A Tough Choice

Chapter Twenty Two

I awoke slowly and smiled as I saw Ethan laying beside me, watching me closely.

"Morning." I said huskily.

"Good morning fiancé." he grinned.

I rolled my eyes.

"I still can't believe it." I told him as I looked down at my hand.

"Do you like the ring?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah of course I like it, you muppet." I reassured him.

"I wasn't sure which one to pick." he admitted.

"Well you made a good choice." I told him.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost six am.

"We need to get ready for work." I said as I gently kissed his lips and climbed out of bed.

As soon as we arrived at work, I could see that it was going to be a busy day. The cubicles were already full. I smiled at Ethan as he walked away to begin his duties.

"Oh my god, what's that on your finger?!" Robyn exclaimed.

I quickly looked down at my hand and sighed in relief as I realised that she was referring to the engagement ring.

"Sssh keep your voice down." I hushed her.

"You're engaged!" she said excitedly.

"Yeah he asked me last night." I grinned proudly.

"Wow that's awesome, you guys are so cute together." she said happily.

"I'd better be bridesmaid." she added grinning.

I laughed at her stern expression.

"You can't tell anyone." I told her.

"Why not?" she frowned.

"I haven't spoken to Ethan about whether he wants people to know yet." I admitted.

"I think people might notice." she said pointing at the ring.

I looked down at it and realised that she was right. I reluctantly removed it from my finger and put it in my pocket. I hated how bare my hand looked. I wanted the world to know that I belonged to Ethan, but I knew that I needed to speak to him about it first.

I quickly carried out the rest of my duties. I sighed as I saw that the store room needed restocking. I stacked the syringes in date and size order. I jumped as someone placed their arms around my waist. I knew who it was instantly.

"Ethan that's not funny." I told him.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked sounding disappointed.

"You always wear the same aftershave." I pointed out.

I turned around to face him. He leaned towards me but I slowly pulled away.

"We'll get into trouble." I told him.

He ignored me and kissed me gently.

"Why aren't you wearing your ring?" he asked as he held my hand.

"Robyn noticed it and it made me realise that we haven't spoken about whether or not we want the guys at work to know." I admitted.

"I don't care if they know or not." he said sadly.

"Are you sure you want to go through with it?" he asked sadly.

"Yes of course I do, I just wanted to talk to you first." I said as I removed the ring from my pocket and placed it back onto my finger.

I jumped as Caleb appeared in the doorway.

"Ethan, can I have a word?" he asked.

Ethan nodded and followed him. I watched them as they walked away. I hoped that for once Caleb wouldn't cause any drama.

Ethan's POV

I followed Caleb into the staff room and sat opposite him at the table.

"What do you need?" I asked him bluntly.

"How do you know I need something?" he asked.

"Coz it's pretty much the only time you talk to me." I stated.

I stared at him and raised my eyebrow as I waited for him to tell me what he wanted.

"I need some money." he eventually said.

I smiled slightly, I knew he was after something.

"I'm not giving you any money." I told him.
"I was thinking of a loan." he stated.

I sighed.

"How much?" I asked.

"A few thousand." he answered quietly.

"What the hell for?!" I exclaimed.

"Taylor has a charity that helps disabled children and they need the money to pay for a procedure." he said hesitantly.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, but I can't lend you that amount of money. It would be all my savings and it'll take you a while to pay it back." I said quietly.

I genuinely felt bad for him. I knew that he wanted to help the charity and impress Taylor, but I had to think about Emma. Plus I didn't trust that he would actually pay me back.

"Besides I have things to pay out for." I told him.

"Like what?!" he exclaimed angrily.

"A wedding." I grinned.

He scoffed.

"So you can't help out your own flesh and blood because you want your happy ever after!" he shouted.

"I said I'm sorry." I told him.

"And you say I'm the selfish one." he said condescendingly.

"I don't have to listen to this." I said as I stood up.

"Maybe you should speak to your one true love, she's not as perfect as she seems." he stated.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I turned back to face him.

"She told me not to tell you that we slept together." he announced.

"You're lying!" I hissed as my stomach dropped.

"Ask her then." he said as he stormed past.