'How the worst first date ever led to marriage'

The best date of my life started really badly.

I'd been talking to Taj for nearly a month and he was always cancelling at the last minute. We'd make arrangements and then he'd Facetime me to say he was sorry but work changed his roster, or he was sick or had a migraine. It went on like this for ages. He was so attractive and we got on like a house on fire.

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So, even though it worried me that he kept cancelling on me, I was determined to meet him one way or another! He phoned one day to say he wanted to treat me to a great night out and he was going to pick me up at 6pm. I got home from work early and spent quite a while making myself look as good as possible. But, an hour before he was due to pick me up he texted me to say he was in hospital with a broken arm.

He was working on a building site and he had a bad fall. I would have suspected it was a lie but two hours later he Face-timed me from hospital and, sure enough, he was getting ready for surgery.

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Then there was silence for a week until he got back in touch and suggested we meet up – although I'd have to drive him due to his broken arm. At last I got to meet him, he was much better looking in real life and I was smitten right away. We shared a nice kiss and he promised to call me the next day.

But… crickets!

I left him a couple more messages then told myself that maybe I'd been a disappointment to him. I knew he was such a lovely man; I couldn't believe he'd just ghost me.

So I was very brave and went over to his place and left a basket of goodies at the front door with a note.

Again, nothing. But then, three days later, I had a call from a woman saying she was Taj's sister. Apparently, he'd picked up an infection during his hospital stay and was back in the hospital getting treatment.

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To be honest, I was relieved but I've been burnt so many times in the past, my mind starting playing tricks on me – what if the woman calling me wasn't really his sister but was his wife?

Maybe they had an open relationship and they were playing games with me?

But no, I was wrong – he was really sick and when he recovered, he phoned to apologise for being absent. He also said he really wanted to get to know me. I'd never had a guy say that to me before so I was hoping he was serious.

And he was – Taj and I are now married and I'm expecting our first baby! I hope my story gives hope to other women because I've had all kinds of pain from dating apps and even though my first date with Taj was a little rocky, we did get our happy ending.