Isaac
As I stared at the beautiful ring on my hand, which Ferron had given me in China at the Great Wall, my head was full of what I wanted to happen next. To say I’d been stunned by his romantic proposal was the understatement of the century. But there’d been no question in my mind what my answer was going to be. He’d been it for me from the moment I’d laid eyes on him, and though it had taken years for me to get the courage to go after what I’d wanted, I’d grabbed on with both hands when I had.
For several weeks, since we’d got back from China, the past had been on my mind. I’d wasted so much time that Ferron had gone through a journey I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. With that on constant replay, I’d come to the conclusion that we shouldn’t be wasting any more time waiting, and that included getting married. As yet, we’d not talked about the wedding plans, but they were never far from my thoughts.
Was Ferron thinking we needed to leave an allotted period of time before we decided on getting hitched? I eyed the man in question, who was busy collecting empty glasses in the full club.
“You do know that there’s been a customer trying to get your attention for the last five minutes, while you’ve been staring at Ferron, right?” came a voice from the opening at the end of the bar.
I glanced at Sam, who held a file in his hand, which I assumed was why he was down here and not up in the Flamingo bar. He pointed to the sub who was hopping from one foot to another as he eyed me hopefully. I swallowed a sigh and went to take his order, not answering Sam.
By the time I’d filled several orders for soft drinks, as there was no alcohol served on nights when the club was open for people to play freely, Sam had perched himself on a stool. “Aren’t you supposed to be working upstairs?”
“Yeah, but I’m sure Scott has everything in hand. You look like you might need someone to talk to?” Sam gave me an encouraging grin and I felt myself weaken.
Signalling to Tyler that I was going to take five, I stepped to the end of the bar and beckoned for Sam to follow me. Tyler, one of the other barmen, was more than capable and he had Eddy to keep up with the steady stream of people wanting a drink.
Before I opened the storeroom door, I checked to make sure that Ferron was busy. I didn’t want him to catch me talking to Sam about the idea that was forming in my mind. When the door shut behind Sam, I leant against it, taking no chances of being interrupted.
“You’re not planning on murdering me and trying to hide me in here are you?” Sam joked as he eyed the door I was leant against.
“Maybe, if you don’t keep up to date with the spreadsheets next time I go on holiday,” I fired back.
Sam hunched and a scowl appeared on his face. “Let’s not talk about that, or what happened while you were away.”
Laughter was right there, waiting to come out at how forlorn he looked with a childish pout on his mouth. I’d heard his two partners, Jake and Bailey, had come to help him. By all accounts it had been an entertaining night for the staff, but not for Sam.
“I can see your lips twitching, man, don’t you dare laugh, or I won’t help you with whatever your problem is.”
I sobered at that and shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, even though it was the last thing I was feeling. I wet my lips. “I want to plan a surprise wedding for Ferron, and I want to get married on New Year’s Day. I think Nathan will let me use the Flamingo Bar as they aren’t planning to open, so it’s free. I’m sure I can talk Lenny and Carl into catering for it.” As I continued to lay out my thoughts as they came to me, Sam stood frozen to the spot.
His mouth opened, but no words came out as his eyes grew to the size of saucers. “You’re kidding, right?”
His voice was a strangled whisper and my gut clenched. “You think it’s a bad idea?”
“Fuck no. I think it’s perfect and so romantic, especially after how Ferron started last New Year.”
Ferron had spent the previous year unconscious in hospital, attached to a ventilator. He’d been kidnapped by a scary fucker who liked to torture subs for pleasure. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Leave the past behind and start the New Year with something amazing.”
Sam rubbed his hands together as his eyes got a gleam in them, which didn’t help my knotted stomach. “Right, I think we should get as many people to help as possible so that it’s not obvious to Ferron something is up. We can allocate tasks to everyone. Oh, I’ll have to come up with a plan for his stag party—”
“What? No, that will give the game away for sure!”
It appeared Sam didn’t hear me as he continued excitedly. “I’ll leave you to sort yours with Nathan and get Lenny and maybe Adam to help with Ferron’s. From what I heard, Lenny did a great job with Adam’s stag earlier this year.”
Recalling how worried I’d been when I’d got home to find Ferron gone the night Lenny had invited him to Adam’s stag party, I clamped my lips together to stop myself from saying something that might upset Sam when it was obvious he was excited about helping me.
His lips pursed and he wore a thoughtful expression. “Yes, I think we can do this.” He met my worried gaze. “I’ll look up some websites that organise weddings and see what they suggest we need to do. What about budget?”
A strangled moan rose as I shook my head. “I’ve got money, just don’t go wild. I don’t want to go bankrupt over this.”
“Cool, I’m good at budgeting…with my own money,” he quickly added on when my brow arched, causing his face to flush bright red.
“Well as long as you’re good with secrets, we’ll be okay. We’ve eight weeks, do you think we can pull it off?”
“Erm, of course. It’ll all be fine, you mark my words.”
I loved his confidence, but the itch at the base of my neck wasn’t quite convinced.