Forgive And Regret

Her new man promised he ’d never hurt her, but Amelia Barnett, 27, from York, so on saw his true colours...

- Lucy Bryant

Laying the table for Sunday lunch, waiting for my guests to arrive, my phone rang. ‘Do you want us to bring anything?’ my best friend Carol, 28, asked.

‘Just yourselves,’ I chirped. It was August last year, and she and her boyfriend Liam, 29, were popping over to my house for lunch.

They were like family to me. I lived over 200 miles away from my relatives in Warwickshire, so I had them over at least once a week.

‘I hope you don’t mind,’ Carol continued. ‘But Liam has a friend staying and we thought we’d bring him, too? I think you’ll like him.’

‘Of course,’ I grinned.

I loved playing host.

The three of them turned up around midday, and Carol introduced me to Paul Thackray, 28.

‘Thanks for having me,’ he smiled, handing over some cans of cider.

We sat down and tucked into the roast I’d prepared.

It turns out, Paul and I had a lot in common.

We shared the same sense of humour, but also difficult pasts.

‘He’s so funny,’ I smiled at Carol as we carried the empty plates into the kitchen.

We spent the afternoon laughing at Paul’s jokes before the three of them headed home in the early evening.

‘This has been a great double date,’ Paul winked as he left.

‘We’ll have to do it again – same time next week?’

I realised then that it had really been a blind date!

I agreed, and they were back the next week.

‘I’d love to see you by yourself,’ Paul whispered.

A few nights later, we met for drinks in a local pub.

And we just clicked.