MEANT TO BE

When Marwa Houma, 33, from Croydon, tried lunch at a brand-new restaurant, she had no idea where it would lead her...

- ALICE WILLIAMSON & HATTIE BISHOP.

Digging into my lunch at a French brasserie in Southwood, I saw a man strolling over, dressed in chef’s whites.

‘Hi there,’ he said. ‘How are you this afternoon?’

‘Good, thank you!’ I replied, distracted by his handsome face and big muscles.

‘I’m the chef here,’ he explained. ‘I hope you’re enjoying your lunch, I just wondered if you had any plans for dinner?’

Was he asking me out?

I was 27 at the time and could tell he must have been at least 10 years older.

But I also loved his confidence.

‘I don’t have any plans...’ I replied, sheepishly. ‘I think

I’ll actually be skipping dinner this evening and going to the gym instead.’

Our conversation quickly turned to our mutual love of swimming – it turned out we used the same pool!

‘I can’t believe I haven’t seen you before,’ I said.

Before we knew it, 10 minutes had passed and it was time for us to part ways.

‘Well, I’d love to take you out sometime,’ he said. ‘Let’s swap numbers and we can organise a date.’

Walking out of the restaurant, I was in complete shock.

I thought that things like this only happened in movies!

While some people may have found it strange, I didn’t.

I had this feeling that, in those short moments, I had found something special.

And, excitement setting in, I spent that evening anxiously waiting for a text from Malcolm.

True to his word, I received a text a few hours later.