I took a look around the room and breathed in. This place was amazing. I had never been anywhere this fancy before although my Grams was really rich and loved taking me, her only grandchild, around the world. She was the inventor of Yoga Is Your Life videos and self-help books that had made her a fortune. Apparently everyone wanted to learn how to live their life 'the Lori Spencer way'.

I would have been perfectly content staying in my room for the rest of the night, just going through all the wonderful things in the more than spacious suite. But my grandma had different kinds of plans for the night. As it turned out, there was a welcome dinner for new guests and Grams was dead set on going. I cursed my overly energetic and social grandmother in my head but agreed to go anyway because I didn't want to be rude. After all, she had taken me to a beautiful place like this. It would have been obscene to in return refuse doing the one thing she wanted.

I took a quick shower and I had to force myself to leave the unbelievably comfortable bathroom. The water pressure was just right and so was the water temperature. It was official: I loved this place. The hotel personnel would probably have to carry me out when it would be time to leave.

My clothes were brand new; a white, sleeveless top with a simple, minimalist design and peach-colored, form-fitting pants and a simple cardigan. I had been aching to wear them ever since I bought them.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Jo," Grams said with a smile and led me down the hall. I felt a little crazy. Simply walking in the castle's hallway had me gasping for air. Everything was ridiculously luxurious and I decided right then and there that I wouldn't ask just how much Grams had to pay to make this vacation possible. I had a feeling the answer would make me fall flat on my back.

The dining room was another surprise. It looked like the table went on for ages and although the decor was a bit too white for my liking I had to admit even then that it took my breath away. I wondered if I'd ever get used to how extravagant everything looked or if I'd spend my vacation staring at everything with my mouth open.

We sat down just in time as an old yet virile man with a respectable beard stood up and started talking: "Hello, everyone. I want to welcome new guests to the Hapsburg Castle as well as greet our other tenants. I am Harold Hapsburg, the owner and manager of this hotel. It is a beautiful night, don't you think? Weather cast claims that we'll be receiving more snow as the night goes on so tomorrow will be a wonderful day for winter activities outside. Everyone interested in spending the day in the snow should talk to Mrs. Crawford so we can arrange a transportation to the skiing center next door."

He nodded towards a middle-aged woman sitting next to him who gave a friendly smile to everyone.

Grams leaned to whisper to me. "Would you like to go?" she asked and I nodded. I loved snow and living in California we didn't exactly get to experience it much. Actually, the only time I got anywhere near cold temperatures was when I was traveling with my grandma. Couple times of the year, usually during holidays, we went off and explored the world. I think Grams was trying to make up for being gone most of my childhood by spoiling me now.

"...which was built in 1734. Can you imagine that? This table is older than a lot of your countries's independence", I heard Mr. Hapsburg say before I tuned out again. I wasn't as tired as I had been when we first arrived. Now I was more bored and really hungry. To get something else to think about I let my gaze wander around the table and noticed something strange. Everyone was in their fifties, at least. There was a couple of kids but no teenagers, not even young adults. I had to suppress a groan. Oh no. Grams had apparently taken me to some old folks' holiday resort.

I was just internally screaming at how boring this vacation would be And then he walks in.

Tall, messy-haired, gorgeous and dressed like he’d rather be anywhere else, the guy is the first non-old person I’ve seen since landing. For one thrilling moment, I think the universe has thrown me a bone. I was pretty excited until he looked up and I realized that it was one of Stefan's friends called Manny or Johnny or something.

Can't I get a break? I wondered glumly when he sat down at the end of the table. I wasn't sure if he had recognized me but eventually he probably would. All Stefan's friends were as annoying as he could be so my slightly improved mood plummeted quickly. Just as I had started to breathe more easy, life decided to slap me in the face. What were the odds of this happening? What were the odds that one of Stefan's friends was as loaded as my grandma and that they had chose to splurge their money in the same place as us?

One thing I knew for sure. This holiday was going to suck.