Packing my shopping into bags, I picked them up and headed outside with my mum Amanda.
As we walked out of Iceland and started to head down the road, someone called Mum’s name. We both turned around.
‘Oh, hi!’ Mum said, as her friend Sue* came over.
There was a bloke with her, and he looked shy.
I noticed him giving me the eye though.
‘This is my cousin, Alan,’ Sue said.
We stood chatting for a few minutes, then said our goodbyes – I didn’t think much more of it.
But a few days later, I had a friend request on Facebook.
It was from Alan Barney.
Hi, I’m the bloke from Iceland, he wrote. Sue told me your name.
I was a bit taken aback, but intrigued by him. We got talking, and I thought Alan was sweet and funny.
He was covered in tattoos and had a bit of a bad boy vibe, but there was a softer side to him.
At 22, he was five years older than me, but we just clicked.
Within a week, we’d made plans to meet up.
