37 hours

Band E1 Administrative Officer for Operational Services based in HM Reverence & Customs Centre One tax office. As of yesterday that’s me, that’s who I am Monday to Friday from 5pm to 10pm.

If the training for the post is anything to go by then it should be pretty easy money (not to mention a tidy sum for part time employment) and indeed very welcome money with our, Michelle and I, nuptials seemingly steamrolling their approach.

As happy as I am to no longer be a kept man and contribute to our household income I am troubled that my new found employment is a regrettable thief of time. More precisely time with my Fiancée.

I have long considered myself to be a loner – someone more comfortable with my own company than that of others – in truth though I’ve discovered that it’s not solitude I crave but comfort. I’m never happier than in the company of those I can be myself with, with whom I feel no pressure to entertain or pander to. The list of these people is short to be sure (though expanding throughout this year) and each person on it has earned my ease with long hours of laughter, personal history and of course the ‘power chat’. This wasn’t the case with Michelle though.

I have always felt a deep sense of serenity in Michelle’s presence from the very moment I met her. No doubt my reader’s eyes are rolling to the ceiling with this sugar-coated stack of sentiment; nevertheless, it’s true I assure you. I can’t tell you the date we met and at that time it was the wrong thing to be feeling given that I was meeting my friend’s (my best friend’s – my practical brother’s!) new girlfriend but I can tell you that she gave me a most unsettling calm.

Since moving in together two years ago Michelle and I have spent 90% of our free time together and I fear for how we will fare now having to be so much apart. I don’t worry that our relationship will suffer - not at all. My plight is that Michelle hates to be alone. Ask my bride-to-be and she will tell you different no doubt, but, I know her better than anyone and I know that she hates to be without me. I might sound like a braggart, big headed even but I know that what I say I true for the simple reason that the same is true of me. Our only difference is that I have things to fill my isolation – such as computer games, comic books, and the writing of overly long Blogs for example. Michelle has no such hobbies to pass her time and as anyone knows a night alone in front of the television is a long night indeed.

To see someone 37 hours a week sounds not too bad to any of you I’m sure. This estimate however is a ‘best case’ estimate and one that includes the wee hours of a Saturday night and is comprised mostly of our only day together with drips and drabs of the spare week day hours making the final amount.

As I said before - I’m sure your eyes are rolling at the melodrama of my troubles. Especially since I’m a student making a close to full time wage, however if I could ask you the favour of remembering that Michelle will be on her own for the majority of the following months (years?) I would be grateful if you could maybe send her a short text or give her a short phone call from time to time. Cheers.