Chapter Six

It was a Sunday afternoon. A week since Georgie had bumped into Elvis again at the hospital.

Georgie had endured another week of back to back shifts at work but this was her last set for little while at least. She had a few days booked off work early next week, after a discussion over dinner with Jamie a few months back, they had decided it would be good to spend a bit of time out of work together, possibly visiting a few wedding venues and actually finalising some plans.

As far as wedding planning was concerned, they had got no further than making the guest list, which even that, had been scribbled in a half-hearted manner on the magnetic 'to-do' pad that was stuck to the fridge in the kitchen. It was hardly carefully executed, nor completed with real sincerity from either of them.

Funnily enough, Georgie didn't feel as bothered as she should by the whole situation. She was an organised, particular person but on this occasion, her mind always seemed to want to think of other things. There's no rush, seemed to be her constant mantra in her mind at the moment. In any case, Jamie was too preoccupied by his medical thesis, so weddings were far from his mind.

-OG-

"Do you want me to send you a photo of the list of wedding venues we had typed out?" Molly had suggested helpfully over lunch earlier on in the week.

Georgie looked hopefully at her friend, "Do you still have it? You've been marred almost three years now Moll."

Molly waved her hand dismissively, "Honestly Georgie, I am married to the most OCD man alive. He created a spread sheet for every aspect of our wedding. Trust me; we have them saved somewhere on the home laptop. It wouldn't surprise me if Charles has kept every wedding file on a different memory stick."

Georgie snorted in reply but nodded appreciatively. "If you can get hold of them that would be great Molls, thanks."

If it meant less researching for Georgie and Jamie, then she was all for it.

-OG-

So here Georgie sat, at the kitchen table on Sunday evening, waiting for Jamie to finish in the shower. She had the laptop open, ready and waiting. True to her word, Molly had passed on the USB stick the following day and Georgie had quickly googled each venue, highlighting the nicer locations ready to show her fiancé.

Hearing the water eventually turn off, Georgie waited a few minutes before calling into the bedroom,

"Jay?!"

As usual, he didn't respond instantly. So Georgie drummed her fingernails impatiently on the table until Jamie entered the room, freshly washed and hair still a little wet.

"Babe, you know I hate how you yell at me like that. Just wait until I'm in the room, will you?"

"Sorry babe, I forgot." Georgie replied. She didn't feel guilty and it wasn't as if Jamie had told her off but felt he would appreciate the apology all the same. It was better than not really acknowledging it for it then to escalate into a full blown row between them. That wasn't the way to begin their few days off together. "I just wanted to show you these wedding venues. It's a start eh?"

Jamie walked over to Georgie's chair and leaned over her shoulder to peer at the laptop screen, scanning the details.

"Mmmm, they 're a bit all over the place George."

"Well, I'm a Northerner, your family are Southern. It's good to keep our options open?" Georgie chewed on her fingernail and stared up at Jamie. "It'll be good to drive to a few of these places and check them out? I already called a few of them down south, they said there are a few time slots available as early as tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Jamie responded with a frown of confusion. "Are you not forgetting something?"

Georgie shrugged.

"Work, babe? That place that we go to, to earn money?"

Pushing her chair away from the table, Georgie stood up and went over to the calendar that hung on the wall. In each of the boxes for Monday to Thursday were the words 'Day off' punctuated with a purple smiley face. "We talked about this months ago Jamie. I booked the days off like we planned, I thought you would too."

A hint of realisation crossed Jamie's face, "Ohh, the night at Carluccio's? You never mentioned it again, I didn't know it was a definite thing babe."

"What part of marking it on the calendar isn't definite enough for you?" Georgie asked him. Now she was just pissed off.

"Now don't get all 'shirty' with me, Georgie. You know I have my own Diary, you should have told me directly. I barely have my head out of the books these days, why would I have time to look at the calendar?"

Because that's what a fucking normal person looks at?

Georgie refused to let her anger show on the outside, it just wasn't worth the aggro from Jamie if she retaliated. Instead she asked something else.

"Is there a chance you can still take some of the days off? Even if it's just one?" She asked sweetly through gritted teeth. Georgie looked at the work diary lying on the worktop beside Jamie, who flipped it open and searched the most recent page for the week.

Silence.

Then Jamie shook his head and shrugged. "I'm sorry Georgie. I've got back to back meetings and calls every day. Except…Friday? Can you do then?"

Georgie rubbed her forehead wearily, "I have practically donated my kidneys to guarantee these days off Jamie. I put the request in three weeks ago. You know I can't just swap them last minute."

They both stood in silence. Georgie glaring at the floor. Jamie flicking through the pages of his diary.

"There'll be plenty of other opportunities to look at venues, Georgie. I'm sure you can find something to do with your days off." He walked over ad kissed her on the forehead, as if that would solve everything.

That's not the fucking point. Georgie thought to herself.

Without another word, Jamie walked into the living room and put on the television, the sound of a football match filling the room. And that was the end of that.

Georgie bit her lip in thought. Then she shut the lid on her laptop and walked out of the room. She headed into the bedroom and sat on the bed, reaching for her phone which was charging on her bedside.

Georgie scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. Ariya.

As code names go, it seemed appropriate enough. It was the made-up friend that Georgie had claimed she had stayed with during the night she spent with Elvis.

Thank God she had saved the number in her phone before heading into the shower that night. At the time, her guilty conscience had screamed at her to wash away the evidence, but her heart had shouted louder and convinced her to save the number in her phone contacts.

Elvis.

Christ, even the thought of his name seemed to send a wonderful shiver of excitement through Georgie's whole body.

Tentatively, she clicked on Ariya and found the green 'call' button. With one last check that Jamie was preoccupied with the game in the other room, Georgie placed her mobile phone to her ear.

Each buzz of the connection to the phone line matched the erratic thud of Georgie's beating heart. It wasn't nerves. It was...excitement.

The line clicked as the phone was picked up on the receiving end.

"Hello?" Georgie couldn't help but smile at the sound of Elvis' voice.

"Hi," She said quietly, hearing her voice tremble a little, "It's me."

Hi Lovelies. I hope you are all well. Thank you for waiting for a fortnight, the holiday was needed! Enjoy. I look forward to hearing from you xx Lauren x