Published: 19 Oct 2023

Four years later

I got my Master’s, after which I decided to stay on and do a PhD which I’ve just completed. Over the same period, Josh finished his five years of initial study and moved on to his next two years of training as a junior doctor in the NHS. He got a placement at the BRI which meant he could stay in Bristol – and meant that we could continue to live together in the same house. Which was been brilliant.

But, seven years on from when we both started at Bristol Uni, he’s now decided that hospital life and consultancy is not for him, and he’s taking up a role as a GP in a local practice just outside Reading. The idea of working in the community appeals to him more than working in a hospital environment. Which is perfect as I’ve just got a job with a big multinational publishing house which has its UK headquarters in Basingstoke, just about twenty minutes’ drive from Reading. We’ve found a nice place to rent and are looking forward to the next step in our lives together.

Which is to get married.

Josh asked me a week ago, down on one knee.

And I told him he’d beaten me to the question by one week. And I showed him the ring I’d already bought. Great minds, huh?

So we exchanged engagement rings and intend to complete our vows next year.

Josh’s parents were thrilled to bits when we told them the following day, and my parents were just as delighted. And I’ve asked Jules to be my best man…and, as Josh has asked Alex to be his, that means the four of us who originally met at Sunnybanks will be the four people most intimately involved in the ceremony. It has a nice symmetry about it.

One year later

We have the most wonderful wedding day. The weather is kind to us and the sun shines. We make our vows to each other in the beautiful surroundings of Stourhead Gardens, with the sunlight reflecting off the lake, followed by a joyful wedding reception in a marquee on the beautifully manicured lawns surrounded by friends and family.

It’s been nine years since Josh and I first met and, as Jules points out in her best man’s speech, we are as dopey about each other now as we were when we first met.

And, as a wedding present, Josh’s Dad has sold the house in Bristol and given Josh and me the deposit we need to buy our own place. Well, more than the deposit, almost half the cost of the place we’ve seen and made an offer on.

They say that weddings are a chance for the best man to get to know the bridesmaids, but in our case, it is our best men who get to know each other all over again. Alex and Jules, it turns out, have always held a candle for each other – and though they’ve both been the long way round to find each other again, in the days leading up to the wedding and beyond it, they finally do so. And the next wedding will be theirs.

It’s perfect.

– The End –

Author’s Note: My thanks to Ben for reading the first draft of this story and making his usual helpful observations and suggestions. Readers’ comments are always welcome and I’d love to hear what you think of this story and the characters in it.

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