This is the story of how the wife and I met, just over five years ago and the first year we were together. It's a long one so I hope you're sitting comfortably.
We met online back in December 2000 when I was living with my parents and the wife was living 200 miles further north. I think we were both looking for a bit of fun which is exactly how it started out although the only thing I remember about that night is her words, she is a poet at heart. The following few nights we found each other again in the same chat room and the rest as they say is history. We first spoke on the phone an hour into 2001 and this is how the relationship was conducted over the next few weeks.
Inevitably we had to meet and so it was with a churning in my stomach I set out one morning in March only to be back home an hour later as the 5 millimetres of snow had stopped the buses running and inevitably, the trains wouldn’t be far behind them. The wife thought this was just an excuse but I proved her wrong when we finally made it to York on the 19th April 2001. I will never forget those first few minutes in York station and the following taxi ride to the minster (it was raining and there was no way the wife was going to get her hair wet - something I was to get used to)! I was so nervous that all I could say for the first 10 minutes was yes or no and all my efforts were concentrated into stopping my knees from knocking together, (successfully as she never noticed me shaking). We walked around the Minster and few of the shops before finding somewhere to eat. I sat there with visions of me spilling gravy down my top and dropping peas everywhere but the meal passed without incident, apart from the wife stopping me mid-sentence to mutter something behind her hand. I didn't hear what it was she said but could tell from the look on her face that she felt the same way I did.
Later that afternoon we found ourselves in a cosy pub (something we have become good at) and talked for hours. It was only after admiring her watch that we noticed the time and that we had both missed our trains home. Deciding that there was nothing we could do about it we had another drink then made our way to the station. The departure board showed no trains going in my direction and the wife was adamant that she couldn't leave me behind not knowing if I would be stuck there, so would I go home with her. I protested a couple of times (along the lines of "no I couldn't, there will be a train along in a minute, no really, oh, okay then, why not"). By the time we had bought the ticket there was indeed a train going my way but by then it was too late. On the way home she kept telling me that she would sleep on the sofa, trying to convince me that the invitation was more about my saftey than wanting to get me into bed. I must have been convinced as York to Manchester in the rush hour is not short of trains!
On the walk from the station to her home we stopped off in another cosy pub (see, it’s a habit) and found a quiet nook where we talked some more, and some more. Eventually we made it home and, I'll not go into detail, but wine, music and a comfy sofa... We did both sleep in her bed (being all shy I borrowed a nighty of hers but she is smaller than me, how anything happened that night with me wearing that I'll never know, I could barely move in it. But happen it did). This was the first time either of us had slept with another woman (I'm a slow starter and God only knows what her excuse is)!
The following day we danced to Van Morrison as we waited for the taxi to take me to the station. I returned home and started planning our next meeting. She came to stay with me for a couple of days by which time I was applying for jobs at her end of the country and after a few weeks I had a couple of interviews. In the July we hired a cottage in the Lake District and spent a magical week getting to know each other, no one has ever made me laugh as much as she did that week (things like sex in the jacuzzi being interrupted by worries of the bubbles ruining the carpet and not being able to find car parks so continuing through three towns until we reached the sea and couldn't drive any further).
In between visits it was frustrating having to go back to conducting our relationship over the phone and internet, that is where the title of this blog came from, we were contentedly discontent. August we spent apart but then more interviews came up in September, one which allowed us to spend a couple of days in Northumberland where we rented an apartment for a couple of days (I would like to appologise to the owner for the dents left in the carpet where we pushed to two single beds together, we were young and in love)! Then out of the blue, I was offered a job and three weeks later I moved in with the wife for good. It was then that I realised that I couldn't remember her asking me to move in, had I just taken in upon myself to turn up with my suitcase and boxes of junk? The wife can't remember either but she didn't seem to mind.
So that's it. But when real life takes over it's not quite that simple.
To be continued…
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