[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

55.

It was a shock that he'd asked me. But I didn't feel scared at all. It was funny if anything. Who would've thought that that the guy I happened to sit with on the train would end up becoming my husband. And I couldn't have been happier. We left the cafe and headed straight to a newsagents to buy some wedding magazines. We stood flicking through them, me pointing out dresses and him looking at table decorations.

'When do you wanna do this?' I asked. Surely these things took a lot of planning. And there'd be the whole saga of telling people. I didn't envy his task. You know the girl I met a month ago? Well we're getting married. I couldn't see it going down well with his family or friends. Sure, they liked me, but they wouldn't be impressed. At least I didn't have that worry. My side of the church would be empty. There would be no father giving away his daughter. No mum crying over losing her baby girl. No bridesmaids. It would just be me. Unless I finally took the plunge and went home.

'Next year? I don't know. When do you want to? What did you dream about as a kid? Winter, summer, autumn, spring?'

'I don't know, I wasn't really that kind of girl. Spring seems nice.'

'So, March? That leaves us about 9 months. That's enough time, right?' I was glad he seemed as clueless as me. We looked at a checklist in the magazine. It listed about two dozen things that needed arranging. From the venue, to plates and music, seat covers, flowers, cake, shoes, favours, food, suits, so many things. But I could do this. Now I had a job I could even pay for half of it. I laughed to myself. I'd gained a job and a fiancé in one go.

'Oh, you need a ring!' He suddenly realised. 'Wait there!' He dived into Tesco, leaving me a little baffled outside.