The Japanese use the word 縁（えん）– En to describe those bonds that seem written by fate—encounters that happen at the right time, in the right place, as if guided by an invisible thread.

We like to think that our story began just like that, during the strange and uncertain time of the pandemic.

Sometimes you search everywhere, convinced that what you’re looking for is hidden in some remote corner of the world. Then you discover it was right there all along, just a few steps from home.

Covid brought with it many problems and countless challenges, it’s true. But it also had the unexpected power to stop Beatrice, for a while, in the very place where she grew up—the same place she had spent years wanting to leave behind.

For years, we lived just a few meters apart, went to the same places, the same sports center, without ever crossing paths.

Maybe the world really did need to stop for a year and a half so that we could finally meet.

We hated you, dear pandemic... but, in a strange way, we have you to thank for bringing us together.

It all started in a place Beatrice never imagined calling “my office”: a padel center.

A world that seemed so far from hers… yet so close to Matteo’s.

Between one match and another (not too many, to be honest—everyone knows who the real athlete is), a few sunny walks, and many late-night conversations, we discovered we had much more in common than we ever imagined.

And that’s how it all began.

A home, a little dog, a few bumps along the way and many milestones later, the moment came—right in the heart of one of our travels.

On a warm August evening, surrounded by the magic of one of the world’s most surprising cities—with the sea on one side and a thousand lights shining in the night—Matteo turned to Beatrice to ask the question.

You know how the story ends.

You do know it… right?

Did you know that Beatrice didn’t even let him finish the question?