First Love
Each month, we send two former lovers on a date to see what happens
“I wanted an apology from him” Kenya Wahome, 29, is a bartender
I met Saed on his 18th birthday and fancied him straight away. He was such a gentleman – and I loved the way he treated me. But we were very young and he moved into my house really soon, which, looking back, wasn’t the best idea. But, at the time, we were absolutely inseparable and used to say “I love you” all the time. He was so romantic, he would take me on surprise road trips to the beach. But, after two years, it just all became too much: it felt so intense, and we broke up.
After that, I didn’t see Saed for years, but I still had strong feelings and often thought of him. Eventually, we bumped into each other and had a few drinks and decided to give it another go. We lasted another two years when a friend told me that she’d heard Saed was cheating on me. I knew his password, so I checked his phone and found messages from a girl talking about a night they’d spent together. I was distraught and confronted him straight away. He said it was a one-time mistake, but he didn’t know I had her number, and I called her in front of him. She said they’d been sleeping together for three months. I was so angry. He then admitted everything. He said he felt our relationship had become stagnant, that it was only meant to happen once but that he couldn’t stop. I dumped him immediately.
I went on the date because I wanted an apology. The first thing I said to him was, “Still cheating on people, are you?” But he said we should try and be civil, so we changed the subject and, in the end, we had fun. But I knew he was just trying to divert attention from the things he’d done.
“The arguing was so embarrassing” Saed Jama, 29, is a visual merchandiser
I’d noticed Kenya around and found her really attractive. We knew the same people and are from the same area [west London], so we got talking on my birthday night out and she came home with me. I really liked that she was loud and confident – I’m quite reserved, but she was exciting. Fast-forward a couple of months, and we were still together, and on another night out. I was pretty tipsy and told her I loved her. I don’t usually say stuff like that, but I was certain that was how I felt. She has a good heart.
But I started to feel like she wanted all of my time. I was going to university and wanted to do things without her, so I think I pushed her away. Eventually, she broke up with me by text. She said I wasn’t seeing her enough.
Six years later, I was at a house party and she was there. It was the first time I’d seen her since the break-up. I thought we’d argue, but we just talked and got drunk. We still had so much chemistry, and ended up going home together. From there, we rekindled our relationship. I thought things would be different, but she slowly went back to how she was before, and eventually accused me of cheating on her. I tried to talk to her about it, but she wouldn’t listen.
The date was the first time we’d seen each other since then, so it didn’t start off well. She was angry at me and we argued. The bar staff were looking over at us – it was so embarrassing. Eventually, though, the drinks kicked in and things calmed. She looked really good, too.