“She dumped me by text”

Frank, 34, an account manager from London

When Irene and I first met, I was clowning around in front of my friends in my best mate’s kitchen. She was standing on her own, so I threw her a joke, and we got talking. I spent the rest of the night making her laugh. The next morning I woke up thinking “My god, I got her number!” and asked her out. Sometimes drunken eyes create an ideal in your head, but on our second date, she looked exactly how I remembered – a massive smile, good skin and a great figure. She was reserved, and never gave away too much – but that was just more bait for me. Our first kiss was clumsy, but a few dates later, we had our first proper kiss in the pub, barely coming up for air. I told her too quickly that I loved her – she replied, “Aw, that’s nice.” We’d grab each other in the college corridor and snog. She’d bring me wine from Italy and I’d try to impress her by cooking Italian meals. We were inseparable. Then it changed. We’d both gone to university in London, and while she became more driven, I got comfortable, smoking and playing computer games. Things turned toxic, and eventually she dumped me by text. A month after the break-up we became friends with benefits, before she put a stop to it in the autumn of 2014.

She turned up to the date in a nice dress, and tied up her hair as she tucked into her steak. Several couples came and went while we chatted until midnight. I felt really happy afterwards, smiling at strangers on the train home. People don’t do that in London, but I was so happy, I didn’t care. Want to be reunited with your first love? Email us at first.love@ cosmopolitan.co.uk

Each month, we send two former lovers on a date to see what happens