Married at First Swipe

by Claire Frost

  ‘It sounds like a great set-up, and working with your best mate is very cool. My old boss was awful and wanted to micro-manage everyone the whole time, which was horrible and made you start questioning everything you were doing. He left last summer, thank god, and the whole team is so much happier now. Anyway, no more talk of work, especially as tomorrow we’re jetting off on our honeymoon! I still can’t believe Jess has sorted us a week in St Lucia for free, it’s mad.’

  ‘It is,’ Hannah agreed. ‘Although, seriously, you won’t believe how much free stuff people tried to give us, it was crazy. And while there was a lot of stuff we turned down, a free holiday to St Lucia was never going to be one of them! I guess we’d better head back? I still need to go home and pack before our flight tomorrow night.’

  ‘I know, me too,’ Toby nodded and gave her hand a small squeeze, before leaning down towards her and kissing her softly on the lips.

  Hannah was a little taken aback, but before she could process what was happening, her body seemed to take over and she was responding to Toby’s kiss. It was tender and gentle, rather than rip-your-clothes-off passionate, but as they were standing in the middle of a marina surrounded by other people, Hannah decided tender was perfectly fine. And they had a week in St Lucia for passion, after all.

  SAVE THE DATE

  Our blind-daters with a difference got married!

  Yes, FINALLY our blind-daters have met – and got married! It was a beautiful day and you can check out the photos (yes, you can finally see who they are!) on our social media channels, and by searching the hashtag #marriedatfirstswipe. Don’t forget to subscribe to Save The Date and download our app now if you haven’t already, and you could meet hundreds of people looking for long-term love, just like our newlyweds Hannah and Toby.

  Talking about the happy couple, let’s find out how their first week of married life has been…

  Dear Hannah

  What a week! Our wedding day was extraordinary, surprising, nerve-racking and amazing. But as much as I enjoyed introducing everyone in my life to everyone in yours, in some ways it felt like a distraction from the real thing, the main event: me and you. So waking up with you the following morning and spending the day wandering through Manchester showing each other our favourite haunts was exactly what I needed. It meant we could put all the husband and wife stuff aside for a bit and just concentrate on getting to know each other as people. When I was writing these letters before we met, I found it hard to know what to say, but answering our final set of questions from Save The Date has been so much easier.

  How did it feel to be going on honeymoon with someone you’d only just met?

  It actually felt quite normal to be going on holiday with you the next morning. And once we’d smiled our way through all the questions about how long we’d known each other, we managed to score an upgrade, so I don’t think either of us were complaining! I always think that a long-haul flight is the ultimate test of any relationship – and I’m happy to say you passed the test with flying colours (although, as I’m writing this you’re sat snoring next to me, so I’m not sure you passed the train test quite so well!). I’ve never known a ten-hour flight go so quickly, though you’re obviously a pro when it comes to travelling and took the mick out of me for my ‘amateur’ blow-up pillow and plane attire – so rude!

  How was your time in St Lucia?

  When we arrived at our hotel many (many) hours later, the journey was all worth it. Waking up the next morning to that view (I’m talking about the sea ) was incredible and made the whole holiday feel extra-special. St Lucia is the most beautiful place I have ever been. The beaches, the waterfalls, the food – I think I’ll be dreaming of those lobster rolls for evermore. I may have moaned just a little when we were climbing Gros Piton (I’m sure I remember you saying it was just a little hike up a hill, but it definitely turned out to be more of a mountain scramble!), but it was totally worth it when we got to the top.

  I will never forget our afternoon snorkelling in the sea in front of our hotel, moving among the coral reef and tropical fish. Holding your hand as we swam beneath the water together was truly magical. And watching the sun set on Reduit Beach with you, sipping the strongest cocktail I’ve ever had, was one of the most romantic things I’ve ever done.

  I hope you enjoyed those moments as much as I did.

  How do you feel about being back home and starting married life together?

  That’s a tough one! I feel lucky to be married to such an exciting woman. You are gorgeous inside and out. I didn’t really have many expectations on our wedding day – I guess I was more worried about whether you’d actually come than what you looked like, and I already knew from your letters that you were funny and interesting. But when I saw you walking towards me, I was speechless. You looked absolutely amazing and I was extremely proud to be your groom. I was worried your family would be suspicious and wary of me, but they couldn’t have been more welcoming and friendly.

  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

  Love, your husband Toby xx

  Dear Tobes

  I’m currently sitting on my bed in my flat in Manchester, wondering whether the last ten days have been a dream. It’s hard to comprehend that just over a week ago I saw you for the first time as I walked down the aisle towards you and the registrar. Half an hour later we were legally married. I still can’t get my head round that sentence, to be honest. It was amazing meeting your family and friends and hanging out with everyone I care about for the evening – even if it did end with me (and a bottle of prosecco) dancing to cheesy nineties hits and waking up with a headache of epic proportions! I’m still a bit annoyed you were hangover free. I’m sure I remember you had a drink in your hand every time I saw you that night!

  How did it feel to be going on honeymoon with someone you’d only just met?

  For all my jumping out of planes and signing up for blind-date weddings, I can be quite an anxious person. Chatting to you as we walked round Manchester before we flew off to St Lucia felt natural and relaxed, and it was so nice that we got on really well. But if I’m truly honest – and I always want to be honest with you – every time I thought about the fact that we are now actually married, I felt a bit scared and anxious. It wasn’t anything you did or didn’t do, it was just the whole situation, and my reaction to it – it’s not every day you marry a stranger, after all! I don’t think the whole husband and wife thing had really sunk in the day before, despite the ceremony and speeches and cake and everything; it was almost like I was just at a really fun party and the marriage bit was happening to someone else. So I was pretty nervous about going on holiday with someone I’d just met.

  How was your time in St Lucia?

  Despite the way I was feeling, once we were on the plane and heading off on our adventure, I began to be excited about the week ahead of us. And what a week we had! I literally peed my pants laughing watching you scream your way down that zipline through the trees. I have never heard another human being make that noise before – it was amazing! I will treasure the photos I took of you that day for ever (and sell them to the papers for huge amounts of money if you ever become a super-famous IT person, obviously!). I had such a fun time climbing a beautiful mountain, being massaged with chocolate (two of my fave things in one – #winning!) and lying on a postcard-perfect white sandy beach.

  How do you feel about being back home and starting married life together?

  Weird! But excited. Snorkelling with you among the coral reefs at Anse Chastanet and seeing all the ridiculously beautiful fish around Pigeon Island made me realise I want to learn to scuba dive and get my PADI certificate. I can’t believe I’ve travelled all over the world and swum in the sea in every place I can, but have never actually learned to dive properly. Maybe we could learn together if you’re up for it? As for real life, well I’m not sure what that is right now! We’ve got a TV interview lined up and we’re very much still figuring out the logistics of how our lives
will work with friends, family, jobs and everything, aren’t we? But I wanted an adventure, and getting married to a man I didn’t know and had never met has been one hell of an adventure so far!

  Here’s to more adventures for many years to come.

  Love, Han x

  Chapter 16 Jess

  ‘Well, hello Mrs Sutton!’ Jess grinned at Hannah on her first day back in the office.

  ‘I think you’ll find I’m still Ms Edwards, thank you very much. I’ve been Hannah Laura Edwards for thirty-five years and getting married doesn’t change who I am, so why would I change my name? And before you ask, Toby is completely fine with it, not that it’s his decision to make anyway.’

  ‘Okay, keep your hair on!’ Jess held up her hands in surrender. ‘I’m as much of a feminist as the next person and I shouldn’t have assumed you’d be changing your name. Although you know how desperate I was to get rid of Shufflebottom and the second Tom and I said “I do” I definitely became a Taylor.’

  Hannah’s mouth twitched and her face broke into a smile. ‘Sorry for snapping, J, I’m just knackered. I think the jet lag is catching up with me. I thought I’d escaped it, but apparently not.’

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s the worst, I know. Anyway, tell me everything. How are things going between you? How was the honeymoon? Did you “get to know” each other properly?’

  ‘Jess! I thought we’d agreed no more inverted commas! Yes, things are good. St Lucia was just insanely beautiful – I mean literally beyond my wildest dreams beautiful. God, it already feels like a dream, it was just brilliant.’

  ‘Aww, I’m so pleased you had a good time – and hugely jealous you got to lie on a white sandy beach in blazing sunshine. The weather’s been horrible here, all rainy and grey.’

  ‘It is Manchester in mid-September though!’ Hannah laughed. ‘If it was Caribbean hot then I’d be worried.’

  ‘I know, but still, especially as it was so gorgeous less than two weeks ago for the wedding. Anyway, I want to hear all about your amazing adventures in St Lucia in detail later.’ She took a breath. ‘I read your blog. I’m so proud of you writing about your anxiety.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Hannah said quietly. ‘I was worried what Toby would think when I told him how scared and anxious I’d been feeling, but he called me this morning to ask me to go for dinner on Friday and he said how glad he was I’d written about how it affected me.’

  ‘That’s brilliant,’ Jess said. ‘But had you not talked to him about it while you were away?’

  ‘No, there wasn’t ever really a good time. And I didn’t want to make a big thing about it.’

  ‘But you have just written about it in a blog that thousands of people are going to read and share? The unique views are already huge for that page and it only went live a few hours ago.’

  ‘Sometimes it’s easier to write things down, especially when it’s so personal,’ Hannah shrugged. ‘I’d have felt too embarrassed and weird telling him how I was feeling face to face. Although I didn’t put too much detail in there.’

  Jess looked at her friend, but decided not to press the point that it was weirder to tell her husband how she was feeling via a blog rather than in person. She supposed it was still early days and it was easy to forget Hannah and Toby had actually only met less than two weeks ago. ‘Well, he seemed very effusive about you in his blog!’

  ‘What can I say, I have that effect on people, ha!’

  Jess laughed along with her, but inside she couldn’t help worrying that Hannah was not as happy as she was making out. ‘So… did anything else happen?’ she probed.

  ‘All right, Mum! Yes, we had a couple of snogs, and maybe a bit of other stuff too.’

  ‘And…?’

  ‘And, it was nice. Really nice.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘Why do you think there’s a but?’

  ‘Because, Hannah Edwards, I know you.’

  ‘It’s just weird, that’s all. It’s not like he ever said any of that stuff he put in his blog to me when we were in St Lucia.’

  ‘In the same way you didn’t tell him how anxious you were feeling!’ Jess said. ‘Han, of course it’s going to be weird trying to work each other out to start with, but you’ve got all the time in the world. I bet if he had been as emotional with you in real life you’d have freaked out even more.’

  ‘Probably. One part of me wants him to declare how much he loves me and the other part wants him to stop at the holding hands part! God, I’m so confused! And poor Toby can’t win.’

  ‘But the good thing is that he’s in exactly the same situation as you,’ Jess said gently. ‘Talk to him, encourage him to talk to you and only do what you feel comfortable with, both physically and mentally.’

  ‘I know and you’re definitely right, oh wise one.’ Hannah smiled at her and Jess was glad to see she looked less like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders than she had half an hour before. ‘And I’ve probably got a bit of that downer feeling you get immediately after a big event you’ve been building up to, and I’ll feel a million times better in a few days. Plus, we have that TV interview tomorrow, don’t we, although I’m trying not to think about appearing on screen – urgh! Anyway, how are you? What’s happened while I’ve been away?’

  Jess’s eyes unconsciously flicked to the heap of material in the corner of the small summerhouse and she hoped her friend didn’t notice. ‘I’m good! And you know, same old, same old, sorting out TV interviews for my best friend and her new husband, that kind of thing!’

  ‘Are you good? What are these doing here then?’ Hannah demanded, pulling at the pile and producing the sleeping bag and camping mat Jess knew full well were there.

  ‘The kids were “camping” in here the other day,’ Jess fudged.

  ‘In the Save The Date office? Really?’

  Jess felt her cheeks go pink. She’d never been a good liar. ‘No,’ she sighed. ‘Not really. I’ve slept in here the last couple of nights.’

  ‘Why?’ Hannah asked, clearly shocked. ‘I hope you haven’t been working yourself into the ground while I’ve been away. God, I feel so guilty for leaving you to cope on your own for that long when everything is so busy and—’

  ‘It wasn’t that,’ Jess broke in. ‘None of this is your fault, Han, I promise.’

  ‘None of what? I don’t understand, I thought you said before the wedding that Save The Date was doing all right now and the bank had called off the hounds?’

  ‘It is and they have.’ She swallowed. ‘Look, it’s Tom. Or rather me and Tom. We haven’t been getting on that well these last few months, arguing and not being that nice to each other. I just needed some space.’

  If Hannah’s face showed she was shocked earlier, it was nothing compared to her incredulous expression now. ‘But you and Tom… you’re, you’re okay?’ she stuttered.

  ‘Yes. No. I don’t really know. Look I don’t want you to worry, Han, and I’m sure everything will be fine, so—’

  ‘But I still don’t get why you’ve been sleeping in here. Why not just sleep in the spare room if you really don’t want to share a bed for a few nights?’

  ‘Because I needed to escape, to have a break, to not be the one who has to deal with Lily falling out of bed at two a.m. or telling Sam that he can’t have cereal for his tea and to take his hand out of his pants. It’s just all too much sometimes.’

  Jess’s phone began to ring, saving her from whatever difficult question Hannah was going to ask her next, and she snatched it up with relief. It was another hour before she was free to talk to again. Subscription figures had gone through the roof when she’d shared the wedding photos on social media and had posted a short blog on the site. The public reaction had blown her away and already she was fielding requests from various magazines asking to interview both Hannah and Toby, plus it was likely there would be more when the local news ran a feature on them in a few days. She knew they were going to have to carefully choose what press they did, especially a
s neither Hannah nor Toby were that up for putting themselves out there now the realities of the situation had begun to sink in. There had already been some comments on the new blog about Hannah not seeming to be as into the marriage as Toby, which was just another thing for Jess to worry about. And then there was the situation with Tom.

  She sighed and snuck a couple of covert glances at her friend while she was on the phone. She could see that Hannah was scrolling through her email but had a permanent frown on her face. Jess was annoyed at herself for burdening Hannah with her problems when she had enough of her own already, but she knew she couldn’t successfully lie to her oldest friend, and she hated herself for even contemplating being dishonest in the first place. Nor could she hide behind her phone for ever, although that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to take the cowards’ way out and leave the office for the rest of the day.

  ‘I’ve got a few errands to run and then Tom forgot it was his day to pick the kids up from school so I’ve got to do it and I’ve promised I’ll take them swimming afterwards. So, I’m not going to be around for the rest of the day, Han. Sorry to leave you on your own on your first day back, but I’m sure you’ve got a million emails to wade through anyway, and make sure you knock off a bit early and get an early night. You need to get on top of that jet lag before the interview tomorrow,’ she said brightly.

  Hannah gave her a long look before she replied. ‘No worries. But can we maybe go for lunch on Friday to catch up properly? We don’t have to go into town, but what about trying out that new coffee place near the station?’

  ‘Sorry, I’ve got the twins’ sports day – you remember they had to cancel it back in July when it wouldn’t stop raining? Well, they’ve rescheduled it for midday on Friday in the September rain instead, and I don’t want to miss Lily beating all the boys in her class yet again!’