It was late afternoon in Salvador. The sun painted the sky orange when I arrived at the small café where I had arranged to meet Paola.
We had known each other for only a few months, but it felt like we had shared a lifetime of stories.
When she entered the café and saw me looking out the window,
"Do you always arrive early?" she asked, sitting down.
"Only when it's worthwhile," I replied, smiling.
She rolled her eyes, but smiled too.
In the beginning, their relationship was full of discoveries. Walks on the beach, conversations until dawn, plans that seemed too big for two people who had just met.
But, as in almost every relationship, not everything was simple.
One day, after a silly argument about work and time together, Paola fell silent. I noticed something different.
"Are you angry?" I asked.
"No… I'm just thinking," she replied.
After a few seconds, she continued:
"Loving someone isn't difficult." It's hard to learn how to share life.
I thought about it for a moment.
"Maybe it's like dancing," I said. "Sometimes one steps on the other's foot, but the music keeps going."
She smiled...
"So you're saying we're two bad dancers?"
"Maybe…" I said. "But we're trying to dance together."
She reached across the table and took my hands.
At that moment, neither of us knew exactly what the future held. But we knew one thing: relationships aren't perfect.
They're made of attempts, mistakes, difficult conversations… and choosing to stay, even when it would be easier to leave.
And that night, as the city lights began to come on, we continued to dance together and decided to keep dancing together to this day 💛