TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Scrolling through Instagram, a message popped up from a guy.

Hey, I used to do Park Run, it read.

He must have seen my recent post about doing the local run.

Browsing through his account, I didn’t recognise him.

Ignoring the message, I didn’t think anything of it.

However, over the next three months, he was persistent.

Are you going to keep ignoring me? he typed.

Feeling a pang of guilt, I decided to reply.

Sorry I’ve only just seen these messages, I lied.

We got chatting in early 2017 and he told me his name was Tom Coughlan, then 27.

He was a bricklayer who lived near-by.

Although I’d been hesitant at first, Tom and I hit it off and soon we were messaging back and forth.

Would you like to he asked.