In a story straight out of a feel-good rom-com, a woman has shared how an unlikely romance blossomed between herself and a colleague over the course of the pandemic.
The new couple kept their relationship secret from co-workers for a full year, thanks to coronavirus shutting offices worldwide.
Holly Sandberg, 28, a market researcher, made the move to New York from London in 2020, in search of new adventures and experiences.
She'd only ever visited the US once before but decided to take a chance and make the exciting leap across the pond when a job came up.
After settling into her new position, Holly quickly became close with one colleague, in particular, a fellow newbie named Cam.
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Holly said: “Cam is a dual citizen and worked in the UK office for six months, although our paths rarely crossed there.
“Our company moved him a couple of weeks after me and we became friends as we shared that experience of being ‘newbies’ in the office. For two weeks, we would grab lunch together and spend time walking around exploring the city".
She continued: “One time after work, we went to Central Park together and spent three hours chatting and taking pictures of the moon – it was a very new and blossoming friendship.
“[Initially] there was no romantic attraction on either end and we were both just friendly people who got on well. He’s also four years younger than me and, if anything, I saw him like a younger brother".
After just five weeks of Holly being in the Big Apple, the coronavirus pandemic hit, changing everything, and Cam was her only close friend in the city.
Holly recalled: “I phoned my mum and said that I didn’t know what to do, as I didn’t know anyone in or out of the city.
“We knew that flights were getting cancelled, so it would be difficult to get back. I thought my American adventure was done after just a few weeks".
At this point, Cam was living with his dad, Rick, in New Jersey, and so Holly’s mum persuaded her to see if she could go and stay with them.
Holly said: “I was hesitant as it seemed like a giant ask, but I eventually agreed with her and spent a long time crafting the message.
“He responded straight away to say that he and his dad were talking and, if I felt comfortable, they would gladly let me stay with them for a week or so until things eased up".
And so, after packing up two weeks’ worth of clothes, Holly hopped on the train to New Jersey, where she's lived ever since.
As they were working on the same projects, their work schedules aligned well, and so Holly and Cam ended up spending plenty of time together.
Holly said: “I realised how much of an incredible person he was, as it’s rare to spend that much time with someone and genuinely enjoy every moment of it.
“All of my friends back home kept saying we would end up together, but I was adamant that it wouldn’t happen. After four weeks, I texted my friend: ‘I spend all day with this man, and each night I go to bed, I can’t wait to see him again the next day.’
“A day later, his dad left the house and we both tried yoga together, where we ended up lying on the floor next to one another. That’s when I leaned over and kissed him. Everything felt so right like it was natural for us."
“We fell in love very slowly and it was like we skipped all the dating drama, as I already knew him intimately. We were sneaking around behind his dad’s back for a couple of months, as we were still figuring out what it was between us.
“Cam didn’t want our colleagues to know, which I respected and our friendships were intertwined with work, so we told only very few people.
“This was so lovely, as it gave us time with no pressure to just enjoy being with one another and we were in our own little loved up bubble for a whole summer.”
After leaving the company one year later, the loved-up couple finally told their colleagues about their secret romance.
Holly has since told her movie-worthy love story via TikTok, where her post has since clocked up more than 2.3 million views and 310,000 likes.
One person swooned, "I’d watch the absolute hell out of this show/movie" while another urged her to "Sell the movie rights, buy his dad a house and yourselves a house".
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