Our love story
Written by Martin (yet to be proof read by Shanay)
It all started the same way a lot of modern-day romances start – through a free online dating app. Upon matching, we shared stories and anecdotes about all the things we loved for what seemed like an eternity, both thinking at the same time that the other seemed too good to be true…
Eventually, I plucked up the courage and asked if Shanay would like to meet. I arranged a wonderful evening of gin and tonics beside Regents Canal at Chapel Down in Kings Cross. We chatted, laughed, and chatted some more. We were really hitting it off and so followed a very impromptu steak dinner at what I referred to as "one of the best steak houses around". It was attached to a Travel Lodge and Shanay was definitely sceptical. Giddy with excitement, Shanay captured all this, and we had to tell her mum! (I think there are even videos…)
Several dates in, the time came to build said flat-pack furniture. I traipsed from Kings Cross to Euston, carrying a heavy bag of tools, completely oblivious that there was a tube between the two locations. Shanay couldn't believe her luck, I was actually pretty handy! The icing on the cake came when it was time to fit the door handles. Eager to impress, I very carefully measured the height of the handles and even used a spirit level to ensure they were straight. Shanay asked me: "is that really necessary?". Truth be told, it wasn't at all – but I wanted to impress and, in hindsight, I think it worked!
Months passed, and the two of us were falling head over heels for each other. But there was a problem. Neither I nor Shanay expected to suddenly meet "the one". And so in a bid to work a lot of things out, one cold and dark October evening we parted ways.
Being somewhat persistent, I never gave up that Shanay was the one. I left subtle reminders that she was still on my mind whilst remaining respectfully distant. I sent her flowers for her birthday, and her favourite chocolate for Valentine's Day. I also did some stupid things like buying a painting she was selling to raise money for the homeless on eBay (the things we do for love!)
Eventually, we began to chat regularly again, sharing our experiences of the new world we were in, for now, it was lockdown. Everybody was confined to their homes and Joe Wicks' home workouts seemed the only way to stay sane.
As the UK started to cautiously open up again and the rules involving "bubbles" changed we started to see each other and by the end of June 2020 we were officially an item.
Fast forward to April 2021 and our relationship took another bold step. I moved in with Shanay, and along with me came my beloved hi-fi and vinyl collection.
Having successfully completed a whole month of living together, we came to the next milestone step in our relationship. We decided we were going to get a dog and so, Hugo the Hungarian Vizsla was born 29th June 2021 and came home from the Cotswolds on the 29th August.
Not content with staying put for any length of time we moved again in the following April, this time back to my flat, disbursing our possessions across a number of counties as we went.
After the stressful and traumatising events of this move came some much-needed R&R and so we set off to the beautiful tranquil island that is Bali (separately, of course, for Shanay left me to finish unpacking whilst she took a longer holiday... cheeky!).
However, in the run-up to this trip, I had been secretly scheming, and so on the 18th of May 2022, in the peacefulness of our jungle resort, I proposed to a very surprised Shanay – yes she actually had no idea!
And so that brings us to where we are today. By now with fully remote jobs we have been able to realise our dream of escaping the hustle and bustle of city life in London to a quieter life in the South West of England, still aspiring to one day own some land so we can start a glamping pod side hustle and I can FINALLY get a ride-on lawn mower.
