So here we are...the epilogue and the final chapter of The Single Girl! I just want to say a big thank you for sticking with this story when updates have been SO far apart – I've been writing this story by improvising as I went along in between being unwell, and the reviews I've had from you guys have been lovely. I hope you all enjoy this last instalment. Thanks again :)
"So, what time are we...oh, hang on a minute. Arghh!" I leave poor Troy hanging on the phone as I drop one of my heels and it hits me right on the toe.
This is what happens when I rush...
"Gabi? You okay?"
Ouch! No...
"Erm, yeah, just about," I say warily as I press the phone back to my ear.
But I can't fool him. "What happened?" Troy asks, half concerned and half, as I expect, knowingly.
"Okay, I dropped a shoe on my foot..."
I can tell he's trying not to laugh at my typical Gabi-style mishap. "Can you still walk?" he asks instead.
I burst out laughing. "Yes, Troy, of course I can walk! Believe me, you'd know if I couldn't because you'd hear the screams all the way from the office – no phone necessary."
He chuckles now, and I leave my favourite heels where they are and sit down, thinking, six months on and he still doesn't care that I'm a walking disaster. I'm so bloody lucky!
"Good, because you can't miss your own party! I'd have carried you there if it came to it," he announces jokingly – but somehow I'm sure he really means it.
We arrange for him to pick me up later so we can head over to my parents' house, where – get this – they're throwing me an (apparently) huge 30th birthday party!
A party that I'm not supposed to know about...
I know, I'm know, I'm terrible. It turns out my parents had been plotting about tonight for a while with Troy, and I clicked that something was going on a few weeks ago. He was spending so much time with my father, having what he claimed were 'office meetings', and I'll admit, I got a tad worried after hearing that.
Because it's one of the standard answers when you're really seeing someone else, isn't it? I didn't argue with or accuse him, though (thank God!) but when I anxiously rambled on about it to Sharpay, she ended up spilling the beans.
I could have brushed it all under the carpet, but because Troy knows me so well, I knew he would guess something was up with me. So I confessed to my stupid doubts and apologised incessantly for ever thinking that he might have found another woman.
I thought he'd be upset and disappointed that I'd ruined his carefully planned surprise for me. But, strangely, he wasn't. Although I did get a (frankly, very sexy) stern lecture from him reminding me that I was stuck with him for life.
I may have been dumped by an arsehole in favour of another girl before, Troy said; but this is for keeps and he only wished he'd been better at being discreet about the party.
Speaking of said arsehole – the ex-husband was charged with harassment and assault after we told the police about how violent he'd been that night, and showed them my bruises. As well as all that, there was everything he and Tim had been up to concerning Dad's business.
So now both men are serving time for what they've done. And Sophie and I were eventually able to help each other get over all the drama of those past few weeks. Of course, I've been lucky to have Troy here to support me as well.
But anyway, back to tonight...
You know when you're at work and the time just drags, and all you want is for the day to end so you can go home or go out? And then there's nights like this, when you could do with all the time in the world to get ready; but before you know it, it's time to leave.
Luckily I'm just about ready as Troy lets himself into the flat and calls out for me. We exchanged keys about a month and half ago – sometimes I wonder whether we might already have been living together, were it not for my lease still having a few months left.
"Hey, I'm in here!" I shout as I stand in front of my bedroom mirror, applying a final coat of lipstick.
"Wow..." is the first thing that comes out of his mouth when he sees me. I look up and smile a bit awkwardly. It's still a little hard to fathom when Troy looks at me like that. Like I'm the only woman on the planet.
I mean, I know this is an expensive dress, but still. I'm only me...
"Wow yourself," I reply, taking in just how gorgeous he looks in his suit.
He winks back, and I giggle as he walks over and plants a soft, lingering kiss on my lips as a proper greeting. "You look absolutely gorgeous, birthday girl."
I groan only half-jokingly, although I remain cuddled up against his chest. "Hey, I'm not thirty yet, not until midnight – and by then I'll be officially too old for you to call me a girl."
I'm not really as bothered about the big 3-0 as I like to make out. Six months ago, if I was still hopelessly single, I'm sure I'd be in hiding right now – and a party would have been the worst possible present in the world for me.
But somehow, with Troy next to me, the idea of mingling at a gathering at my parents' house isn't quite so awful. Then again, this time the gathering is for me.
He chuckles at my response, and smirks as I pick up my bag and have one last look at my face in the mirror. "Right then, in that case – are you ready to go, Miss Twenty-Nine?"
.HSM.
What a night. Just...what a night.
If I'm thinking my 30th birthday party over in chronological order, then let me just take a moment to say that my parents were really fantastic tonight – both of them.
I'm not referring to the posh grandness of the party – it wouldn't have mattered to me if they'd simply put on a buffet of crisps and sausage rolls instead. But of course, they did their usual thing and hired caterers. But as I said, it wasn't that that got me emotional for the first time that night. It was the way my mum and dad actively circulated with all my friends, making a full effort to get to know the important people in my life.
Ever since I told them the truth about how my marriage ended - and then my father correctly predicted the scary late-night attack – they've done their very best to improve things between us. It took another proper, three-way heart-to-heart to get us on the right track, but so far, so good.
So anyway, as Troy and I stood on the doorstep and waited to be let inside, I quickly leaned toward him. "What do you think? Can I pull off the 'genuinely surprised' face?" I asked, trying to arrange my expression accordingly.
But before he could answer, my mother opened the door and ushered us in. "Gabi, Troy, what a surprise!" was her overly-merry greeting. This left me wondering what exactly the cover story was supposed to be, had we turned up here with me none the wiser over the party.
"Um, hi, Mum," I replied, managing to show the confusion that must have given the desired impression - that I was completely clueless about what was going on.
"Why don't you come through? Your father is just through here," she chatted on as we hung up our coats.
I stole a glance at Troy and tried very hard not to let out a giggle. My mother then led us through to the dining room, where the table had been removed and instead a couple of waiters were circling the room offering drinks, and food from platters. And not just any old food. All my favourite nibbles!
Oh, and even better than that? The cluster of people who shouted 'surprise' the moment I entered the room. I knew every person there – for once my parents hadn't gone over the top on the guest list or invited people I barely knew. And yet there were plenty of people.
All my friends, plus a few family members I hadn't seen in a while; and everyone I knew well from Dad's company.
This was the type of mingling I was very happy to do.
After doing my "I had no idea...Troy, did you know about all this?" routine, I took him around the room to introduce him to my cousins, an auntie and uncle, and lastly my grandmother.
Then we headed over to Sharpay, who was standing with her new boyfriend Alex (seems nice, but she says it's too early to tell if he's a keeper yet) and Ryan.
"Very well done on the fake-shock, Gabs," she winked at me.
"What, you knew?!" Ryan squeaked, looking a bit put out. "God, do you know how hard I worked on the decorations?"
Troy and I made a point of looking around the room, and both came to the same conclusion. "What decorations?"
"Well, alright, so all the balloons popped before everyone got here, but still!"
I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, then spotted Dani and her husband Andy on their own just across from us. They saw me too, and came bounding over.
"Hey Gabi! It's so good to see you – I've missed you!" she said, giving me a hug. "I'm definitely going to come and see you girls this week though, I promise," she adds, referring to the salon.
"That'd be great, Dani. I've missed you too," I grinned. "Hi, Andy."
They greeted everyone properly as she rubbed her stomach affectionately.
She went on early maternity leave a few weeks back, which is why we haven't really seen each other. While they were thrilled to discover they were expecting a baby, it hasn't been the easiest pregnancy, so she was forced to slow down and stop working earlier than originally planned.
This meant that Dani then decided to leave the salon in what she referred to as my 'capable hands'. I almost laughed, but realised just in time that she was being completely serious.
So far, though, things are going relatively smoothly. We'll just see how long that lasts. Given that Dani wants to visit us soon, I'll be the first to bet that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong on this day.
Just as Andy and Troy – who hit it off from the moment they met – got engrossed in a serious football discussion with Shar's date, Dani and I spotted another friend heading towards us.
"Hi, Soph!"
"Well well, look who got herself a babysitter," Sharpay teased as Sophie rolled her eyes.
I had introduced her to all my friends after managing to persuade her to come over for a girls' night in a few months back. She'd brought baby Daisy with her, and the routine stuck each time she joined us from then on.
Not that anyone minded. Actually, being around the baby made us all broody – and evidently Dani was already past that stage!
"Yes, well – I fancied a few drinks," Sophie replied with a smile, giving me a hug. "Happy birthday, Gabi!"
"Speaking of which – where's your drink?" Shar asked, suddenly noticing that I was the only one without a glass.
"Oh, well I was too busy trying to be suitably surprised to make a beeline for the drinks – first time for everything, eh?"
"Ladies," Troy's voice jolted us from our conversation, and I turned to see that he had abandoned the guys to approach us. "Do you mind if I steal the guest of honour for a little while?"
The others simply nodded casually, while I just looked at him in mild confusion. I could only guess that maybe he was choosing this very random moment to give me my birthday present.
Troy took my hand and led me all the way out of the dining room, then walked us through the house until we reached the back door.
"What on earth...?" My question drowned itself out as I followed him outside and into my parents' very large garden. The patio light was on, and I could see something small and black sitting on the bench just a few feet away from us.
It was a little square box.
And for some reason, I just had to ask...
"What's that?"
Troy chuckled softly, his gorgeous blue eyes sparkling (I know it sounds cliché, but it's true) in the light. "Why don't you have a look," he suggested, letting go of my hand so I could walk over to the bench and sit down.
Okay, just before I go any further – you know those moments when something's about to happen, and you're well aware of how potentially amazing it's going to be? When you feel like it must be a very vivid dream...only it's not.
Well, that's exactly how I felt right then, as I picked up the box and sucked in a deep breath before opening it.
Inside was a delicate gold ring with a single beautiful diamond on top. It was a ring that I hadn't seen since I was a little girl.
My great-grandmother's engagement ring.
It had been a tradition in our family to pass the ring from generation to generation. So when my parents got engaged, dad gave the ring to my mum. I'd very naïvely hoped that it would be passed on to me when Matt and I decided to get married aged eighteen. Now I'm glad it wasn't.
I stared tearfully at the family heirloom for another minute before I turned my head; only to find that Troy had moved and was now kneeling on the ground before me, on bended knee.
"I was all set to go out and buy a ring, but then I went to see your mum and dad, and he handed this to me as soon as he heard what I was planning to do. Your mother said," he continued as he gently took the box from me and removed the ring from it. "That this ring meant an awful lot to you, and that it was the only one I should possibly give you."
I wiped at my eyes, speechlessly waiting for Troy to say more.
"I was going to say all this in the morning - just me and you alone on your actual birthday. But I've had this with me for weeks and I just couldn't wait any longer..."
The anticipation of what I knew he was about to ask was almost too much for me. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from shouting out 'yes!' before the big moment came.
"Gabi," he started, sounding nervous all of a sudden. Although how he couldn't see how ecstatic I was already was completely beyond me.
"The very first time I saw you, you were getting on my bus. You were out of breath and looked distracted, and I wished I could've asked you what was wrong. The second time, I knocked on the door of the flat above me in my new building, and there you were again – wearing a very flattering pink dressing gown and hair curlers, I might add."
I let out an embarrassing high-pitched giggle as I remembered opening the door to Troy that night. Then I thought of the next time I'd spoken with him, and I inwardly cringed.
Was he going to bring that up, too?
"And the third time I met you, you'd just fallen down the stairs."
Ah, so he went there. Lovely...
"D'you know," he continued almost matter-of-factly, picking up my hand and linking it with his as he stayed in position.
How was he doing that?! I was starting to get concerned over his poor knee, but at the same time I wondered what on earth was coming next.
"I'd never been bothered about finding someone, falling in love and getting married. But talking to you that day made me do a complete U-turn in my head."
For the first time since I'd clapped eyes on the ring, I found my voice again.
"Why?" I asked shakily.
Troy grinned then. "Because you're one of a kind, Gabriella Montez – and you don't even know it. You're brave, you're beautiful, you make me laugh...you're my best friend."
Although I wasn't making a sound so as not to miss a single word of his speech, I was crying so much by now that the tears were making my eyes blurry. I wiped them with the back of my hand just as he held up the ring.
"So, I was just wondering...will you marry me?"
A loud sob came out instead of the big fat 'yes!' I'd rather have answered with; but I think he knew my reply when I managed to nod my head at him.
Troy finally stood up (with what I assumed must have been a very numb knee – I forgot to ask) and at that I threw myself into his arms.
We stayed like that for another full minute until I pulled away and told him, just to make it totally clear and official: "Yes; yes and, just in case you didn't hear me properly with all the crying...yes again!"
"Why are you crying?" he asked teasingly.
"Because you want to marry me!" I replied in much the same way as I had when he told me he loved me for the first time.
He laughed, and then kissed me before gently putting my great-grandma's ring on my finger. Then he looked at me and smiled like this was the happiest moment in his entire life.
It's certainly made the top of my list. Six months ago I could only dream of a proposal like that. And now I understood why Troy wasn't particularly bothered that I'd found out about the party – he'd already had another surprise up his sleeve.
"Oh, and one more thing - I love you," he added, chuckling at himself. "I think I forgot to mention that, but hopefully it came across in everything I said..."
"You did brilliantly, Troy. So much so that you might have to deal with a very over-emotional Gabi for the rest of the night, though," I told him. "And by the way, I love you too."
And this time I stretched up to kiss him. "Come on, let's get back to your party – it's getting cold!" he said, taking my hand to lead me back the way we'd come out.
But before we could let ourselves in, the door was opened for us and we were ushered inside. It was, of course, my mother.
"Well?" she blurted out loudly.
I hid the hand the ring was sitting on and tried to behave casually. This would probably have worked better had my face not been covered in tear stains – as I would later find out when I looked in the bathroom mirror.
"Well what, Mum?" I asked. I deliberately stopped myself from glancing at Troy so I wouldn't lose it and start giggling.
"Oh don't give me that, young lady..."
Ooh, young lady? I quite like that. Makes me forget my real age...
"Mother," I said evenly. "Were you eavesdropping, by any chance?"
She actually looked like she was about to deny it, and I heard Troy stifle a laugh just as my father walked in.
"Oh for goodness' sake, Maria - I told you not to go eavesdropping!" he sighed as he surveyed the scene. "I told you, just because the lad took her away for a private moment, doesn't necessarily mean that he..."
Dad stopped mid-sentence when he spotted our faces. It must have been obvious what had just happened.
"Well, then?" he finally asked, and I revealed my hand from behind my back.
And I think my mother's shriek of delight could be heard all the way from space...
Ah, enough daydreaming...here comes my new fiancé with the birthday breakfast in bed he promised me.
What he doesn't realise is that he's not the only one who's been planning a surprise.
I had no idea Troy was going to propose last night; but the fact that he did it without the first clue of my big news made it even more special. I found out a couple of days ago, and it was always my plan to tell him today.
"Hey, birthday girl," he says now as he comes in with a tray of food. "Er, by the way...I found the milk in the cupboard and the bread in the fridge. Any particular reason why?"
Hmm, that's a new one...
"Oh really? Well, I can't remember doing it, but let's just call it...baby brain," I reply once he's put the tray down safely.
"Whaaaa...?!" he exclaims, and he's so stunned that it takes him a good few minutes to fully process the information.
"Gabi?" he asks as I sit back and sip my orange juice. "Are you...?"
I put the glass down on the side and grin at him. "Yes, I'm pregnant."
It was so hard to keep this a secret until today; but I wanted to guarantee a perfect memory on the day I turned the big 3-0. I'm especially proud of how I managed to dodge the alcohol last night without anyone guessing why!
Anyway, Troy's verbal reaction can be summarised as this: "...!"
His face is an absolute picture - I wish I had a camera handy. I wonder what he'll say when I tell him the name I have picked out if the baby is a girl. Lauren, after his sister. But I'm going to wait until I'm a bit further along before I mention it.
"So, how do you feel?" I ask as he sits down on the bed, presses a long, lingering kiss on my lips and pulls me towards him.
"You've just made me the happiest man alive twice over in the last twelve hours!" he announces. "You know what?" he adds, gesturing towards my breakfast. "Sod tea and toast, I'm taking you out for breakfast!"
And so, fifteen minutes later (record timing on my part) we're up and ready to leave my flat.
As we walk downstairs hand in hand, in our own little bubble of happiness (and I don't care if it sounds soppy), Troy suddenly turns to me and stops walking.
"Hang on - have you got your keys?"
Oh, bloody hell...
~ The End ~