The One

great story and although simplistic, a heart warming ending. 5 stars.

I enjoyed that, adultery and paternity aside, it was a second-chance romance given to two people not over each other. thought it was cute.

Great story. Heartbreaking for Alan. Also for Lesley but she finally found her "one" again after 20 long years.

My only critique would be why the author chose 20 years of separation. Maybe cut it down to half that and make the kids younger. Suppose though might reflect on custody.

To be fair, she did him wrong when he asked her to marry him. But he also did take her for granted and 5+ years for a commitment is playing with fire. Not to mention, as devastated as he was to just go ahead with a 'drop the mic' exit and flee around the UK is cowardly.

Moreover his griping that he waited 39 months, while she only waited 14 months is laughable. She realized the next day that she f$cked up and searched all over to find him. His mother stonewalling her killed her son's chance at happiness for two decades. 14 months vs 39 months is largely similar in that she seriously tried and finally realized she had lost him for good. He too longer to lick his wounds. And look where that got him: Natalie, the corporate slut.

Contrary to the consistent misinformed trope on this site, people with little to no sexual experience prior to marriage typically remain fulfilled with their marital sex life much longer than there more experienced counterparts. The correlation is opposite of ehat

many LW stories on this site contend; i.e. the more sexual experience a spouse has prior to marriage, the more rapidly they becomes NOT satisfied with their marital sex life. It isn't rocket science people.

Lastly, if he had gotten engaged to Lesley on their 5th anniversary of dating, we have no.way to know if she would have cheated on Alan or not going forward. The cynics will say she was a virigin before Alan and she wanted strange. So maybe she would have.

To be fair I think some of that was mindless babble on her part as she re-evaluated their relationship and got cold feet after he did not propose to her two months earlier. Who knows. However, the opposing view is it appears she was always faithful to Roger, despite her sex appeal, trusted him, despite his 12+ year affair with Natalie (basically Alan was a "cover" husband, raising Roger's children), and the fact that she really loved Alan, missed him deeply as she realized he was gone and could not find him, looking for him for a year, before giving up, and her comments at the end of the story.

A guy like Roger, haughty, arrogant, narcissistic, from old money could never be the "one" for anybody. Her relationship with Roger was based on sex first (great sex!), then evolved, and she got pregnant with Belinda. He may have been banging Natalie well past 12 years. She talked herself into thinking she had found the "one" in part because she already lost the "one" in Alan. However, when she first chatted with him and he asked her if she found the "one", she of course affirms that she did since she wanted Alan to feel bad about what (in her mind), he had given up 20 years earlier, because (a) woman scorned and all that and (b) she had been living with what she saw as abandonment (somewhat misguided).by Alan for 20 years. Think she can be forgiven that. Great story. 5 stars.

Shaking my head at the little weak boys who somehow equate the sperm donor with fatherhood.

Wow, the man-hating assholes saying how the ending was "happy" (right, him never having real children but wasting his time nannying another man's kids is just that), the story "wonderful" and such are out in force.

Sorry, 1 star. Yeah punching the ass was neat for 5 seconds, but he STILL WON ALL THE MARBLES. He has 5 or 6 kids with 2 women, and wont' pay for that in any way. The shitface whore won't pay for her treachery in any meaningful way, never mind like she deserves (with her life AT LEAST).

...plot and characters. As readers, we can wonder, "What are the odds?" that all the story elements would coalesce into one time and place? But why bother? Just go with it, folks.

Thanks to Spencerfiction for a fine read.

Keep 'em comin'!

What a coincidence that they were able to meet each other’s spouse. Great story.

Wonderfully predictable. Five brilliant hypernovas.

What a great story, that was very different and a happy ending to boot. I hoped she liked the children, sadly we won't ever know. 5*

Well written. Great story. Glad they both found ecah other and reconnected. They deserve to be with their "one" true live, the rest of their lives. Who cares about Roger and Natalie. They are just filler. Wish there had been a brief epilog. But it is clear that author intended a happily ever after for thr two of them.

Creative but could have used an epilog. They coukd have had their time in the sun but she misunderstood his delay in proposing and by then thought of needing to sample other men, now insecure in her relationship. What she did was stupid and she realized that within a day but he had bolted. She searched for over a year and was stonewalled by his mother and friends. While they thought they were being loyal, it deprived him of years of happiness. She got spooked. Didn't k own about his credit limit and issues getting a ring. He should have proposed earlier and promised her a ring or gotten help.fro parents. Yes she was immature but her dedication in searching for him for so long showed that she did really love him. But she was always one step behind and lost the thread. She waited 14 mo ths before meeting her future husband, Roger, a recidivist cheater, who was banging away with Natalie for all of.her marriage and probably including other women all of Lesley's marriage. She thought she found the one. But that is something cagey you say to an ex that you hurt but still feel for. As she said she had settled. Great sex but no real spark of romance or love. Alan had security issues. How else yo explain his fragility and fleeing completely so fast? Never talking to her again. U til 20+ years later. All he can think about is he sucked as a lover. Sorry but if they had stayed together and invested in their marriage and their sex life, it woukd have been better as a whole package than what she had with Roger. It is about growth and sexual development together while being in love. She settled, he settled. Liked the laptop to the face. Her reaction to Alan at the end was nit out if revenge vs Roger. Sure she heard about the 12 years of cyckolding by her husband. Her reaction was genuine: to fix the errors of the past, to restore what she lost, to be with Alan again. The "one" who got away. Alan will.be healed now. Just said thr many years apart. Fate is fickle at times. Good story. Natalaie was just a placeholder for a nasty cheating wife. Roger was a self centered entitled prick. He needed a "show" wife while he pursued his dalliances with Natalie and others. Suspect that Natalie was not her husband's first transgressions that she found out about. But the children and what he had done to Alan caused her to just bust it all up. Good for her. She is mature now. She knows whatbshe wants. Alan is in for a ride.

Thanks for the smile!! I desperately needed one today

very nice reunion !

Oh yes, I did see it coming but you did a good job with this, loved it from start to finish

Unique story. But ending was to brief and a bit simplistic. 20 years is a long time. But suddenly they are back together. They both settled. Suspect that Lesley knew Roger had forgiven Roger already once or more for cheating. She extolls his skills in bed and her daughter. She only says she "thinks" she found her one. But other things seem to.be missing there. Her logic when rejecting his engagement was nonsensical. But so was his permanent running away. Shows he is fragile. Nit sure even if she had found him that he woukd be able to take her back. Ending is short because MC comes off as a broken man.