It happened on a dark and stormy night. No, wait. That’s not how our story begins. Sorry, let’s try this again.

In 2006, Maria and Jadrian were both in grad school at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. One autumn evening, Maria and her roommates hosted a potluck dinner for her grad school friends. Little did she know that Jadrian Miles would walk into her life. Neither of them remember who invited him, but Maria does remember, for some strange reason, what he brought to the potluck: spaghetti. She doesn’t remember what anyone else brought.

Maria and Jadrian each thought the other was an energetic and fun person to be around, and over the next few years, they saw each other here and there: at grad student socials, at Jadrian’s spaghetti-night dinners, when Maria needed to test drive a car she wanted to buy, and when Jadrian wanted to light an old Christmas tree on fire. They enjoyed their time together, and it was always very platonic and amongst friends. Little did Maria know that Jadrian was an expert at concealing his crushes.

In Summer 2009, Jadrian came over to Maria’s apartment to help her dismantle some furniture as she was moving back to New York City to determine her next move in life. For reasons unknown to her, Jadrian decided to use the last time they’d really see each other with these parting words: “Maria, I want you to know that you are beautiful just the way you are.” Jadrian walked out Maria’s door shortly after, leaving her to puzzle over his words for a minute before she returned to packing and promptly forgot the exchange. Maria moved to San Carlos, California and embraced the San Francisco Bay area for four years while Jadrian continued his PhD in computer science at Brown. But thanks to their mutual friend, Sabrina, and Jadrian’s tendency to travel to California for various reasons, the two reunited in California and sang karaoke and did San Francisco things whenever Jadrian was in town.

Fast forward to August 2013. Jadrian moved from Providence to Minneapolis to start a teaching job at Carleton College. Just a couple weeks later, he got a text message from Maria: “Hey Jadrian, I just moved back to Providence from California!” He wrote back right away: “That’s wonderful! I hope you love it. I just moved to Minneapolis!” Maria had even moved to Jadrian’s old neighborhood on the west side of Providence, so he recommended a local CSA to her. And that was the last they heard from each other for a few years.

Maria moved from Providence to Boston in January 2016. A year later, Jadrian moved to Cambridge, right across the river from Boston, and looked on Facebook to see who he knew around town. He was amazed to discover that Maria had moved and they lived close to each other again, after almost eight years. He sent all his Boston friends a message on Facebook to let them know about his move. Maria was thrilled to learn that her fun friend was back in town. Jadrian invited Maria to his housewarming party, and Maria invited Jadrian to join her and her friends at a local concert. They started getting brunch every few weeks with another friend, and Jadrian learned that Maria was single and looking for a partner. He filed that away in his mind.

Then one Spring day, Maria invited several friends to Easter brunch at a restaurant in Back Bay, Boston. Not sure who would show up, Maria was pleasantly surprised when Jadrian arrived, after a morning at the beach no less! Maria’s other friends didn’t show up for the brunch so Jadrian and Maria found themselves having a friend date. The two exchanged stories, and after brunch, since the weather was so gorgeous, they proceeded to walk along the Charles River. Their friend date lasted about six hours, and this is when Maria started to regard Jadrian as someone who could be more than a friend. As he was heading home, Jadrian called his friend Sabrina, who knew he’d had a crush on Maria for years, to tell her about their proto-romantic walk along the river. “So,” she asked, “do you have the guts to ask her out?” Jadrian answered, “of course not — how long have you known me?!”

Three months later, Maria invited Jadrian to join her at the International Sand Sculpture Festival in Revere, Massachusetts. There’s a lot to be said about two single “youths” at a beach in the summer, even if they're in their thirties. There was magic in the air that beautiful, sunny afternoon because Jadrian finally tried out his smooth line, nearly eleven years after he and Maria met: “would you want to turn hanging out together into going out on dates together?” Maria replied, “I thought you’d never ask!” They parted ways, but reunited several hours later for the ultimate date night: watching the midnight showing of the movie Black Swan at the Coolidge Corner movie theater. Maria brought cheesecake, and Jadrian had such butterflies in his stomach that he forgot to lock up his bike. And the rest is history…