Demi had been going to the same hairdresser for over seven years, and during all that time, he never stopped giving her advice about finding the right man. He would always tell her to stop wasting time on “losers” and to find someone who would treat her well. Demi’s response was always the same: “There’s no one in Miami.”

But one day, her hairdresser decided to play matchmaker. He sent her a man’s profile and claimed, “I’ve got the guy for you.” He told Demi that this man, Paul, had liked a photo of hers he posted on his Instagram story. Later, she found out the truth—Paul hadn’t liked any photo at all; her hairdresser had simply been trying to nudge her into giving it a chance. The hairdresser went so far as to tell Paul that “Demi is waiting for you to text her,” while simultaneously telling Demi, “Paul is waiting for you to text him.” It was his clever trick to make one of them take the first step.

Demi, curious but skeptical, decided to text Paul first.

Their first date was at Demi’s favorite restaurant, Avra in Sunny Isles. Demi was immediately drawn to Paul’s easy-going attitude and dry sense of humor. He didn’t seem to care about anything too seriously, which intrigued her. However, Paul had a different impression of the night. He thought Demi would be going home with him that evening, and after dinner, he kept her outside her house for almost two hours, trying to prolong the night. Demi even snuck inside for a quick “potty break” to escape the situation for a minute. Finally, after much persistence, Paul reluctantly let her leave.

They didn’t talk much after that night. In fact, Demi went on another date with someone else, and during that week, she ended up at Cipriani’s. Unbeknownst to her, Paul was sitting at a table across the room. He spotted her right away, and after seeing her, he texted the next day: “I saw you last night… let’s start over.”

Since then, Demi and Paul have been inseparable, and what started as a hairdresser’s matchmaking experiment turned into a love story neither of them could have predicted.

P.S. He’s not from Miami—he’s from New York.