You know that feeling when work piles up and you dont even have time for lunch? Thats exactly where Emily wasburied under deadlineswhen her phone rang. It was her mum.
“Mum? Whats wrong? Im swamped here,” Emily answered, barely pausing between words.
“Love” Her mums voice was faint, like she was calling from far away. “I dont feel well”
Emily waited, thinking the line had cut out, but all she heard was a weak groan.
“Mum? I cant hear youMum! Im coming now!” She grabbed her coat from the rack, told a colleague to cover for her, and bolted from the office.
Only outside did she realise she was still in her office heels. No time to go backshe ran to the car park. Her mums house keys were in the glovebox. The drive was a blurshe ran red lights, swerved through traffic. A fine? Fine. She just had to get there in time.
When she burst into the house, her mum was curled up on the sofa, clutching her chest.
“Mum, is it your heart?” Her mum opened her eyes slightly, then winced in pain.
“Hang on, just hang on.” Emily fished her phone from her pocket and dialled 999.
She couldve driven her mum to hospital faster, but what if she couldnt make it down the stairs? No lift in the building. And the neighbours? Uselessmost were elderly, home alone in the middle of the workday.
While they waited, Emily kept murmuring, “The ambulance is coming, theyll take care of you,” rubbing her mums shoulder. She left the door open. When the paramedics arrived in their blue uniforms, Emily stumbled through an explanation.
One checked her mums pulse, took her blood pressure.
“Were taking her in. James, grab the stretcher. Miss, gather her documents.”
“Whats wrong with her?” Emilys voice shook.
“Heart attack, most likely.” The paramedic shook his head.
Soon, James returned with the driver and a stretcher. Emily followed them to the ambulance, desperate to go too, but the paramedic refusedsaid shed only be in the way. He gave her the hospital number and told her to call for updates.
Back to work, then. Lunch break was long over, and shed be in trouble if anyone noticed shed vanished. She cut through side streets to avoid traffic lights, but as she merged onto the main road, the car lurched. She pulled overflat tyre. Perfect.
What now? The spare was heavyshe couldve managed in trainers, but these heels? She wanted to scream.
As she stood there, helpless, an SUV pulled up. A bloke got out, took one look at the flat, then at her shoes, and sighed.
“Got a spare?”
She nodded, relief nearly making her cry. He fetched the spare, grabbed tools from his own car, and got to work.
“Get back in, youll freeze,” he said without turning around.
He was righther feet were numb, and rain had started. She called her boyfriend, Oliver, but no answer. Not once.
The guy took foreveror so it feltbut finally tapped the window. “All set. Just get the tyre patched later.”
“Thank you. How much do I owe you?”
He smirked. “Where were you rushing off to in those shoes?”
“My mum calledshe was ill. I just ran out.” She handed him wet wipes.
“How is she now?”
“Ambulance took her. Her heart. Thank you, really.”
“Dont mention it. Hope shes alright.” He gave her the wipes back and left.
Back at the office, she nearly collided with her boss by the lifts.
“Emily Whitmore, just back from lunch, are we?” Her boss tapped her wristwatch. “One more stunt like this and its a formal warning. Personal errands on company timeunbelievable.”
Emily exhaled hard.
First thing, she rang her best mate, Sophie, who worked at the same hospital. “Can you check on Mum?” Half an hour lateran eternitySophie called back. Not a heart attack, just a bad episode. Stable now, likely moved to a ward tomorrow.
“You okay?” Sophie asked.
“Boss is furious, blew a tyre, Olivers ignoring mejust brilliant.”
“Rough day. Hang in there.”
Oliver never called back. When she got home, he was glued to his laptop.
“Where were you? I called a hundred times!”
“Work. Meetings all day.” He didnt even look up.
“All day?”
“Sorry, had my phone on silent. Whats wrong?”
“You couldnt check? Mum was rushed to hospital! I had a flat, and you”
“Shouldve driven carefully. Hows your mum?”
They made up, but the unease lingered.
***
Theyd met two years ago in a café. Sophie had nudged her”That blokes staring. Could bore holes through you.”
Emily looked up, locked eyes with a handsome stranger. Flustered, she glanced awaybut then he walked over.
“Mind if I join you?”
That smile. Her heart skipped.
Sophie “remembered an appointment” and left. They talked for hours, wandered through London, and Emily fell hard. Two weeks later, he moved in.
She waited for him to propose. Dropped hints. But Oliver said living together was one thingmarrying into her flat? Different story. “Once I buy my own place, then” That “then” had stretched two years.
She loved himexcept for the uncertainty. And her mums constant nagging: “If he hasnt proposed yet, he wont.” Maybe shed rushed into this.
Weekends, Oliver played tennis with mates while Emily cleaned. He had a habit of hanging dirty shirts in the wardrobe. She always checked before washing.
Thensomething bulged in his jacket pocket. A red velvet box. Hands shaking, she opened it. A gold ring, diamond sparkling. Her breath caught.
Shed doubted him for nothing! Hed bought a ringwith a diamond! Hed propose on her birthday! She slid it onperfect fit. Admired it, sighed, then put it back. A little longer wouldnt hurt.
Next day, the ring was gone. Mustve moved it, she thought.
Her birthday came. Oliver gave a toast, then slid a velvet box across the table. Her heart racedbut no proposal came.
“Open it!” Sophie urged.
Insidegold earrings.
Her face mustve shown the betrayal, because Oliver looked away.
Later, she confronted him. “Who was the ring for?”
“A mates girlfriend. He asked me to hide it.”
“Liar. You knew Id snoop?”
“Didnt like the earrings? Fine, well get a ring tomorrow. Any one you want.”
“Bet.”
He hadnt expected that. But a promise was a promise. Next day, at the jewellers, Emily picked the most expensive ring out of spite.
“Hello! What can I help you with?” The assistant smiled. “Another ring? Didnt she like the first one?” She glanced at Oliver.
“You bought a ring? You said it was your mates!”
The assistant backtrackedwrong customer, sorry.
Oliver whispered, “Ill explain”
“Dont.” Emily stormed out, shaking.
That was it. Hed been seeing someone else. All his talk about “waiting for a flat”? Lies. The assistant hadnt “mixed him up”how many blokes bought diamond rings?
He called. She switched off her phone. Cried all the way home.
Thena knock on the window. The same bloke from the flat tyre.
“Another puncture?” He grinned, then saw her face. “Oh.”
Shed stopped near the same spot. She shook her head, sobbed harder.
They sat in a café. She told him everything.
“Maybe youre wrong? His mate really did lend him the ring?” Daniel asked.
“Doesnt matter. He couldve proposed without a ring. Why drag me to the shop? He never planned to marry me.”
Daniel brought her ice cream. “Always worked when I was a kid.”
***
She left Oliver. Daniel kept “bumping into” hercinema, weekends in York, Brighton. Sometimes he stayed over, but she refused to move in together. Slowly, she trusted him. Four months later, he proposed with a small diamondbut it was real. She never took it off.
Sometimes she wonderedhow long would Oliver have lied if she hadnt found that ring?
Moral? If youre not ready for skeletons, maybe dont open the wardrobe. And definitely dont rummage through pockets.
