It was love at first sight when Metro reader Michael Nobbs noticed a girl in his train carriage one sunny August morning in 2008.
But because he had a stutter, Michael didn’t have the confidence to say hello and would wave at her every day instead.
He said: ‘When I saw her on the train from Hitchin to King’s Cross, I knew instantly that this was the only person I ever wanted to be with.
‘It sounds like the easiest thing in the world to go over and say hello but if you’ve a speech impediment like my stutter, it’s so difficult.’
In desperation, Michael placed a Rush-Hour Crush message in Metro. It read: ‘Train lady with dark brown hair. I’m the dark-haired stranger on the train but I’m too shy to come over. Would you like to meet up?’
The object of his affection, teaching assistant Sarah, missed the message. Then Michael’s shifts changed and he stopped taking the train. But Sarah carried on looking out for him.
Purely by chance, they met again in a crowded London street. He says: ‘We bumped into each other. After months apart, fate took a hand.’
Michael, a 41-year-old finance worker, invited Sarah to share a picnic on a park bench in Lincoln’s Inn Fields — and two years later a copy of Metro helped him to propose.
‘I felt the commute and Metro were part of our story,’ he said.
Michael sought permission from Camden Council to have a plaque on their usual bench — which asked her to marry him.
‘I covered the plaque with my copy of Metro and when Sarah got up, the paper dropped and revealed the proposal,’ he said. ‘I went down on one knee and we never looked back.’
The couple now live in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, with their six-year-old daughter Rita.
Now, as they approach their ten-year anniversary, Michael has placed a Valentine message in today’s Rush-Hour Crush as a surprise for Sarah, 35, and we were happy to help.
He said: ‘I wanted to do something nice. When we met, I was so shy, I couldn’t even say hello. But my amazing wife has made me the person I am now.’
Rush Hour Crush – love (well, lust) is all around us
Visit Metro’s Rush Hour Crush online every weekday at 4:30pm.
Tell us about your Rush Hour Crush by submitting them here, and you could see your message published on the site.
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Download the Metro newspaper app here.
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