It was 20th December 2007, and it was a crisp and cold evening in Manchester City Centre. Inside a hot and increasingly sweaty Manchester Central venue, a bleach-blonde haired Richard Ashcroft ran out of the darkness, stage left, to the roar of a nervous but excited crowd to belt out "This is Music" from the Wigan band's 2nd album "Northern Soul'. It was a mega comeback for the history of Northern Music, and Vicky wasn't going to miss it. Somehow not just dazzled from the gold boots and gold sparkling hot pants that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere from Vicky's Mary Poppins handbag, Chris had been persuaded to trade 2 tickets to a tout for the following night’s performance for an extra ticket for tonight "at any cost". Turns out it was worth it as that’s where it all began.
For a few years we worked together at Channel M in Manchester (formally Urbis, now the National Football Museum). It turns out this is just a stones throw from where Chris's parents also met back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Chris was working as a freelance cameraman and Vicky was a keen researcher, both working on local content productions, mainly rugby league coverage. Chris was also running a small production company, which Vicky later got involved in, after the recession bit and Channel M went bump. It was a tough ride, finding work for both of us when nobody was making much in TV land, and after taking some massive gambles with work and trying to keep a roof over our heads, we found ourselves ten years down the road, but actually looking surprisingly well for it despite some hair loss!
Many people ask what took so long to get round to getting engaged. There are lots of factors, money, time, job security. There was never any doubt that it would happen, it was more about when, and it was only when Chris left his job at the BBC that life began to settle down a bit and get into some long awaited normality to stop thinking work, and start thinking about us and our future.
With the help of Vicky's parents (and cats) we have built a life together we are proud of, with a wonderful home, but most importantly, through the rough and the smooth, we've been there for each other.
As two very young and enthusiastic "Channel M'ers", neither of us thought that our 1 year old friendship, which started with a telephone call to Chris who was in New York City's Times Square, would lead us to this moment 9 years and 2 days after that first gig together. As we enjoyed a meal in the Spectacular Eiffel Tower in Paris, sitting adjacent to the window overlooking the River Seine, Chris reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small box, pushing it gently across the candle lit table to Vicky's bewildered smile. She was calm as she opened it up, with a gentle click to reveal the thing every girl ever dreams of; a Pandora charm of the Eiffel Tower to remember this magical moment.
So we finished dinner, Chris had dessert but Vicky for some reason had lost her appetite, then we went for a stroll around the tower, first watching people ice skating on the first floor ice rink, before walking up the stairs to the clickity clickity relays of the twinkly lights on the Eiffel Tower. It was wonderful, tiring, but really wonderful. As we climbed the stairway to the top of the tower, we realised we were actually only on the second floor, and waaaaaay off the top. So we took the lift instead to the observation deck. Chris's heart was racing, not just because of how unfit he now was but because he also knew what was coming next. He had nearly been busted by Vicky whilst going through tightened security on the way into the tower. Thankfully as I started to empty my pockets as requested I was instructed "Monsier, you must put this away”, and so quickly I had. The Pandora charm was a nice gift but really was a decoy in case Vicky had seen the commotion on the way in.
As we reached the top, there was a lovely calm stillness to the Tower, far away from anything. Sure there was the distant sound of sirens and horns beeping, but we were so high, you could barely hear it. The search lights were spinning around the tower above us, with the occasional clunk and they switched over to the opposite side. The whole experience had so much charm and this magnificent Art Deco monument just felt so perfect. We strolled around a bit, looked at the view, took some pictures, pressed an Eiffel Tower Euro coin until we got to the corner of the tower which was adjacent to a commemorative plaque celebrating the towers use for radio transmissions. I stopped to read the sign, and Vicky went around the corner, reading out a different sign saying "oh look, there's a place to kiss here" I called her by her nickname to get her attention. As she turned back around, there I was on one knee with the opened ring box in hand and said "Lets turn a dream into a plan. Vicky Monk, will you marry me?" I hadn't even realised there were so many people around us and out of nowhere came this cheering, and flashes as people even took photos! I don't think I was quite prepared for her response?
"Are you serious?..."
"Umm well yes, I'm on my knee"
"Have you asked my dad?"
"Err, don't worry about your dad"
"No seriously, have you asked him?"
"No, really, don't worry about your dad"
"I can't say yes to you if you haven't asked my dad"
"I have asked your dad"
"And what did he say, did he say yes?"
"Err yes, but I'm not asking him right now. Help me out here mate!"
Thankfully after this romantic exchange which felt like about 10 minutes, some kind English lady over my shoulder politely reminded Vicky that she needed to give me an answer and couldn't leave me there all night. And the rest as they say, is history...