Colin was a bit nervous, who wouldn’t be? He was about to ask the girl he loved to marry him. They’d been together for a few years but for the last 3 months they had been separated by his first overseas posting as a junior diplomat to the High Commission in Nairobi. This was as good for his career as it was bad for his relationship but tonight he was going to fix that.

They had spent many a night in this Indian restaurant, the staff knew them both and were party to what was about to happen. The waiter brought their coffee cups over as usual but next to Lisa’s cup was placed a small, ornately carved box. She was a little confused at first but as the attention of the staff towards their table grew more and more apparent, along with the fact that Colin had not eaten his usual portions of curry, the penny started to drop.

With box opened, question popped, answer given it was all over in a flash. The staff descended on the table with congratulations and a complimentary bottle of champagne, fellow diners applauded and of course Lisa started crying as she reached for her mobile phone to call her mother, then sister, then best friend before Colin grabbed it and switched it off. This was their time.

They made their thanks and left the restaurant still bouncing off each other’s happiness. Lisa was eager to get back to her flat where she could communicate to Colin more intimately her feelings towards him. Their walk quickened before breaking into a giggling trot.

They rounded a corner, looking at each other rather than where they were going, then Colin heard a disturbance nearby. As he looked up he noticed a small group of people running rapidly towards them, closely followed by a slightly larger group of police. He grabbed Lisa and darted into the recess of a nearby shop door. Another group of police appeared from the opposite direction blocking all avenues of escape. The group being pursued looked only a few years younger than Colin and Lisa, wearing anti-capitalist t-shirts and increasingly nervous faces. They started shouting at the police.

“We’re peaceful protestors, leave us alone”

“Haven’t you got any criminals to catch?”

“Fuck off you pigs!”

One of the police lifted the riot helmet of his head and looked at the group, snarling with anger.

“You sorry bunch of pricks. Is this what you lot learn at your fucking universities, is it?”

He turned to his fellow officers.

“We’re close to knocking off time. I’m not going to waist time of doing the paperwork on these shits. Grab a few and give ‘em a seeing to then let’s go, eh lads?”

A handful of police waded in, Lisa was pushed away back into the shop door but Colin was knocked fiercely to the ground where two officers followed their orders.

The whole episode probably took only a few seconds but to Lisa it seemed like hours. As quickly as they’d appeared they were gone, police and protesters alike. Colin was holding his head, groaning. Lisa could see the imprint of a police boot across his cheek, a small amount of blood dripping from his ear.

They got back to the flat and Colin called the Foreign Office immediately to inform them of the incident, this was the protocol now he was a junior diplomat. He was on the phone for an hour, Lisa was pacing up and down, looking at her dazzling new engagement ring and hearing that policeman’s voice repeat over and over again…

“Give ‘em a seeing to then let’s go, eh lads…”

She couldn’t stop it echoing around her head no matter how hard she tried.
Eventually Colin put the receiver down and turned to Lisa.

“Apparently a policeman was beaten up by some protesters, they were out for revenge.”

“Revenge? They were police, they are meant to enforce the law not extract bloody revenge on innocent passersby!” Lisa screamed.

Colin sat down, massaging his head in a vain attempt to relieve the pounding. He couldn’t concentrate. He just wanted the pain to stop.

“They say it’s best to forget it” he mumbled.

“For the Foreign Office to make a complaint against the Home Office, well it gets complicated, political. Best forget it they said.”

Lisa couldn’t agree but the last thing she wanted was a fight. Colin was pale and clearly in pain. He had to get on a plane in a few days back to Nairobi. They decided to focus on the good things that had happened that night and try and forget the bad. Colin fell asleep where he sat, Lisa crying quietly on his shoulder.

As Colin’s plane started to descend into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, his headache, bad as it was, got even worse. He’d been popping aspirin for pretty much the whole flight to no avail, now the pain was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Luckily a fellow passenger noticed and called the air hostess just as Colin passed out. The next thing he knew he was waking up in Nairobi Hospital.

The medical staff explained that he’d had a haemorrhage but they caught it in time and as his blood type was the most common they were able to stabilise the situation quickly by giving him donor blood. He was out of danger and very lucky to be alive.

A few weeks later he was back at work and a few months later the wedding plans were in full swing. Lisa had been out to see him, she loved the place and couldn’t wait to move there in her formal spousal capacity. The sad events of that evening were indeed behind them, bad overshadowed by good. Life was just great for this perfect couple.

Then, out of the blue, two weeks before the big day Colin sent a letter to Lisa calling the wedding off, no explanation was offered. Equally suddenly he resigned from his post, got on a plane and flew back to London. He made no attempt to contact any friends or family on landing at Heathrow, he simply hired a car and drove up to Scotland. There he went to see his grandmother who, since acquiring dementia, was in a care home. He spend the whole day with her, she recognised him, which was unusual. They chatted about his childhood, laughed, drank tea and polished off an entire sponge cake. He then made his goodbyes and left.

No one saw or heard from him for 3 days. Then word came through to the increasingly worried family that a rambler had found him.

He’d driven out to a secluded spot on the Scottish moors, attached a hose to the exhausted of his car and went to sleep for the very last time.

The note Colin left in the car read as follows: -

To Lisa, the one true love of my life. The blood given to me in Nairobi was infected. I can no longer hold you tight, kiss you or make love to you. What husband would I be? You deserve better and must move on.

To my family and friends. Sorry I didn’t say goodbye, you would have all tried to talk me out of this, best just get on with it. I don’t want to be a burden on you and the thought of a long illness seems pointless to me. Perhaps I’ll have better luck in the next life?