The Heartbreak Factor - Part Four

“Are you sure you’re okay babysitting her?” I asked mum as I walked down the stairs and into the lounge to see mum playing peek-a-boo with a very bemused looking Katy. 

“Josh won’t mind if we miss his party,” George added, putting his jacket on. “He’ll understand.”

“I’m sure,” mum grinned. “You kids go have some fun. You know I love spending time with her anyway so it’s hardly a burden.”

“I’m sure the feelings mutual with Katy,” George joked, watching Katy as she looked at my mum in complete confusion. 

“Mum, she loves it when you sing Backstreet Boys to her,” I laughed, resulting in mum blasting mid-song into I Want It That Way, leaving me and George time to sneak out of the house without Katy realising as she looked in complete confusion at mum.

*

Walking up the steps of the nightclub, I caught sight of Chloe and Elle stood in the corner, giggling like usual, as Jaymi, Olly, JJ and Josh stood nearby. Grabbing hold of George’s hand, I led him through the dance floor that was crammed full of people that I didn’t even recognise and straight over towards where the crew were stood talking. 

“Happy birthday Josh!” I beamed, hugging Josh as we got to them.

“Thanks,” he grinned. 

“Happy birthday bro,” George smiled, doing a ‘man hug’ with Josh.

Before I had chance to make a remark about their ‘man hug’, Chloe grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me to the side. “What?” I asked, looking at her in confusion as she stood looking at me with a huge grin on her face.

After no response, I asked her again. “Chloe, what is it? You’re freaking me out!”

“Nothing,” she said, still grinning as she ran her hand through her hair. 

As she did so, a strobe light beam from the dance floor hit something shiny on her finger. “Whoa, what?!” I asked in shock, taking hold of her hand and staring at the diamond ring on her finger. 

“I’m engaged!” she grinned. 

“When? How? Where?” I asked, still in complete shock at Chloe’s unexpected revelation. 

Chloe grabbed my arm and Elle’s arm and pulled us both down the steps and across the bar area, into the corridor towards the bathrooms. 

“It was so perfect,” she beamed. “We planned to go for a picnic anyway as his birthday lunch but when we got there, he just proposed.”

I stood looking at her in shock. 

“Sammy, are you okay?” Elle laughed.

“Just takes a bit of getting your head round, right?” Chloe grinned.

“Yes,” I giggled. “Especially as you were the girl who said she was never getting married when she was ten years old as boys were, and I quote, stupid.”

“Boys are stupid,” she smiled. “That’s why I’m marrying a man.”

I shook my head and pushed the door into the main part of the club back open. As all three of us peered around the door, we watched Josh doing some sort of crab dancing to the music in the corner of the room. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Chloe’s man,” I laughed.

“You know what I mean,” Chloe grinned. “He’s just special.”

“Special is definitely the correct word,” Elle joked.

Closing the door back up, I looked at Chloe and Elle as they continued to laugh at Elle’s joke. “Me and George have some news too,” I smiled.

“Oh God,” Chloe paused, before looking down at my stomach. “You’re not pregnant again, are you?”

“No. No,” I said. “God, no!”

“What is it then?” Elle asked in anticipation.

“We’ve bought a house,” I smiled. 

“You mean you’re moving out of London?” Chloe said, sounding and looking saddened. 

“Yeah,” I nodded. “But it’s only a twenty minute drive away.”

“How can you do this to us, Sammy?” Elle joked, putting her arm around Chloe’s shoulder and pulling an over-exaggerated sad face. 

“You’ll understand when you see the house,” I grinned. “It’s perfect.”

*

“Heard about Chloe and Josh then?” George asked as he sat down on the seat beside where I was sat in a booth at the back of the club.

“Yeah,” I smiled, sipping on a cocktail. “So happy for them.”

“Don’t worry,” George smiled, putting his hand on my leg. “It’ll happen soon.”

As Josh called George over as he stood at the bar, I looked at George, revisiting the words he had just said to me - ‘it’ll happen soon’. He was going to propose? I began to panic in my mind as I realised George was intending to propose. My mind was going into overdrive over what George had just said. Maybe I was overthinking things? Maybe he wasn't on about proposing? Maybe he was on about something else? Maybe he was on about something not related to engagements at all? But surely he must have meant it was about proposing soon as we were on about Chloe and Josh's engagement?