We met over six years ago, back when I (Audrey) was in college and working part-time at a local coffee shop. One of the owners was friends with Connor, and he would stop in some Saturdays to visit her—usually right around noon, when I was changing shifts. At first, I just thought he was kind, funny, and easy to talk to. Nothing more than a pleasant distraction during a busy workday… or so I told myself. But over time, I started to notice something. Connor didn’t always leave when his friend did. He lingered—just a little longer each time—turning ordinary Saturdays into something I quietly looked forward to. On slower afternoons, I’d work on homework at one of the tables. I was taking Intro to Statistics then, and as luck would have it, Connor had a degree in statistics. He offered to help, and somewhere between equations and coffee refills, our conversations began to feel effortless. (I did end up with a 95% in the class, after all.) Soon, we were spending hours together at the coffee shop, and eventually Connor asked me out to breakfast one Saturday morning before my shift. Afterward, he walked me to work to grab a coffee and say hello to his friend. She left not long after—but Connor stayed. He read, worked on his computer, and kept me company in that quiet, comforting way that already felt familiar. When my shift finally ended, he was still there. “Let’s go to dinner,” he said. And just like that, our day stretched on, as neither of us was quite ready for it to end. In that moment, it was clear—this wasn’t just a first date, or a coincidence, or a Saturday that happened to last a little longer than planned. It was the beginning of something real, something lasting, and something we both somehow knew had been waiting for us all along.