In March 2010 life changed for Tom and Sarah. He lived in Dubai, she lived in England.

They had both been married for a long time, but something was missing in their relationships. The spark had gone and they had found themselves drifting away from their spouses. Love was still there, as was friendship, but things were not right, not for a long time.

Tom had been writing for a while and posted his stories on Short Fiction.

Sarah started reading stories of all genres, when one day she read a story written by Tom and felt compelled to send feedback to comment on it.

He courteously replied, thanking her for her comments. Sarah looked to see what else Tom had written and read another story, sending feedback again. She liked the easy, friendly manner with which he replied, certainly not flirtatious or coarse, which had been the case with a few other male writers she had sent feedback to.

Replying to feedback and responses to the comments continued and developed into friendly chat, telling each other of their lives, their families and their marriages.

The coincidences in their lives were astounding. They both had a love of cats and they each had two daughters. Tom worked in the building and construction industry; Sarah was brought up in a family of builders. His wife had worked in the Department of Health and Social Security, and so had Sarah.

His elder daughter was in the Police Force, her younger daughter wanted to be a Police Officer. His younger daughter was a Primary School Teacher, preferring to teach the youngest children; Sarah worked with young children in a Pre-School.

They found out a year later that Tom and his wife had their first foreign holiday in The Hotel Sahara Beach in Monastir, Tunisia. Unbelievably, that was where Sarah and her husband had their first foreign holiday ten years later.

Their tastes in music were almost the same, they watched the same TV programmes, and they both loved the cinema and theatre. Their taste in music and wine were almost identical, and they both loved eating out and taking part in quizzes.

They even found that they had exactly the same make and model of mobile phone. Months later, they discovered that they even had the same make of watch, (both, unusually, light powered) with the same (his and hers) gold and silver watch straps. The similarities in their tastes were uncanny.

They completely clicked; two peas in a pod.

By April they were completely comfortable with each other, exchanging up to ten or more emails a day sometimes. They told each other things that no one else knew; building up a real sense of trust between them.

Very quickly they realised that what they felt for each other was more than just friendship and that they were falling in love.

They waited for each other’s emails with eager anticipation, and soon the need for more contact grew. They both got Msn and chatted whenever they could, filling the void in their lives. Their thoughts were so in tune that they often typed the same thing at the same time, so often, in fact that they almost expected it.

Sometimes they would talk on web cam, falling deeper in love every time they saw each other, but frustrated that 3400 miles still separated them.

They talked on the phone whenever they could, desperate for physical contact.

In August 2010, Tom's younger daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Tom and his wife were returning to England to see their daughters and meet their new grand-daughter.

This would be the only chance for Tom and Sarah to meet up, it might not happen again until May of the following year. They needed to affirm that what they thought they felt for each other was real.

It’s one thing falling in love over a period of months via the internet, but what if they didn’t have the same attraction when they met…..in the flesh? They needed to know, before they could make any decisions regarding their futures.

In August they met, the attraction was instant, their instincts and feelings had not let them down.

In December they moved in together in England and their love is very real.

They have a wonderful loving relationship based on love, affection, total trust and openness. There is nothing they can’t talk to each other about, they talk for hours. They respect each other; they listen to each other and give unconditional support.

Theirs is a very unusual love story. Most internet affairs don’t work, but this is different.

Two people whose paths crossed at a time they both needed more than they were getting in their marriages, found each other.

Not a brief, lustful fling…. after living together for over a year, they know this is real love