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The movie:

We met in the most unexpected way, of course. I was in a tiny bookstore tucked away on a cobblestone street, hiding from the rain, Jaime was thumbing through a travel book he had no intention of buying. And there she was, Katya, standing in the same aisle, reaching for the exact same book. Their hands touched. She laughed. Jaime said something ridiculous about fate and umbrellas. She rolled her eyes, but didn’t walk away.

They ended up sharing a coffee (because the rain didn’t stop, obviously), and three hours passed like three minutes. She told him she loved hiking and hated small talk; He told her he loved long walks and was terrible at flirting — a fact she found out quickly.

That day turned into a weekend, the weekend into a story, and somehow, here they are — still reaching for the same things, only now with both hands.

———

Katya’s story:

In my mind, our story began even before we met. On a spontaneous weekend getaway with a friend, we decided to do something fun after a night flight: a coffee cup reading. Naturally, we asked for juicy love predictions and got completely into it.

The woman looked into my cup and told me she saw a camel and a bird. According to her, the camel represented a very special man—“it could have been a horse,” she said, “but here it’s a camel”—and the bird symbolized happiness and good news. She said I would meet the man of my life very soon.

Strangely enough, less than a month later, I met Jaime. Thankfully, he didn’t look like a camel. And no, it wasn’t love at first sight—he didn’t remind me of any mystical animal—but slowly, I was drawn in by his incredible kindness, his unwavering belief in us, his warmth, and his love.

I should also admit: after our first date, I was secretly hoping he would text me right away. When he postponed the message until 9 p.m. the next day, I was so nervous I nearly gave up on the camel prophecy.

But today, there’s no doubt in my heart that he’s the one. And I feel so lucky for the little bit of magic that brought us together.

———

Jaime’s story:

We met how most people meet these days, a matchmaking algorithm that for some mysterious reason thought that we wouldbe a good fit. Katya must have had a rough night's sleep, clearly too tired to think straight, because for some reason she swipped right.

Sensing my chance, and not giving her time to regain her judgement, I kept her laughing for a few hours and then asked her out. I suggested we meet after work on one of the Amstel bridges -a terrible idea, it was freezing and she was 20 minutes late… but she showed up! and somehow she was even more beautiful in person than in her photos! And she was so fun and entertaining, charming as she always is.

To my surprise, she agreed to have a second date, and then a third… at that point I realized it wasn't just sleep deprivation clouding her judgment, something else was going on.

I've never figured out what it was and I stopped trying.
If you find out, please, do me a favor - don’t tell her.
She makes me happy.

Jokes aside, I’m glad that she saw past all my flaws and my more than questionable firting skills and instead saw all my virtues, as few as they are!

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