Nicole was fed up with younger men. Then she hit a surprise jackpot…
Kicking my heels off and throwing my handbag on the floor, I slumped down on the sofa feeling totally fed up.
‘No good then?’ my mum asked, pausing the programme she was watching.
‘I’m sick of dating immature guys,’ I replied.
At 18, the boys my age were childish and uncertain of themselves.
I wanted someone more mature.
With that in mind, I logged on to Tinder and pushed my age limit all the way to 55.
Scrolling through, I was surprised by how many older men I found attractive.
Then one in particular caught my eye.
His name was Michael.
He was 51, making him 33 years older than me.
Old enough to be my grandad!
It didn’t put me off.
Swiping right, a huge grin spread across my face when we matched.
Minutes later, Michael sent me a message.
You’re so beautiful, he wrote.
It made my heart flip and I replied straightaway.
We started talking and I was shocked by how much we had in common.
The messages flowed so easily between us and soon we were talking every day.
After six months of building a relationship online, I felt ready to meet him. We arranged to meet at a shopping centre and I told him I was bringing a friend with me.
I wanted to be sure of his intentions before we met on our own.
When the day came, my stomach was doing somersaults.
‘Do you think this is crazy?’ I asked my friend.
‘Completely bonkers,’ she replied. ‘But you can’t help who you like.’
Once we arrived at the shopping centre, I spotted him instantly.
To my relief he looked exactly like his pictures.
Clocking us, he walked over.
‘Wow,’ he said. ‘You’re even more beautiful in real life.’
We spent a couple of hours walking around and chatting.
I was nervous, but Michael was kind and patient with me.
He seemed so confident in himself — it attracted me to him even more.
We met again the following evening.
After that, we were inseparable.
After spending every night at his house for a few weeks, Michael had an idea.
‘I think you should move in,’ he said.
‘I’d love to,’ I replied.
I lived with my mum, so I went home to run it past her first.
‘I’m moving in with Michael,’ I told her.
I hadn’t been completely honest about his age, so it was time to come clean.
‘Also, he’s 33 years older than me,’ I said.
Her eyes grew so wide I thought they might pop out of her head.
‘Please give him a chance,’ I begged.
Later, Michael came round and I braced myself for Mum’s reaction.
But to my surprise, she was perfectly pleasant.
‘As long as you’re serious about her,’ Mum said, ‘then I’m happy for you both.’
‘Thank you,’ Michael said.
‘I promise I will take good care of her.’
And that’s exactly what he did.
He was always making sure I was OK and would spoil me with gifts.
I couldn’t have asked for a more caring, attentive boyfriend.
One day, I was having a bad time at work and I phoned Michael in tears.
‘Resign if it’s making you miserable,’ he said.
‘But I can’t just resign,’ I replied. ‘What would I do about money?’
‘I’ll support you,’ he said.
With the offer on the table, I handed in my notice.
When I got back home, I asked Michael to lay down the rules.
‘What am I allowed to spend?’ I asked him.
‘Whatever you want,’ he said. ‘Money is no object.’
Michael was retired and had made a lot of money in stocks.
I couldn’t believe my luck.
I had my very own sugar daddy!
If I ever needed money for something, all I had to do was ask and Michael would hand over his credit card.
He bought me a new wardrobe of clothes, designer bags and expensive jewellery.
We ate out in fancy restaurants all the time too.
People would sometimes stare at us, but we didn’t mind in the slightest.
One time when we were shopping a male shop assistant came over to us.
‘Has your daughter seen anything she likes?’ he said to Michael.
Both of us burst out laughing.
‘He’s not my dad,’ I said.
‘He’s my boyfriend.’
Turning bring red, the shop assistant apologised before scurrying away.
Michael also paid for all my beauty treatments.
I started having Botox and fillers regularly, as well as having my nails and hair done.
Then one day my friend came over to visit, after having a Brazilian bum lift.
‘What do you think?’ she asked, twirling round and showing off her perfect peach.
‘You look amazing,’ I said.
That evening I spoke to Michael.
‘Will you buy me a Brazilian bum lift?’ I asked him.
‘What’s that?’ he asked.
‘It’s a plastic surgery procedure,’ I told him. ‘They inject fat into your buttocks to make it rounder.’
I could tell from his face he wasn’t sold on the idea.
‘I’ve heard horror stories about plastic surgery,’ he said. ‘What if something happens to you?’
‘It won’t,’ I said. ‘I’ll use the same doctor as my friend — she made a full recovery.’
‘I’ll think about it,’ he said.
A couple of days later, he gave me the green light.
I was thrilled.
‘You won’t regret it,’ I said with a wink.
The next morning, I booked a phone consultation and the surgeon explained that they would take fat from other parts of my body.
‘Liposuction at the same time,’ I said, winking at Michael gleefully.
The date for the surgery was booked in and Michael paid for it all.
When the day finally came, I was buzzing with excitement.
I took my friend with me, but Michael was in constant contact, checking I was OK.
We were apart for 10 days in total.
It was unbearable.
But when I saw the results for the first time it was all worth it.
‘This is the best thing you’ve ever bought me,’ I told Michael.
He loved my new, curvier shape too.
‘You look smoking hot,’ he said.
Straightaway I started thinking about my next procedure.
‘I think I’ll have a nose job next,’ I told Michael.
He rolled his eyes.
‘Recover from the bum lift first,’ he said.
About two years into our relationship, I decided to go public with Michael on social media.
I’d worried about posting about our relationship before then.
I was scared about the reaction we’d get, but I no longer cared.
The first post I put on TikTok gained 900,000 views.
‘Oh my God,’ I said, showing Michael.
He had no interest in social media, but even he was surprised by the attention we were getting.
I started posting regularly about my sugar daddy and my views increased.
One post even got a whopping 15 million views.
Some of the comments people left were horrible, which we expected, but there was a lot of love and support from people too.
At the end of the day, age is just a number.
I love Michael and know we have a future together.
We’ve spoken about marriage and having kids.
We want both, but he’ll have to wait for the latter.
I won’t be ruining the results of my surgery any time soon.
Nicole Downs, 22