Chapter 12- Somebody Else
The days and weeks following Africa were agony for Georgie. She was suffering with PTSD from her ordeal with Abu and Al Shabaab, aswell as the stress of planning her wedding to Jamie. They had decided to get married fairly soon and were also looking at buying a house together. Georgie was set to leave her army life in just a couple of weeks time, so Kenya had officially been her last tour. She didn't really know how she felt about that. Even after everything that had happened in Kenya, she still knew she would miss it. She was also feeling a little unsure about properly settling down with Jamie and becoming a housewife, but she knew she had to at least try for the sake of her relationship.
Elvis had called and texted Georgie multiple times following their rendezvous in Africa. She had ignored the majority of his calls, but had taken a couple just asking him to leave her alone. The morning after their night of passion, Georgie had left Elvis's room quickly, and then proceeded to leave Africa with the rest of 2 Section without saying goodbye to him. It wasn't her proudest moment, but she needed to put it behind her straight away and just see it as a mistake. Deep down inside Georgie knew it wasn't a mistake though.
On one occasion Georgie decided to travel down to London with Jamie, when he was visiting the city for work purposes. Georgie made the excuse that she wanted to do some shopping, but really she just needed to see and talk to Elvis. She was really suffering with her PTSD and was convinced she was seeing Abu which was impossible. She knew that Elvis, more then anyone, would understand how she was feeling. On the way down to London in the car, Wretch 32's, Traktor played on the radio and Georgie thought the lyrics couldn't be anymore relevant, 'Explosive, Terrorist style, I'll get you therapy now'. If it wasn't so painful she probably would have laughed. Georgie just wished therapy was enough.
When Georgie had turned up at Elvis's townhouse, she was disappointed to find he wasn't in. She hadn't told him she was coming, so couldn't blame him. She decided to linger in the park opposite for a while, and eventually did come across him. He was walking back home with who she presumed was Debbie and Laura. Her heart sank as she thought that maybe they were back together and playing happy families. Elvis spotted Georgie straight away, sensing someone had eyes on him, and came over to her. 'What are you doing here? Is everything ok?' came Elvis's concerned voice. At first Georgie didn't know what to say, so just spilled out 'I shouldn't be here' and tried to walk off. Elvis wasn't going to just let her leave, so convinced her to sit down on the bench. After a few minutes, Georgie told Elvis everything about how she was feeling, the lack of sleep she was getting, her night terrors and the fact that she was having visions of Abu. 'I have something to tell you' came Elvis's response. 'Our airstrike on their base may not have been as successful as we had first thought. We believe Abu is still alive, and has entered UK soil'. At first Georgie didn't know what to say. She was completely speechless. 'So I may actually have seen him?' came her reply once she had gathered her thoughts. 'It's completely possible, but don't worry Georgie. I'm not going to let him hurt you again' came Elvis's stern reply. Georgie knew he meant every word. Sensing she didn't want to talk about it anymore, Elvis changed the subject. 'So, can we talk about us?'. Elvis's question made Georgie's head snap up. 'There is no US Elvis. What happened in Kenya was a mistake. Our emotions were flying all over the place and neither of us were thinking straight. No one needs to find out about it. I'll go back to my life and you go back to yours', said Georgie rather harshly. Elvis bit back, 'Well sorry you thought it was a mistake Georgie. For me it was the best night I've had for a very long time. You can deny it all you like, but there's still feelings there, for both of us. I won't ever stop loving you'. Elvis's face looked broken as he spoke. Georgie began to feel guilty but knew she couldn't look weak, so said 'I'm sorry Elvis, but I just can't trust you' and walked off. Away from him.
The next time Georgie saw Elvis was a few days after her 30th birthday. Captain James and 2 Section had managed to get tickets for Georgie's favourite band- The 1975, who were playing a secret, intimate gig in Manchester, just a few days after her special big birthday. The evening was supposed to be a birthday celebration and leaving do all in one. Georgie wasn't expecting to see Elvis there, but it turned out that Elvis was the one who had got them all tickets. Apparently from a friend of a friend. Only Elvis, thought Georgie. The gig was amazing, and a completely different experience seeing your favourite band in such an intimate setting, rather than in a packed out arena. As the band began to play one of Georgie's favourite songs- somebody else, the lead singer Matty came on the mic. 'So this one is dedicated to Elvis, and anyone else who has had their heart broken'. At first Georgie couldn't believe what she was hearing, and just froze to her spot on the floor as the band began to sing, 'So I heard you found somebody else, and at first I thought it was a lie...' At this point, Georgie looked up and made eye contact with Elvis, who was already looking at her sheepishly. Georgie noticed the rest of 2 Section and her boss looked very uncomfortable. Georgie knew she needed to get out of the room, so stormed off out of the venue, barging past Elvis. Elvis followed her out straight away. Once outside the venue, the fireworks started going off. 'WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?' shouted Georgie. 'HOW DARE YOU BLAME ME FOR YOUR BROKEN HEART. YOU LEFT ME. OR DID YOU FORGET THAT!?...AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND MAKE ME FEEL BAD ABOUT BEING WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I'M JUST TRYING TO MOVE ON WITH MY LIFE'. Georgie had tears in her eyes as she shouted at Elvis, and Elvis instantly felt bad for fucking things up with her again. As Georgie put her hand up for a cab, Elvis apologised, also with his own tears in his eyes, but it was too late...she'd already left in the cab. Elvis just stood on the pavement outside, watching Georgie's cab drive off into the distance, not knowing what he could say or do to make Georgie forgive him.
Elvis didn't contact Georgie until a few days after the concert. He knew she needed time away from him to calm down. He was still so disappointed in himself for acting the way he had, but jealously does all sorts of things to people, and Elvis was happy to admit he was jealous. This Jamie guy had taken his Georgie away from him, and he'd since found out they were due to marry in just a couple of weeks time. When Elvis had found this out, it felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart.
Luckily for Elvis, he had a reason to get in contact with Georgie. He'd left her several messages telling her that Special Forces needed her help with Abu, but couldn't say much else over the phone. They know knew Abu was definitely in Manchester and was planning a terrorist attack in the city imminently. As Georgie had been inside their compound for a long period of time, she had valuable information no one else had.
As Georgie had failed to return any of Elvis's calls, he had decided to climb through Georgie's bedroom window one evening, knowing he wouldn't have been welcome through the front door. At first Georgie was less than impressed to see Elvis, but soon came round to helping him and special forces to stop an attack happening in her hometown, once she knew all of the details. Over the next week Elvis and Georgie became close again. Both putting their feelings and differences aside to get the job done. They worked out that Abu had a vengeance with Georgie, and that he was planning on carrying out an attack on her wedding day which was the following Saturday. They just needed to find out where it was going to be.
Georgie and Jamie decided to delay their wedding by a day, and marry on the Sunday instead, so they weren't putting their friends and family in unnecessary danger. On the morning of their wedding, Elvis had gone round to the Lane household to see Georgie. He had spotted her sat down on the sofa in the conservatory, at the back of the house, in her ivory wedding dress, and thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful in all his life. He wondered to himself if it was the same dress, but put it straight to the back of his mind. He was here for work purposes only. When Georgie spotted him lurking outside, she jumped out of her skin but then got up to open the conservatory door to him. 'It's unlike you to turn up on my wedding day' said Georgie sarcastically. Elvis smirked a little at Georgie's wit. He'd missed their banter.
When Max and Marie spotted Elvis in the house, they both went mad, shouting at Georgie for even letting him in. Georgie had to plead with them to let him stay, and explained he was only there for work. Grace had to come in to calm the situation down, but she wasn't exactly thrilled to see him either. Between the two of them, after some discussion and Facebook research, they quickly worked out that Georgie wasn't the target, and that his vengeance wasn't with Georgie at all, it was with his ex girlfriend. They managed to discover that Abu's ex girlfriend was due to graduate today from Manchester University, and that he had planned for the attack to happen at the graduation. Georgie ran upstairs straight away to rip her wedding dress off and get changed in some casual clothes and shoes. She then ran down the stairs and out the front door to Elvis's waiting car, with Max, Grace and Marie all running after her, wondering what the hell she was doing. Lulu thought it was all very cool and like something out of a movie.
Georgie and Elvis's theory turned out to be totally accurate, and resulted in Abu taking both his ex girlfriend and Georgie hostage inside the graduation ceremony. Elvis couldn't let Abu harm either, especially not Georgie, so took the shot instead. The bullet had sent Elvis into unconsciousness, and Georgie travelled all the way to the hospital in the back of the ambulance with Elvis. All the time praying he would come through it, whilst checking the machines he was wired up to for any signs.
After a couple of days of being glued to Elvis's side at the hospital, Elvis's family who had been holidaying in Italy, turned up to the hospital after cutting their holiday short. They had thanked Georgie for being there for Elvis when they couldn't and begged her to stay until he woke up at least. Georgie already knew from speaking to the doctors that Elvis was now stable and would make a full recovery, and she knew she had to leave before he woke up. She needed to do something for herself, so she left the hospital, apologised to Jamie for standing him up and decided to take a flight back to Kenya. She knew she still had a job to do there, and decided she would spend what should have been her honeymoon, without a man, volunteering at the refugee camp. It ended up being the best decision she had made in a very long time and just the therapy she needed.
Song credits:
The 1975- Somebody else
Wretch 32- Traktor
