Epilogue
Within a day or two of Ed and Joe’s wedding, various permutations of the phrase ‘Marc Mills VS Hot Mathematician’ were trending as hashtags on TikTok, Instagram and a host of other platforms. The clearest and most widely shared footage, in Hannah’s view, appeared to have been shot from where Claire had been standing – but all her sister would say under questioning was, ‘You know how much I hate bullies.’
Edits of the brief scuffle had been soundtracked to various songs including the theme from Rocky, ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ by Carl Douglas, and – to Hannah’s endless amusement – ‘It’s Raining Men’ from the Bridget Jones’s Diary soundtrack.
These had spawned Jude an army of fans, which Joe had relentlessly teased him about.
Three months on from their marriage, he and Ed were happier than ever, living in much the same way as before.
Though Ed wasn’t averse to occasional appearances on Joe’s Instagram, and had even done a guest slot on his podcast to discuss the impact of exercise on mental health, their relationship remained private in all the ways he needed.
Clips of Hannah’s passionate words about Jude, and her takedown of Marc, had travelled the internet, too.
It was confronting to watch herself confessing her feelings like that, so Hannah avoided it after the first few viewings – but she felt proud of herself for speaking up.
She still wished, however, that there’d been time for Cheryl to construct the fancy updo they’d envisaged on the morning of the wedding.
Aside from his hardcore fans and a faction of mad misogynists, many of Marc’s followers soon came round to the idea that he was an entitled idiot who’d lied about his relationship with Hannah, exaggerated his feelings for her and spun a toxic story for the sake of relaunching his music career.
To her satisfaction, ‘Never The Bride’ peaked at number 243 in the UK singles chart and then rapidly slipped from the Top 1000.
Six months on, Marc was yet to release the new album he’d threatened, and had returned to intermittently sharing stripped-back, acoustic versions of tracks from his heyday.
Hannah, in the spirit of owning her feelings and asking for what she needed, offered Livi a permanent position as a junior partner in Eventurous the day after Ed and Joe’s wedding.
On her advice, the firm’s social media accounts were reopened the following week.
When the channels went live again, Hannah posted a brief, restrained account of her experience with Marc and implored readers to think carefully before blindly trusting everything they saw online.
This, combined with the coverage of Marc’s antics and the gorgeous HELLO!
photos of Ed and Joe’s big day, saw the Eventurous enquiry rate reach new heights.
Both next summer and the summer beyond were now fully booked for weddings.
‘She’s going to be fine, Hannah,’ Jude said as they wandered through Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport.
‘I know she is,’ Hannah grumbled, narrowing her eyes at him playfully. He was too good at reading her thoughts. ‘It’s not easy, though, no longer being needed.’
‘You are needed. By me, more than anyone,’ he told her, pulling her into a kiss as they joined the queue to check their bags onto their flight.
‘I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,’ Hannah said, nervous excitement bubbling in her stomach. ‘Six weeks, travelling around Australia. It’s like a dream.’
‘It’s going to be wonderful,’ Jude agreed. ‘I barely went anywhere while I was over there. I’ll be a tourist, too, aside from some parts of Sydney. I’ve promised to send Suni lots of photos – he and Georgie are planning to come out here on honeymoon next year.’
‘Now, you’ve nothing major you need to share with me before I hand this bag over to that lady, have you?
’ Hannah asked, pointing ahead of them. ‘Nothing important to say? Because as badly as our last airport experience went, I must say that, on reflection, I was pretty glad I didn’t have to go home to Beckford without all my stuff. ’
‘Every cloud, I suppose,’ Jude said, rolling his eyes.
‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Hannah pouted.
‘For god’s sake, is nothing sacred? There is something I intend to run past you when we get there, but it’s nothing to be concerned about – and now isn’t the time.’
‘Well, that’s got me worried, so you’d best come out with it,’ Hannah insisted, feeling her eyebrows pull together and her heart rate tick up.
Jude said nothing, but he’d turned a little pale.
‘I’m serious, you’ve got me spooked,’ Hannah told him.
‘Are you sure?’ he said. ‘I won’t be held responsible.’
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ Hannah said urgently. ‘Crack on.’
He sank to one knee on the grubby floor of the terminal, and Hannah’s mouth fell open. There was a general murmur of astonished delight from their fellow passengers, as well as several people in airline uniforms.
‘Hannah,’ he said, ‘I love you. I’ve loved you since the second I met you. I want to spend every day of my life with you, supporting you, making you happy and keeping you safe. If that sounds OK, do you think perhaps you might . . . marry me?’
Feeling like her heart was about to explode, Hannah burst into a flood of overjoyed tears. ‘Yes!’ she cried. ‘Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course I will!’
‘I have a ring, you know,’ Jude told her as she flung herself into his arms. ‘It’s hidden in a pair of socks at the bottom of my bag. This wasn’t how I intended to do this. There was going to be a dinner, and wine . . . maybe even dancing.’
‘This is perfect,’ Hannah told him, kissing him again. ‘Completely perfect.’
‘Ahem. Er. Excuse me?’ a female voice said from a couple of metres away. ‘Are you two lovebirds ready to check in?’
Hannah pulled Jude to his feet, and together they strode up to the desk.
‘Yes,’ she said to the woman, who had the name ‘Marcia’ jauntily written on her nametag. ‘We are.’