The Heartbreak Factor - Part Three

Chapter Twenty-Five.

“I might change my name to ‘Michelle’” I pondered out loud as I sat at the dressing table, doing my hair as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

“Why?” George laughed as he laid on the bed, watching me take another strand of hair to curl.

“Michelle Shelley sounds funny,” I grinned.

“But Sammy Shelley sounds natural, like it was meant to be.”

“George,” I said, turning around. “I’ve said yes. You can stop with all the cheesy comments.”

“I promise I’ll stop one day,” he grinned, throwing a cushion at me.

“Wife beater!”

“Fiancée beater actually,” George winked.

I put the curling tongs down on the dressing table before launching myself onto the bed, landing on top of a defenceless George. “Say you’re sorry,” I grinned.

“No,” he laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist tightly so I had no chance of escaping.

“Oh crap,” I said, struggling in his arms. “I didn’t think this one through.”

“You didn’t,” he smiled. “Because with that ring on your finger, that means that you’re mine until the ring stops, and sadly for you, rings never stop – they just keep going on and on and on and on and on.”

“They stop if I do this though,” I giggled.

“Do what?” he asked, looking confused at me.

I put the ring to my mouth and bit it in half. “Look,” I grinned with half the ring hanging out of my mouth. “The ring ends.”

“No,” he laughed, grabbing hold of the other half of the ring with his teeth. “I’ll get you a proper one. I promise.”

*

Wandering around the mall, hand in hand, everything felt so Christmassy. It was exactly a week before Christmas and everyone was darting past us, trying to get all their Christmas shopping done. It made it even worse as we were in New York’s busiest and most famous shopping centre – the Rockefeller. “I’d better get my mum something before we go back,” I smiled as I looked outside the window at the huge tree that was illuminated with beautiful Christmas lights.

“I tell you what,” he grinned as we stopped outside a little boutique. “You go look for your mum’s present and I’ll go to the toilets. I’ll meet you back here in five minutes.”

I nodded. “Bye,” I laughed as he ran off, dodging his way through the hundreds and thousands of stressed shoppers.

Walking into the boutique, I tried to think of what I could get everyone, but truth be told – I had no idea at all. Browsing through all the stuff, I pretended to actually be looking for something in mind. That’s when it hit me. I hadn’t even told mum I was going away, let alone going to New York. “It’ll be fine,” I muttered to myself, looking at a dress that had mum written all over it.

“What will be fine?” George asked as he walked over to me, looking out of breath.

“Have you been running?” I laughed as I watched him try to catch his breath.

He smiled at me. “That’s nice.”

“I’ll look for something for them tomorrow,” I grinned. “Can we go see the Christmas tree?”

“What is it with you and Christmas trees?” he laughed as we made our way out of the empty shop and into the herd of shoppers.

I looked at him, grinning. “How can you not love Christmas trees? They make Christmas. The lights just look so perfect as they twinkle and the tinsel and the baubles and the green branches.”

“Calm down,” he smiled.

“I am calm,” I said. “I just love Christmas.”

*

Stood admiring the Christmas tree, I turned to George and smiled at him. “What?” he grinned back to me.

“This has been amazing,” I smiled. “Everything has been so perfect and made me completely forget about everything that happ-“

George stopped me. “What’s in the past is in the past,” he whispered. “It’s all about the future now.”

“2015 is our year,” I grinned.

“Can you remember Christmas 2012?” he laughed.

I smiled, looking back up to the Christmas tree. “I showed you my tree house and you gave me the star and then I forgot your Christmas present until I moved to London so you got your monkey teddy is July as a half-way Christmas present.”

“So you can then?” he winked.

“Our third Christmas together.”

“Oh,” George said, turning to me to face him.

“What?” I asked, confused.

Instead of replying, he smiled at me and lowered himself onto one knee. I looked around at everyone looking at us in shock. “I said yes,” I grinned. “You don’t need to do this.”

“Excuse me. I want a romantic story to tell people instead of giving you a haribo ring,” George laughed. “So please shut up as you’re ruining the moment.”

“Okay,” I giggled.

“I know we’re young but it’s not like we’ve only just met. We’ve been together for two years now and this doesn’t mean we have to get married now – it’s just a way of telling everyone that you’re my girl for life.”

Everyone stood around us ‘aww’ed in unison as they watched us, which made me blush even more.

“Sammy. I love you. You annoy me more than I ever thought possible, but I want to spend every irritating minute with you. I can’t imagine what life without you annoying me would be like and I don’t want that to ever happen.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh at his joke, cry at his cuteness or slap him for calling me annoying.

“We’ve been through lots and I know that we’re gonna have to go through a lot more, but you make me so happy.”

The audience, that had seemed to gather around us from nowhere, continued to ‘aww’ as George carried on with his little speech.

“I love you, Sammy. I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you, not only what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.”

If Nicole Scherzinger was here right now, she’d be offering George a burger for his cheese. No matter how cheesy it was though, I couldn’t help but hang on every word he said as he looked up into my eyes.

“Sammy Jones,” he grinned. “Will you marry me?”

I looked at all the people who had crowded around us that were looking back at me in anticipation for my answer and then down at George.

“No.”

All the people stood around us gasped in astonishment. Even George looked a little shocked causing me to burst out laughing. “I’m joking,” I beamed. “Of course I will, you banana.”

George opened up a box in his hand and put the unbelievably gorgeous engagement ring on my finger as everyone stood around us clapped and cheered.

“They have no idea who we are, do they?” he whispered to me as he hugged me.

“No,” I laughed.