One True Love

Hi all, this is a simple story about the cost of finding and ultimately losing, the love of your life. A huge thanks to 'One of The crowd' for all his help and assistance with those constant grammatical issues I seem to love.

As before, I welcome and look forward to your thoughts

The One True Love!

I knew from the first moment I saw you, that you were the only one for me.

I knew you were my destiny.

I was holding for the right time to let you and the whole world know that you were mine!

You are my smile, my heartbeat. With you beside me I forget all my sorrow.

You are my friend, and I want you to be my wife.

Despite my poor words, I truly love you in my life.

What is true love?

The beginning:

Helen Murphy stole my heart over a coffee and Danish, and never gave it back!

I had never met anyone like her before. In a blink of an eye, I knew I was lost. She had captivated me with her presence, enchanted me with her personality and ensnared me with the sexual chemistry that exploded between us.

Helen was 5ft 9in tall, slim athletic build. Brunette, wait what? I normally only fell head over heels in lust and love with blondes. Just what has happened here? Yes, as I as saying, a very attractive brunette with perfect, thick, wavy hair cascading down her back to a most delectable bottom. She was dressed very professionally in a dark suit with a medium length pencil skirt promoting her long slender elegant legs, a white silk blouse that revealed just the hint of a cleavage. She was dressed to impress. Without trying to appear slutty, she knew how best to promote her wonderful figure. All this was finished off by a sensual mouth and warm hazelnut eyes. How do you say love at first sight?

Barcelona is an incredibly romantic city, although the 'Centre Commercial Arenas de Barcelona' would probably not be found in any Lovers tourists guide book. You can picture it now, falling in love surrounded by breath-taking scenery and beautiful landscapes? Only no. Here was I surrounded by five hundred sweaty, pushy sales people all locked up in a tin can. Could it get more romantic than that?

It was the annual Spanish Hospitality Trade Expo and for some unknown reason it was decided that we would attend. Good for business was the official version, not an unofficial three-day jolly in sunny Barcelona? What was I doing here you ask? Well my job was incredibly exciting and a real hit with the ladies, my company created cards. From high end business cards to designer birthday and celebration cards. My great grandfather created the company in the 60's, and despite the occasional blip in a forever changing world, the family business has gone from strength to strength.

The real clincher was when we went away from the general market and targeted the high-end leisure industry, namely the hotel chains. High net worth companies, this was the real reason for this three-day jolly, sorry business soiree to sunny (not fun) Barcelona.

I wasn't a newbie at these types of events, however each time I was amazed at just how much of a meat market the Expo really was. Three days in the company of sharks and wolves, saints and sinners. Three days of constant glad handling and uncertain promises. The constant image filling my head of a politician - kissing the baby's head, whilst nicking her lollipops.

She appeared at my stand a little over 12:00 the first day. Her badge showed her as a representative of Sonas Logistics, a small but up and coming parcel distribution service. I was aware of the name as they had recently been taken over by the huge conglomerate that was Mellow's Corporate Enterprises. Like their parcels, they were going places. With time pressing, and the chance that she was losing me to her fellow competitors, she upped the ante and suggested a drink at close of business. One drink away from the madness, a chance to talk about a mutually beneficial business opportunity for the both of us?

Only the drink turned into a nice dinner, the nice dinner was followed by dancing and the dancing turned into one of the best nights of my life. Although the night failed in comparison to waking up beside her and I knew in that moment that I was in love, not lust - love. Staring into those hazelnut eyes and immersing myself with that warm sexual body, I made a promise to myself. One that took me a little over a year to achieve, I was going to marry the women of my dreams.

Life was perfect right? I was living proof that dreams do come true. I lived the perfect wholesome dream. A dream job that I enjoyed and provided me with great financial security and a wonderful and amazing woman to share all my hopes and dreams with. I, as the story goes, had it all!

I had the perfect life until suddenly, I didn't.

Detection and deception:

Five years of marriage bliss and each day I realised just how much I loved my wife. Of course, like any relationship, we had our up's and downs. Just recently, we both felt that life and more importantly work was getting in the way. Helen had just been promoted and was working more crazy hours, and me, well we had just recently taken on a new and demanding client. For the last couple of months, we were ships passing each other in the night. Concerned, we agreed to check our schedules and I had booked a ten-day romantic cruise around the Mediterranean. The only problem was, this little piece of heaven was still a little over a month away.

Well that brings you up-to-date and to the start of my discovery. Paperwork was and always will be the bain of my business life. We live in a large three-story Georgian town house. It was my parents and upon their deaths became mine. It was originally a four bed, only I had converted the top floor bedroom into an office. Simple maths. One, I could achieve a lot more here without being constantly interrupted and bombarded by the ever-incessant demands on my time in the office and secondly it afforded me the most wonderful view across the park, off the city skyline. It wasn't all perfect though, for being stuck here in my lofty position meant I was often cut off from the world below. Namely the front door. Now I agree that agree most people use their mobiles to contact people, however occasionally when I know I'm working from home I have contracts and important documents couriered over to me to sign or review.

I once missed the arrival of an important package, so I conjured up a rather simple solution. Two baby monitors, one in the hallway by the door and one in my office. This way should someone be at the door, I could easily hear and be able to answer. In truth, did I ever envisage that something as simple as a baby monitor could cause me so much despair and ultimately rip my heart out - hell no.

The monitor picked up the sound of two voices as my front door opened. It was Helen coming back early with Marie, her best friend. I was about to shout down and reveal my presence when I caught part of their conversation. She was discussing the cruise. Now any husband likes to hear praise, so I held off and listened to my wife reveal just how excited she was about the upcoming trip and what a lovely and thoughtful husband she was married too. Boy, was I in for a surprise?

An annoying noise in the background was making it difficult for me to hear every word, plus they were walking away from the monitor towards the kitchen and then back out again. However, from what I could hear Marie asking her about wasn't she afraid I would find out, the word love was mentioned, and the words afraid of being caught?

Caught, just what was she on about.

They were now back in the hallway heading back out. There's no way I'm going to get caught, we only meet on a Wednesday even...

With that, the door closed behind them, leaving me not only lost for words but a feeling that someone had just ripped out my heart and threw it away in the trash.

Discovery and a showdown:

I challenge anyone to act normally when they're living in a personal nightmare. Heaven or Hell, take your pick? My whole life had just been turned upside down and the worst part of it was I didn't know anything. Analyse the fact's first before you do anything rash. Well the facts out of both her and her duplicitous best-friend spoke volumes. Was she cheating on me? However, I only heard certain words of the conversation and they could have been taken out of context. I know, before you all shout at me how unlikely that was. But, up until five minutes ago I was living a dream life. Now, well, I was living a lie?

Simply put, I needed to know the truth.

The private investigator I hired took a little over two weeks to come back to me and officially destroyed my world. It's never easy to see your loving wife in the arms of another man, holding him, kissing him, laughing with him. Helen was cheating one me. No, I didn't have any actual proof that they had had sexual contact, although I didn't need any. The photos became ingrained in my memory and killed my relationship with her. Kissing, laughing, cuddling. It reminded me of how we used to act when we were first together. Each photo shredded a piece of my heart.

Could I get over an affair, did I love her enough to work through this? These were the questions raging through my head as I sort a way out of this personal hell. Only the real problem for me was that Helen was showing no signs of either remorse or signs of stopping. She was acting exactly the same. No tell-tale signs of guilt or increased happiness, no hiding illicit underwear from my prying eyes, no additional late nights working at the office. My beautiful wife was having an affair with Mark Penrose and had no intention of stopping.

This was the second time in my life where I heard the name Mark Penrose, and the effect was just the same. I felt like I was being punched repeatedly and this faceless man was laughing as he delivered each painful blow.

You see, Mark Penrose was the name of Helen's first true love. They had been childhood sweethearts, destined after finishing their education to get married and live their lives together. Only this fairy tale story had a painful twist for part way through University, Mark unexpectantly upped sticks and joined the Navy. Ceasing contact and severing any and all ties with Helen.

It's never easy talking about your significant past relationships. Mine was Tracie Anne Skillet and we were together for nearly four years. The only problem was I was comfortable with our relationship as it was, Tracie saw marriage, children and a lifetime together. She was always the smart one and saw the light before I did, probably to the benefit of both of us. Within a month of having 'the talk', she had taken a promotion at work and moved up north. Within a year she was married and was pregnant with twins.

Helen's story was a little more dramatic.

I suppose I never was the most romantic. Dramatic gestures always seemed fake to me, however we had been going out for nearly a year and I knew we were both ready to take the next step. So, I hired a cottage by the sea in Cornwall. A little romantic weekend break. That night after a nice meal, I took her onto the beach for a walk. As the sun started to set on the water I dropped down on my knee and asked her if she would be mine for all eternity. Of all the reactions I expected, I have to admit I was caught out by her hesitating then bursting into tears. That's normally still good though right guys???

Without looking down at me, she muffled something about needing to tell me something first. I could feel my world slowly and tragically crumble around me.

You know I love you right, she was looking squarely at me..

Yes, I replied somewhat nervously.

I love you but am also in love with someone else...

WHAT! I nearly shouted. Standing up, I could feel her shrink beside me. How, could you! How could you betray me like this!

Please,... please listen to me.

No, you don't understand, I have never betrayed you. It's Mark, my previous fiancée. I haven't stopped loving him, I don't understand it, especially after what he did to me. I haven't seen or spoken to him in nearly five years and yet... I can't explain it, and I'm not making any sense... by now the tears were on autopilot.

Recovering from both the shock and the realisation of what she had just said, I ask her to explain.

Mark was her first true love. They were child sweetheart's together, and their relationship lasted until her last year at university. Something unbeknown to her had changed. Her Aunt was getting married in Australia meaning she was away for little over a fortnight. She had wanted them to go together, only he refused. In all their time together, this was the longest they had ever been apart. She received the Dear John email the day she was due to return. He loved her blah blah blah, he knew he didn't deserve her, he wouldn't hold her back anymore. He was dropping out of Uni and joining the Navy. He wanted her to live her life and NOT wait for him. On her return she had tried desperately tried to reach him, to talk to him, only he never replied.

This all happened six years ago, I was completing against a living ghost!

Life is made up of moments, and the choices you make, define you. At that moment on the beach I decided to take action. No ghost, living or not was going to deny me the love of my life. I loved her and I knew deep down, she loved me. What more did we both need to know?

Well it appeared now, that I needed to know a lot more. It appeared now that it only took a little over six years for that fallacy to come true and haunt me. It seems that you never truly forget or get over your first love, and he was back!

Showdown (One month Later):

I knew from the report that they had agreed to meet again at his house this coming Wednesday, so I managed to arrange for an important client call to detain her at work. I was heading for a showdown with the lover and I needed his undivided attention before it got too messy.

Hocking Street was a small mid-terraced three-bedroom house in a seedy part of town. The living ghost that answered the door was even better looking in person than the photos did justice. It was clear he knew who I was, although for a split-second fear flashed in his eyes. It wasn't until I explained that I only came here only to talk to him about Helen, that his arrogance and confidence demeanour resumed. He was towering man, well over 6ft 3inches tall and strong build. I could see the gloating in his eyes as he looked down on me. I was just the pathetic excuse of a husband, here to beg and plead with him, not to steal his wife.

She's already mine, we love each other and a pathetic excuse of a little man like you can't stop me. You can't stop me, I've already taken her many, many times. She loves me! She loves and worships my cock!! How could a worthless man like you expect to keep a woman like her?

No, this wasn't what he was saying but this is what I could see he was thinking behind his smug, victorious expression.

I followed him into the small untidy living room. The whole placed reeked of male testosterone and cheap cigarettes. The largest TV on the planet dominated the room leaving barely enough space for a small sofa and two chairs. Sitting opposite me on the sofa he began. His voice carried the secure arrogance of victory. She loves me, always has. You were just an unwarranted diversion. All it took was for me to click my fingers, and she came running. I know she cares for you, but let's be real, you are nothing compared to me!

He was smiling at me whilst delivering each damning assessment, all I could do was simply nod in agreement. God, how pathetic had I truly become?

Before I could reply, I heard the door open quickly followed by a soft painful shriek. The illusion of calm was shattered as my beautiful wife stood there staring at her lover and her husband in the same room; she was early. Before I had a chance to react, Prince charming was immediately up and as if any more proof was needed, he claimed his prize.

No need to hide anything now my love, he knows. He was holding her hand triumphantly in front of me. Now that's it's out in the open, I think we all need to sit down and have a talk about what happens next.

Looking across at her beautiful face, I was once again lost in those marvellous tears striven eyes. Is it true, is what he says right? I could see confusion and confliction spread across her face as she tried and failed to speak. For one fleeting second, I thought she might move away from him; to stand up and declare his statement to be wrong. Despite how it might appear, she truly loved and wanted me. Only me! Only, that brief second was just that, for he tightened his grip, and unfortunately for me, she didn't resist.

Triumphantly Mark took control. You see...

He was right, I did see. In that second my marriage was officially over as whatever dying embers I still held onto were finally extinguished, she had chosen him over me.

With an internal nod of my head, it was time to take my next step. Looking up at the two lovebirds, I accepted my fate. You're right Mark, I can see she has made her choice and that choice is not me. So, with the aim of moving forward, I want to make this as painless as possible for all of us. I have no desire to hold Helen against her wishes or stand between you and your true love for each other.

I think you will find these arrangements fair I said as I pulled out the papers. Looking squarely at both of them, I will go down the route of irreconcilable differences. It's in nobody's interest to know that my wife cheated on me and is in love with another man. I could see the pained expression on my wife's face as her actions were laid bare: guilt, remorse, possibly regret? It didn't matter anymore, she had chosen him and now my path of destruction was clear as I placed the documents in front of her.

Mark swooped to pick up the papers as I expected, scanning eagerly its contents. Helen's eyes remained focused on me. I could see she was trying to say something to me, communicate to me, only the words never came. She was frozen in the moment and now lost to her fate.

Wait, this can't be right, Mark nearly shouted, shattering the calm and signalling the start of the outcoming storm. Prince charming had reached a certain point in the settlement.

All you are offering her is £35'000!! I could see even Helen's eyes become startled by the figure.

There is no mention of your house, no mention of your business in this. I knew you would try and shaft Helen out of what is rightfully hers. All this nice guy act you are trying to pull here is just pure bullshit, well, I won't let you get away with it!

The talk of true love shining through I thought to myself.

Taking a moment to compose myself, before I spoke, I said. The house was my parents and gifted to me upon their death, it's in my name only and my lawyer confirms that as such it's outside the marriage.

Strike one: The house was worth well over a million, stew on that lover boy.

Well, what about your business? He asked, now showing real concern.

Well firstly you note that I am not asking for anything from Helen either, even though her current income is significantly higher than mine. Whilst this was true, in reality my overall income including bonuses and dividends was far, far higher than hers. Secondly, Helen dear, can you remember just before we got married you signed a pre-nuptial agreement that excluded the family business from our affairs, sorry for the pun, in the event that we ever got divorced.