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Epilogue
Six months later
Toby is waiting for me as I leave the Voyages Luxes offices at lunchtime. We’re completing the purchase of our new house tomorrow, so I’ve taken the afternoon, and all of next week, off. We’ve spent the last few weeks going through our joint possessions to decide what we’ll take with us. My L-shaped sofa lost out to his big squishy ones and, unsurprisingly, we’re bringing his enormous TV rather than my small one. We’re taking both beds, but mine is going to be the main one, as we decided (after an awful lot of testing) that it was slightly more comfortable than his.
We’re going to base ourselves at Toby’s flat until the end of next week, so we can decorate the house and get the carpets laid before our furniture goes in. The removers are coming first thing in the morning to take everything that’s still in my flat into storage, and then they’ll come and empty Toby’s flat next Friday morning and take everything to the house. I sold my flat within two weeks of putting it on the market, and Toby has a new tenant lined up for his.
We agreed that we would get somewhere that was new for both of us, rather than one of us moving in with the other, so that it was ‘ours’ from the beginning. Toby initially preferred the idea of renting rather than buying, due to his aversion to debt, but I wasn’t wild about that idea as my Dad has always told me that paying rent was ‘money down the drain’. With the help of a lot of spreadsheets, we were able to work out that that the proceeds from the sale of my flat, plus his (once more) buoyant savings, would give us a big enough deposit that the rent income from the two flats above the studio would pretty much cover the mortgage payments, and he relented.
The house is a three-bedroomed semi in Tonbridge, with a small garden behind. The vendors have been very accommodating and we’ve been able to arrange for various people to go in and measure up for the carpets, new kitchen and bathroom. Toby has planned the renovations in meticulous detail; everyone should pitch up on Monday morning, and the kitchen and bathroom work should be complete by the end of play on Wednesday. The carpets are going down on Thursday, ready for us to move in on Friday. Toby and I will be frantically decorating while the work goes on, so hopefully everything will be complete, apart from painting the kitchen and bathroom, by the time the furniture arrives. It’s daunting, but exciting too.
It’s a beautiful summer’s day, and Toby takes my hand as we walk away from the office. We’re going to have lunch together in Tunbridge Wells before ‘a mooch around the shops’, as he describes it. I’m not quite sure what he has in mind, as he’s not really a shopping person; we agreed early on that clothes shopping was something I was better off doing alone.
I started working at Voyages Luxes a couple of weeks after they offered me the job. I didn’t have anywhere I needed to hand notice into, and they were keen to get Peter’s replacement up and running as quickly as possible, so it made sense for both of us. I was amused to find, after I’d picked up my pass and walked through the security barrier on the first day, that the offices were just as chaotic as I’d always imagined them to be. It took me a little while to get used to regular working hours in an office and, even now, I can’t quite believe that I’m going to have a week and a half off and they’re still going to pay me. I am really enjoying the work and Mark seems happy with me, so I’ve definitely landed on my feet.
“I’ve booked us into a little Italian restaurant I found online,” he tells me. “It’s got good reviews, so I’m hopeful.”
“Sounds lovely. And what are we looking for this afternoon?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Wait and see!”
The restaurant is tiny, the sort of place you wouldn’t notice unless you were looking for it, but it has a garden behind it, and Toby and I are seated outside. I tilt my face to the sun, enjoying the warmth on my skin. The waiter brings menus and tells us he’ll come back shortly for our drinks order.
“Before we order, there’s something I need to ask you,” Toby says, his face suddenly very serious.
“What? What’s the matter?”
“Nothing’s the matter. I’m really looking forward to this next stage of our lives, are you?”
“Oh yes, I’m really excited!” I tell him. “The next week is going to be hard work, but it’ll fun seeing our new home taking shape. Was that what you wanted to know?”
“No.” He reaches out and grasps my hand.
“Would you mind taking off your sunglasses for a moment? I want to see your eyes.”
I edge them up onto the top of my head. Toby looks so severe that I feel a bit unnerved.
Without warning, he slides out of his seat and goes down on one knee. It takes me a moment to realise what is happening. I totally wasn’t expecting this.
“Madison, will you marry me?”
“Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious. I love you, Madison, and I would be the happiest man alive if you agreed to become my wife.”
I know it’s cruel, but I just can’t seem to help myself. Suppressing the joy bubbling up inside me, I twist my face into what I hope is a thoughtful expression.
“I don’t know, Toby. Marriage is a pretty patriarchal concept. Do we buy into that?”
He looks absolutely mortified. I can’t keep it up.
“Of course I’ll marry you! Yes!” I tell him. I bend down and kiss him passionately. Some of the other diners have obviously realised what’s going on and start applauding. Toby gets to his feet and beams. He pulls me to my feet and envelops me in a passionate clinch. I can hear the other diners still applauding and cheering, but they feel far away, as if they’re in another room. All I’m aware of is Toby and me.
A polite cough from behind me brings me back to reality and, somewhat reluctantly, I break off the kiss. It’s the waiter, obviously wanting to take our order.
