Page 91 of Date with Destiny

Not wanting to seem too worried, I give Celeste and Joey another few seconds before casually making my way across to them. Somehow I don’t screamWHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?Which, I’m sure everyone would agree, shows an incredible level of self-control.

‘Joey!’ I greet him warmly, my delight at seeing him genuine. Unless he’s complaining about me. ‘So wonderful to see you.’

‘Hi Ginny!’ he grins and I can immediately see everything is fine. He’s not angry or upset with me. There is only joy radiating from him. ‘I was just passing and popped in to say hi and another huge thank you for everything you did. Myfiancée –love saying that! – said I had to come in and’ – he pauses, trying to remember – ‘give you, er,mad props.’ He hesitates again. ‘I think that was what she said. She’s American, did I mention that? Sometimes I don’t understand a word.’ He laughs. ‘But then she says the same about me. She still looks at me in horror and bafflement when I say I’m knackered.’ He smiles brightly at Celeste. ‘We’re like chalk and cheese – which is another saying she doesn’t understand – but it works. We’re so happy.’ He gives me a pointed look. ‘And a lot of that recent happiness is down to you, Ginny.’ He nods at Celeste. ‘I was just telling your mum how incredibly helpful you’ve been. You need to be better at boasting at work, Ginny! She had no idea how much you’d been involved in every step of the proposal.’ He shakes hishead in wonder at Celeste. ‘Honestly, she was invaluable, talking me through everything, talking me down a few times when I was really freaking out. She and the designer Zach even came to the hotel undercover to deliver the ring! Never mind selling me a ring, Ginny’s been like an emotional support worker!’

I blush a deep red and shake my head instinctively. ‘Stop it! You did the hard part! I’m just so glad it went well and you’re happy.’

We beam at each other happily for another moment before he notices the clock on the wall.

‘Whoops, I’m late, better get going!’ He reaches to give me a hug and, unprofessional as it probably is, I hug him back, my whole body vibrating with pride and osmosis-love.

As the door shuts behind him, I turn to find Celeste looking at me with wonder.

‘You—’ she begins but the bell at the door sounds again, distracting us.

I scream when I see who it is.

‘MYFANWY! SONALI!’ I leap elk-like across the store to sweep them up in my arms. I don’t need to hear what happened. If Joey was radiating happiness, these two areuraniumblissful. The three of us cuddle for a minute, laughing then crying.

Behind us, Celeste sounds bewildered. ‘What’s going on?’ she calls and the three of us pull apart, drying faces on sleeves. Sonali laughs and throws her hands up. Every single finger has a different ring, each with a silly, romantic,gorgeous meaning behind it. And right there, in the midst of them, is the beautiful, classic Celeste’s Stones – Walliams’s collaboration ring.

Celeste gasps and joins us, grabbing Sonali’s hands roughly to inspect each one. ‘This is absurd!’ she says in an awed voice, as we all giggle.

‘I’m assuming it was a yes then?’ I grin and Myfanwy nods, unable to speak just yet.

Sonali finds the words faster. ‘It was so romantic, Ginny, I can’t even tell you.’ She gasps. ‘Actually I don’t need to tell you, do I? Myfe told me how much you helped her.’ She side-eyes her new fiancée. ‘Andshe told me that you stopped her doing it in front of a bunch of people. God, thank you so much. I’m really relieved she didn’t do that. It was so much more special with just the two of us.’

Myfanwy and I smile at each other as I feel Celeste’s eyes on me.

‘Tell me everything!’ I demand, though Myfanwy and I had gone through every detail, minute by minute, over and over, beforehand. I can see from Myfe’s face that it all went according to plan.

‘So we met up for what I thought was a very quick lunch break for me, since Myfe’s on Easter half term,’ Sonali begins excitedly. ‘But instead of heading to grab a coffee outside my office, Myfe had a car ready. AnUber Black,if you can believe that outrageous spending. I’m like, “Where the hell are we going? Babe, you know I only have half an hour!” And she’s like, “Actually babe, you have the restof the day off. I’ve arranged it with your boss because I have a surprise for you.” And I know it sounds stupid but I honestlyneverthought it could be this. I thought maybe she had a late birthday present for me. I was just excited I had the afternoon off!’

She laughs, looking over with adoring eyes at Myfanwy, who at last manages to speak. ‘So I took her back to ours, where I’d laid out a blanket and plates. Seconds later – honestly the timing was absolutely perfect, Gin – the door went and it was our takeaway!’

‘She’d got my favourite food!’ Sonali squeaks.

Myfanwy snorts. ‘We both know we’re shit at cooking but I wanted it to be a special lunch.’

‘I was so happy – it was the nicest burger I’ve ever had from there!’

Myfanwy shrugs. ‘Well, I did tell them it was a proposal lunch, so they’d better make sure it was good.’

‘No wonder they were so on time at your door!’ Celeste comments beside me, delighting in the story.

‘So then, I went behind the sofa and pulled out this tray of boxes—’

‘I couldn’t even speak when I saw them,’ Sonali interjects breathlessly. ‘I suddenly knew this was a big moment.’

Myfanwy smiles misty-eyed as she continues in a low voice. ‘And she opened them one by one, as I said my speech, explaining each memory that each ring represented.’

‘I was crying from about four words in!’ Sonali rolls her eyes at herself.

‘And we finished with that one.’ Myfanwy nods at Sonali’s ring finger and Sonali brandishes it.

‘We sourced the stones and metal, but Zach designed it,’ I tell Celeste as an aside and she nods, her eyes faraway and her chin trembling with emotion.

‘And you said yes right away?’ Celeste confirms eagerly.

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