Lady Laura and I are what some call “High School Sweethearts.”
We met in college (though we were pupils at the same school in the preceding years) and have been going strong a whole sixteen years later. We’ve travelled to well over a dozen countries, spent six months abroad, travelled through countless peaks and valleys together, but our crowning achievement is Master Liam and his soon-to-be-with-us little brother.
What always shocks people is when I say we almost didn’t get together.
Fun fact:
The first ever date we went on, I took Laura to a restaurant in the O2 Arena here in London. I made sure I finished work on time to get home and scrub up well. We met up, sat at our table, and gazed into each other’s eyes.
All went well until…
She whipped out her BlackBerry Bold (remember those?) and remained glued to it.
🤨
Wait, what? I thought. I’ve busted my arse to get a fresh trim and organise tonight… only for you to be on your phone? Get out of here!
When I challenged her about this, she let out an exasperated sigh and revealed that her ex and some other “suitor” wouldn’t leave her alone. So what did I do? I snatched the phone from her hand and typed a message to them both, politely telling them to piss off.
😲 <— her actual face.
It worked.
By “worked,” I mean she put the phone away long enough for us to finish our meal.
When the inevitable back-to-back messages lit up her BlackBerry, she, of course, whipped it back out again.
🤦
At that point, I had all but given up on the date.
I booked us to watch a movie, and being the broke uni student I was back then, I wasn’t about to waste those tickets. Not on a Friday after a week of study and work.
Hell no.
So we watched the film (I still cannot remember the name) in mostly silence. By the time the credits rolled around — and being the true gentleman I was even back then as a fresh-faced lad — I had booked her a cab to get home.
After that, I didn’t speak to her for several days.
Not so much as a text.
Then one Sunday whilst I was in a supermarket, she reached out wondering why I had gone radio silent. I explained the errors of her unruly ways, and she came grovelling.
Alright, slight exaggeration.
She apologised.
Fast forward another week and we went out again — this time, she paid for everything — and as the romantics of the past like to say…
The rest was history.
While BlackBerrys died off, our love endured.
(I know, what a cutie pie I am.)
This just goes to show that rocky starts don’t automatically mean things will never work out. You see it time and again, some of the strongest friendships and partnerships (lovers or otherwise) start off on hostile ground.
Sometimes even enemies.
It’s like Jangar and Darius in The Divided Region.
Although civil with one another for the sake of their shared interests (the Thieves Guild), an underlying resentment blighted that relationship. That was until TWO world-shattering events occurred in Chapter 14 of Exiled.
Since then, you could almost describe them as inseparable.
I say “almost” for a reason.
This is epic fantasy with a nice serving of grit, which is an indirect way of me saying:
CHARACTERS DIE.
I make no apologies for it.
(And neither should you if that’s the type of Lit you’re into.)
But what I will say is this:
If you enjoy unpredictable tales and relationships forged through fires — and you’d also like to read all about the two world-shattering events I hinted at above — then you’ll find lots of that in The Divided Region.
However, like all enduring relationships, it’s best to start with a simple “date.”
Instead of committing to an entire series, why not just start with Book #1?
And if you don’t gel, let me know and I’ll return your coin – no questions asked.
To learn more about Exiled, go here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/Exiled
DJJW