You know, thinking back, I basically bought myself a younger life. But after a few years, the truth about my past came out, my husband found out, and it all ended in divorce.
So, I grew up in a small English town, nothing too flashy. After finishing my GCSEs, I went off to a catering college and wrapped that up four years later. I got a job at a local pub doing what I trained for, but after about five years of scraping by on pennies, I realised I wanted more out of life.
Thats when I met Thomas at work he was from London and seemed to know all the right people. I took a chance, travelled to London, and met up with him, asking if he could help me get into university. He didnt say no, but he did make it clear thered be a price. Id managed to save up some cash over the years, so I paid him quite a bit for the favour.
On top of that, I managed to buy myself a whole new set of qualifications. Back then everything was still done on paper, so I got my hands on updated documents that shaved five years off my age and gave me glowing marks all over my new academic record.
With Thomass help, I managed to get into uni.
That changed everything for me. Suddenly my circle was completely different young, lively students were my new friends, and a year later I married Matthew, a nineteen-year-old London lad. I ended up moving into his parents flat with him.
After uni, everything started changing in the country too, you know, the political shift and all that. Matthew and I quickly set ourselves up, rented a tiny place, and opened a little pub. Later on, we managed to buy it outright and became proud owners of our own bar.
Life with Matthew was good, despite us not having children. Then one day, we decided to pay a visit to my childhood village. I caught up with old school friends and classmates. Naturally, I was living a totally different life than them, and honestly, I looked a lot better than the rest. A few were jealous, and one of the lads from school blurted out to Matthew that Id worked in a pub and that I was older than Id let on.
Matthew started accusing me of lying to him. He changed completely, started drinking far too much, and in the end we divorced. We had to split the business, so I bought myself a flat, and Matthew took out a ton of loans with sky-high interest after the split. Everything really just fell apart after that.
Now, Im still working even though Im well past retirement age. I find myself thinking about Thomas sometimes he always said forging documents was mad. But you cant undo the past, can you? The mistakes you make when youre young just stick with you.
The other week, I visited Mum and bumped into an old school friend. Shes been retired for two years, spending her days with her grandchildren and in her vegetable garden, while Im still slogging away at work and my health isnt great. We all do foolish things when were young, only to pay the price later on.
I just wish I knew how to make good on the mess I made all those years ago. Any advice?
