Not The Woman He Fell In Love With
Sean is mortified, frozen in his tracks. This had to be some kind of joke, right? He takes another look at the photo of his wife and his blood starts to boil. How could she do this? How could she stomp on his heart like it was a crinkled leaf on the autumn pavement? This was supposed to be the woman he wanted to start a family with and grow old with. But that won’t happen anymore. No way.
After seeing this photo, Sean knew she wasn’t the same woman he fell in love with. Far from it. And no amount of love, forgiveness, and strength could stop Sean from feeling sick to his stomach.
Unlucky In Love
For Sean Jones, it was safe to say he was unlucky in love. Unlike his friends, he wasn’t after a fling or looking for something casual; he was after somebody he could spend the rest of his life with. To stand by him through the good and bad.
After numerous failed relationships and dates, Sean was about to give up on the idea of love and marriage. Until one day, everything changed for Sean when he met Alice, and nothing was ever the same again.
The Perfect Woman
As soon as Sean laid his eyes on Alice he knew she was, “the one.” Every time he saw her smile, butterflies circled in his stomach, every time he heard her voice, his heart skipped a beat.
Finally, Sean picked up the courage and asked her out, in which she agreed to. She seemed like the perfect woman. But Sean had no idea how wrong he was.
Asking The Question
After a few months of dating, Sean decided to put his money where is mouth is, and asked Alice the question all women long to be asked. “Will you marry me?” They were pretty young but Sean didn’t care, he knew he had to follow his gut.
He had everything set up perfectly. Candles, romantic music, a full course meal, and a giant cookie that had ‘Will you marry me?” piped on in buttercream. There was no way she was going to say no, right? Sean knew she was the one. But he had no idea what was coming.
Lucky In Love
Luckily for Sean, Alice said yes! The two embraced one another and for the first time in a long time, they felt happy.
A few months passed and their wedding day soon arrived. Their big day was everything they wanted and more. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was incredible and the honeymoon was blissful. But these two lovebirds had no idea what else was in store for them.
Finding Their Forever Home
Now that Sean and Alice were married, the couple knew they had to find their forever home. And thankfully they did; it had four bedrooms, a gorgeous garden, and a large open plan kitchen and diner.
Things were looking good for the ‘just married’ couple. Everything seemed to be on track. But this happy ending was bout to be destroyed.
An Unfortunate Time
You see, a couple of months after the wedding, Sean was unfortunately made redundant from his job of five years. Depressed and heartbroken he tried his best to get a new job but he wasn’t having any luck.
Then one day he got a call that changed his life! He had been offered an executive position at a company he had always admired. The job role was fantastic; it had great hours, generous pay and the pension was incredible! The only con? It was 10000 miles away.
Sacrifices Must Be Made
Of course, Alice didn’t want her husband to leave her just when they had started their lives together, but she knew they needed the cash; they had just bought a house.
And so, two months later Sean had moved 10000 miles away while Alice was stuck, alone in their ‘forever home.’ They communicated through video calls and messages, and at times it was hard, but it would all be worth it, right? Sean didn’t seem to mind this new way of life, but for Alice, it was a completely different story.
Long Distance Love
Although the happy couple tried their best to stay in contact, Alice could feel bitterness and loneliness creep in. They had tried to have numerous ‘date nights’ over FaceTime but it just wasn’t the same.
Alice often pottered about their new home, looking for stuff to do; to distract herself from the fact her husband was 1000 miles away. All she wanted was her husband back. But unfortunately for Alice, she had no idea what her husband was up to, 10000 miles away
Strangers
A few years passed and the once happy couple felt more like strangers than husband and wife. As hard as she tried, Alice wanted to support her husband but he was always tired or always busy. Time was ticking, and Alice was getting more lonely by the second.
But then a secret message on a trip to Paris changed everything for this couple. And nothing was ever the same again.
A Heartbreaking Message
Alice, feeling isolated and fed up with the way their marriage had panned, sent a message to Thomas. But it wasn’t a good morning or good night message, it was something much more devastating.
She said in her message that she was fed up and didn’t feel like she was loved anymore. As soon as Thomas read this message his heart dropped. It suddenly dawned on him he had neglected his own wife. At that moment, Sean knew he had to get back home to his wife. He wasn't going to tell Alice - he wanted it to be a surprise - and he started applying for jobs back home. After all, that’s what she wanted right? Sean had no idea what was coming.
Things Were Looking Up
Sean managed to land a job closer to his home and Alice, so he decided to tell her. She seemed happy he was coming back home, but first Sean had one more final work trip, and it was in the most romantic city in the world; Paris.
Alice was excited and happy that the two of them could finally go back to being the lovestruck couple they once were. But this excitement and happiness was soon shattered after Alice sent a photo to Sean.
A Photo From His Wife
Sean had just got back to his hotel room when he saw Alice had sent a photo message. Excited to hear from his wife, he opened the message and the picture was of Alice in a white tank top smiling into the camera. Sean smiled at this picture, it had been a long time since he saw his wife smile like that.
But then suddenly, Sean noticed something in the picture and he felt sick to his stomach.
Sick To His Stomach
Sean could feel his stomach was in knots. He could feel tears well in his eyes but he tried his best to hold the back. You see, in the photo that Alice had sent, her wedding finger was empty. Where the once diamond-encrusted ring was, was a now just a bare finger.
This didn’t make sense. Why would she do this? Hundreds of questions ran through his mind. How did his whole life fall apart in the blink of an eye? He needed answers.
A Not So Happy Ending
In the end, both Sean and Alice decided to get a divorce. She was unhappy with her life and she felt Sean shouldn’t sacrifice his career for that. They watched their perfect marriage fall apart and there was nothing any of them could have done.
And so, five years later they’ve both moved on with different people and Alice even has a little boy. It just goes show, sometimes things just aren’t meant to be.