On a sweltering September night, Rena and Steven both found themselves at a NYC YJP singles event, drawn together by great conversation and the kind of overpriced drinks that make you very open to meeting new people. The connection was instant. The follow-through, however, was not. Steven, in a move he will never live down, forgot to ask for Rena’s number. Luckily, fate had already downloaded Hinge. They reconnected online shortly after, and their first date quickly became the stuff of rom-com legend: bagels, a Banksy exhibit, and a spontaneous street fair, all wrapped in effortless conversation and the quiet, unmistakable feeling that something was different here. As they spent more time together, they began uncovering an uncanny number of times their paths had crossed, mutual friends, overlapping circles, and, most remarkably, a mutual friend’s wedding nine years earlier, along with countless other occasions where they’d somehow been in the same orbit without connecting. It turns out the universe had been trying to introduce them for nearly a decade. It just needed them to both be on their phones at the right moment. Once life finally decided the timing was right, they haven’t stopped laughing since. And when Steven wanted to make it official, he chose the perfect setting. Knowing how much Rena loves Broadway, he surprised her with a show, then dropped to one knee in Shubert Alley, where the magic of theater lives even between performances. She said yes. (The overpriced drinks were not involved this time, but the laughter absolutely was.)