On the Carnival Magic cruise ship, Jaene and I met for the first time. It was both our first time on a cruise ship. We both never thought we would find ourselves working on one but we both must've took a leap of faith for one reason or another. Jaene had been there from December 2021, just over a month as covid was coming to an end. I joined a bit later in January 2022 to replace an injured dancer. When I first saw Jaene, I was on a tour through the backstage and there he was in his all black technician uniform. I was immediately interested thinking "wow, who is that?". He stood tall, handsome, and confident and I had absolutely no idea what kind of accent I was hearing but boy did I find it attractive. We had a quick greeting and then I was off to rehearse. Now, Jaene remembers our first meeting a little differently but I'll let you ask him in person the next time you see him. (I’m trying to keep this PG and cute) Jaene would occasionally check in on my individual rehearsals, which made me a little nervous but then of course I would try to impress him and also thought it was kinda cute his interest was being poked. We would later find ourselves chatting on our off time, flirting at the crew bar, and little by little Jaene would make these cute nudges. I remember Jaene would make the places calls for the performers to hear and he would play with how he made them because I told him one time he was funny. The calls would get longer and longer and the cast would say "You know this is because of you". I absolutely loved it, the cast might have other opinions. There was another night where I remember getting butterflies. Jaene and I were at a cabin hangout and we were sitting on these cubes. He moved my cube infront of his and wrapped his arms around me. Then a surprise kiss on the cheek. I was blushing so much, my heart racing in the best way possible. Then finally, Jaene asked me to get coffee out in port. Unfortunately, he had asked me after a big party night and so I had to rain check. But maybe this worked out in my favor haha. In March, Jaene's birthday came around. I made sure to get every crew member in the department to sign the card I had made for him. I decorated his Automation perch with balloons and banners. (maybe a bit much but you only live once, and it didn’t scare him off so we good). We were meant to celebrate in the crew bar but due to weather it was closed, so my cabin it was. It was a blast and that's when we had our very first kiss. <333 Our raincheck finally came and we went out for the day in the Dominican Republic, a pretty unique first date I would think. We started our day with coffee, had a great lunch, and spent the day at the pool. Jaene and I had so much fun in the sun, sliding down the pool slides, laughing and drinking by the pool bar. Jaene even raced this little kid that recognized us from the ship. It was the cutest thing. From then on, it was pretty clear, we were in a relationship. It was easy, romantic, mature and natural. Jaene became my best friend and there was no question that we fell in love with each other. Jaene of course officially asked me to be his girlfriend a few dates later and could you image the call to my mom. Haha “Hi mom, so I’m dating this guy” “oh yea, where is he from” “South Africa”….. And so our story begins… see, I told you it was Magic 😉