Beautiful - love story

It began with a fun, flirty email from Dan Quintin to a colleague - and led to love and marriage. But not with the girl Dan was originally writing to because the message somehow went astray and ended up an amazing 10,000 miles away on the other side of the world. Here Emily Breen, 26, reveals how, thanks to the random email, they are planning to wed and she's made the decision to move from Sydney, Australia, to be with the man she loves. And 28-year-old Dan, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, explains how a chance in a million helped him find the love of his life... Emily's story.com When I got the first email I thought it was a friend playing a prank. I was amused, but a little cautious, so I googled Dan before I did anything else. I also called his office number on the bottom of his email and hung up when he answered. Once I knew this was just a clueless guy sending an email to the wrong girl and nothing more sinister, I dropped him a reply. Why did I respond? It was just a funny little distraction during a mundane day in the office. I didn't think he'd email back and, when he did, I was delighted. I guess it was like finding a message in a bottle, I just wanted to see what would happen. I'm curious by nature. I didn't think I'd ever meet the guy in person. It was only a bit of fun for a while, just harmless banter, until I realised we actually had a lot in common and I was really looking forward to that new email in my inbox every day. It was always the highlight of my morning and I'd get little butterflies when there was a new email sitting there waiting for me. Nothing was off limits - we talked about the ordinary things like what we had for breakfast. Mostly we laughed. Dan's a funny guy and his wit kept me on my toes. The more I learned about him, the more I liked him. The distance actually made it easier to share everything about each other. There was still a part of me which thought this might never go any further and that I'd never end up meeting him. How wrong I was. I knew it was serious when he called me from a nightclub one Saturday night. He said, "This place is full of beautiful girls, and all I want to do is tell them all about you." I'd been feeling the same way for quite a while. Dan was always in my thoughts. I hinted he should come visit, confident we'd have a fantastic time together. Seeing Dan for the first time was the most electric experience of my life. All of a sudden here was the guy I'd shared so much with. There weren't any words, I just kissed him. Our first few days together were magic. Sydney turned on some amazing weather and we spent our time strolling the beaches and soaking up the sun, then talking until all hours of the night. On our second day, Dan asked me if I'd consider marrying him, and I didn't hesitate in saying yes, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. When he "officially" proposed a week ago, I was overwhelmed. I'd just stepped off a plane after 30 hours travelling and there he was on his knee in the Heathrow arrivals hall. After the honeymoon, I'll be moving to England to be with Dan. It was only because he threw caution to the wind and flew out to meet a total stranger that we're able to tell this amazing story of ours. But it's only the beginning for us, we've got so much ahead and I can't imagine anyone else I want to share my life with. Dan's story.com I work in the City as an insurance broker and enjoy a bit of a flirt with some of the girls in the office. In December last year, a new girl started working on the main reception. She was a cute brunette and we used to have a bit of a giggle as I made my way to my desk. One day, I was telling her some bad jokes as usual, and she suggested I drop her an email to keep her amused. I knew her name from her badge and she gave me her private email address - I even repeated her surname. I got upstairs and pinged her a message poking fun at her "dodgy fringe" and then just carried on with my work. When I left for the day she asked where her email was and I was surprised she hadn't got it. I'd forgotten all about it but the following Monday when I got to my desk, I'd received an email from an "Emily". I'd typed the wrong first name, and unwittingly sent it to this unknown "Emily" by mistake. Her reply tickled me. She pointed out her fringe was OK now but that it was a "little dodgy in the 80s". I chuckled and thought I'd email her back and see where it went - and over the next few weeks we sent emails back and forth. She seemed really good fun, we clicked with similar senses of humour, and so we hooked up on Facebook. I had no idea what she'd be like but suddenly there was this beautiful, dark-haired girl smiling back from her profile picture. Her home town read Sydney and I thought, "wow, she's the other side of the world". We carried on messaging each other and exchanged a few texts, phone calls, and the odd free internet telephone conversation via Skype. The conversations got pretty in depth, and because she was on the other side of the planet, I had no reservations a b o u t telling her all about myself. I honestly never thought I'd actually get to meet her. But one day I remember she signed off one of her emails with "you should come visit", and a few taps on the keyboard later, I'd booked a flight. The next thing I knew I was flying to Australia for a date. During my 30-hour flight, I kept thinking about what to say and do when I first laid eyes on her. She met me at arrivals looking stunning. I was speechless, and couldn't stop smiling. The spark was immediate and so intense. I had the most amazing four days of my life with her in Sydney. She introduced me to all her friends, we even jumped on a plane to Tasmania to meet her parents, although they were still unaware of how we met. Everyone could see how much we were in love. When I arrived back in the UK, I received an invite to my best friend's wedding, with a "plus one" so I asked her to come, and before I knew it, she had booked a flight! I said I'd pick her up from Heathrow, but little did she know that I'd be in the arrivals lounge, in front of hundreds of people, on one knee, with a Tiffany ring, so I could utter the words: "Will you marry me?" I introduced her to my family over dinner at a fancy restaurant, and another thing she didn't know was that her parents had secretly flown over from Tasmania the day before to surprise her at dinner, and see the ring. It was quite an experience for all of us. I admit it's a very unusual way to meet "the one". My friends think it's hilarious. I, like a lot of other people, think it must be fate. We've already booked the big day. We're getting married in Tasmania in February 2011, we've booked the honeymoon in Phuket, and Em has even said she wants to live here with me in Britain. We're planning on buying a little cottage and are looking forward to getting old together. I still see the girl I was supposed to email, she has even started taking credit for introducing us. The mind boggles that simply forgetting someone's first name has led to me meeting the woman of my dreams.