Long distance relationships are hard, especially in those all-important early months when you spend every moment talking, touching and kissing and fucking. When it's long-distance 20 out of every 24 hours together are usually spent naked and in bed; the only time clothing is of any use is to answer the door to the pizza guy or to make those annoying but necessary trips outside.
That's how it usually is.
And I guess that's how it was for us too for the first month or so.
I was making the long train journey every weekend, leaving work at lunchtime on Friday and not getting back until Monday afternoon; if I didn't work for myself I could never have gotten away with it.
There was never any question about how serious our relationship was. We knew, very early on, that this was forever and I think that it was the depth of our feelings for each other that changed everything.
I was in the middle of packing, one Thursday evening, when she rang to tell me I couldn't stay with her that weekend but that she had booked me a hotel in the city instead and she'd see me whenever she could.
She didn't explain beyond that and I didn't get too worried after all, the fact that she had booked me a hotel meant she did want me there. I traveled up as per usual, found the hotel and booked in. At the front desk I was given a message from her to go over to hers at 9pm with an explicit instruction not to arrive early.
With three hours to waste I ate, watched some TV and sauntered around the city, slowly making my way in the direction of the front door apartment she shared with her best friend Karen. Without planning to I arrived at 8.45pm and, with her instruction in mind, wandered rather aimlessly up and down the surrounding streets as the quarter of an hour ticked slowly by.
At five to the hour, with darkness falling, I stood about three doors down from hers and lit a cigarette to pass the remaining time. As I puffed contemplatively her door opened and a tall, fit, handsome black guy emerged to walk past me. I didn't think much of it; Karen was a party animal and always had different guys (and sometimes girls) around when I was there. I stubbed out the cigarette and, with a couple of minutes to spare rang the doorbell.