Epilogue
ALICIA
One year later
‘Happy anniversary!’ I clinked my champagne glass with Noah’s.
We were standing on the rooftop of the Love Hotel London – the latest addition to their collection of luxury resorts, taking in the stunning views of the Thames, Big Ben and St Paul’s Cathedral.
As well as toasting our first year as a couple, we were also here to celebrate Stella and Max’s first wedding anniversary. And their baby shower.
Yep. In just a few months they’d be welcoming a Love Hotel baby. So exciting!
I’d thought it was the first baby to be born thanks to the hotel’s matchmaking efforts, but Sammie informed me it was actually the fourth as three other couples they knew of had conceived children soon after being matched.
Rumour had it that conception for one of them, a boy, actually happened during that couple’s two-week stay at the first resort in Spain.
Just proved that the hotel’s team of matchmakers and Love Alchemists really knew how to bring people together. In more ways than one…
‘Happy anniversary, Ali.’ Noah planted a soft kiss on my lips. ‘Can you believe it’s been a year since we first got together in Santorini?’
‘Nope!’ I replied. ‘It feels like it’s only been five minutes! I guess that saying is true.’
‘What saying’s that?’
‘Time flies when you’re having fun. Oh, and when you know, you know works too.’ I smiled.
I wrapped my arms around him as I took in the sight of all of the couples in our Love Hotel circle around us. A mixture of laughter, music and clinking glasses filled the air. It was great to see everyone so happy.
Sammie and Romeo, Laila and Gabriel, and Halle and Jake were all engaged, which meant we had more fancy weddings to look forward to.
Jasmine and Alejandro had just bought a new house together and as for me and Noah, we were also thriving.
When Noah came to see the flat that I’d found overlooking Clapham Common, he instantly fell in love with it, just like I’d hoped. So we put down the deposit straightaway and moved in six weeks later.
Living together was even better than I imagined. Apart from the obvious benefits of having incredible sex on tap (yep, we still couldn’t keep our hands off each other), spending every day with my best friend and favourite person in the universe was just so blissful.
As corny as it sounded, every morning when I woke up and he wrapped his arms around me, I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
There wasn’t a day that went by that we didn’t laugh together.
Whether it was playing table tennis at home after work, him chasing me around the flat so that he could tickle me until I begged for mercy, or just curling up on a Sunday afternoon to watch a romcom, we had so much fun together.
I never even knew that it was possible to be so happy until we became a couple.
Taking a chance on love and stepping outside of the friend zone was a risk, but it paid off. I knew with absolute certainty that everything between us was going to be great. Noah and I were for keeps.
It wasn’t just our relationship and home life that was thriving.
We’d both changed jobs too. After the wedding, I’d stayed in contact with Cassie and when she told us that the company she and her hubby Nico ran were looking for people who worked in HR and IT to work at the London arm of their operations, we jumped at the chance.
The pay increases we both got were insanely brilliant and the benefits have been a dream too. But what we’ve loved the most is the friendships we’ve built as a result. It was great to be able to call all of the couples, including Cassie and Nico, friends.
They even invited us to spend last Christmas with them and several other couples in one of their homes in the Scottish Highlands.
A couple of years ago, the idea of going somewhere remote that involved travelling up steep mountains in the snow and ice would’ve freaked me out and I would’ve immediately declined.
But, thanks to my salary increase, I was able to invest in a really amazing therapist who helped me work through the trauma of my past. And although I still had more progress to make, with the help of those sessions, I felt strong enough to make the trip. And spoiler alert, I had a brilliant time.
Noah had of course offered me the aisle seat in the 4x4 people carrier that Nico had sent for us, but I thanked him and said that I’d be taking the window seat.
I was nervous at first, but Noah had taken my hand in his and after I’d given myself a gentle pep talk using the methods my therapist had recommended, I was able to relax a little.
When we’d arrived, Noah had taken me in his arms and told me how proud he was of me. I was proud of myself too for having the courage to try and conquer my fear. And to follow my heart and be with Noah, because taking the leap from friends to lovers was the best decision I’ve ever made.
‘It’s great to see you both so happy,’ Sammie said as she came over, clutching two fresh glasses of champagne.
‘This isn’t just a baby shower and wedding anniversary we’re toasting today.
It’s also a celebration of you two and your first year of blissful coupledom courtesy of a trip to the Love Hotel, Santorini.
And of course, the talents of a certain world-class Love Alchemist. You’re lucky I’m so humble, otherwise I’d be saying I told you so. ’ She laughed.
‘You?’ I mock-gasped, clutching my chest. ‘Never! Noah, could you ever imagine Sammie saying “I told you so” approximately ten billion times to us?’
‘Absolutely, not!’ Noah chuckled. ‘How could you ever suggest such a thing?’
We both burst into a fit of giggles because like me, Noah knew full well that Sammie had told everyone who’d listen how she saw the signs, the sparks and chemistry a mile off.
In fact, one day I half expected her to come out with some nonsense like: I knew from the second that Noah was born that he was destined to be with my sister.
Wouldn’t put it past her.
‘So I bring you together with the love of your life and you repay this generosity by mocking me?’ Sammie put her hands on her hips and scowled, before the corner of her mouth twitched.
‘You know we’re only joking! I’ll be eternally grateful for everything that you did,’ I said.
‘How grateful are we talking?’ Sammie’s eyes danced with excitement.
‘Maid of honour is an obvious one, but how about naming your firstborn child after me? That’s the beauty of the name Samantha.
If it’s a boy, you can call him Sam, if it’s a girl you can also call her Sam or Sammie. See! You’ve got all bases covered!’
‘We’ll take it under consideration.’ Noah grinned.
‘Nice, one, bro!’ Sammie patted him on the back, then floated over to Romeo.
‘Your sister is certainly one of a kind,’ Noah said.
‘She is. And so are you.’
‘Awww,’ Noah groaned. ‘One year on and clearly you’re still obsessed with me.’
‘Yep!’ I confirmed. ‘I learnt from the best.’
‘That’s right. And I won’t even try to deny it.’
‘Glad to hear it, because you’re it for me too,’ I said as the Fatback Band’s ‘I Found Lovin’’ played in the background. ‘You’re my everything and I’m glad that the feeling is mutual.’
‘Yep!’ Noah said as he took me in his arms. ‘I’ve known you were the one for me for as long as I can remember. I’m totally, crazy, head over heels in love with you, Alicia Rose Gordon. Always have been, always will be.’