Money: Luke Hemmings

49

15th of December 2021

'C'mon Luke if we don't leave now we are going to miss our dinner reservation!' I called out from the hallway of our house in Cambridge, grabbing my black trenchcoat from the coatrack by the door whilst I waited for Luke to finally get ready.

'I'm coming!' he called out as he ran down the stairs to meet me at the front door, frowning at something on his phone when he reached me. 'Oh.'

'What's up?' I asked as I opened the door to be greeted by a wild snowstorm outside, the first of many for the upcoming season. 'Ah shit.'

'Alfie texted me, the roads are blocked with snow meaning he can't come and pick us up for dinner, so I guess we are staying here then,' Luke said, looking oddly sad for having to cancel a single dinner reservation.

'That's okay, we can go another time,' I said hanging my black trenchcoat back up and heading into the kitchen to see what we had to eat. 'I can make us a pad Thai or something along those lines if you would like?' I asked.

'That would be great,' Luke said with a smile as I slipped off my black heels and began rummaging through the kitchen for the ingredients I needed. 'Just do me a favour?'

'Yeah?'

'Don't come into the living room please,' Luke said and I just raised an eyebrow at him. 'Please?'

'Okay,' I said with a laugh and Luke just nodded as he closed all doors into the living room, leaving me alone to make dinner and Luke alone to do whatever he was doing in the living room.

Luke and I have been going strong for almost six years now. He graduated from his teaching degree last year and is now teaching at St Mary's school in Cambridge as a high school English teaching, teaching all years whilst also having a homeroom class as well, and he loves it. I have never seen Luke happier than he is now, doing what he loves and inspiring students at his school to also do what they love.

I am in my sixth year of medical school, and I will be finished with my first lot of schooling in July next year, before completing my two years of residency at the local hospital, before finally becoming a cardiovascular surgeon when I am twenty-five, which has been my dream since I started university.

'Are you done cooking yet babe?' Luke called out from the living room as I was serving our pad thai into bowls, pouring us each a glass of red wine too.

'Yes I am, can I come in yet?' I asked and suddenly Luke appeared in the kitchen, a blindfold in his hand. 'What is going on here?' I laughed.

'Put the wine in the fridge and keep the food warm in the oven, I have a surprise for you,' he said with a smile, handing me the blindfold which I carefully wrapped around my eyes, turning everything black. 'You ready Belle?'

'Ready as I'll ever be,' I said as Luke took my hand and slowly lead me into the living room and I could immediately smell candles and roses, a smile appearing on my face. 'Can I take this off now?'

'You sure can baby,' Luke said and I carefully removed the blindfold to see that Luke had beautifully decorated the living room with multiple bouquets of red and white roses, along with numerous candles and fairy lights, softly illuminating the room, but what I did not notice was the camera set up against the television which was filming the whole thing.

'What is all this?' I asked in awe. Luke was still in the full black suit that he was wearing to dinner, standing by the red and white decorated Christmas tree with a small but proud smile on his face.

'Elise and James from work were supposed to come and set this up whilst we were out for dinner but that obviously did not go to plan,' he said with a nervous laugh as I walked over to him, my feet cold against the hardwood floor. 'We were obviously going to your favourite restaurant in Cambridge-' he began again before I cut him off with my answer.