'We didn't know how much the Coronavirus would change everything.'
Luciano and I met in July 2017, he is from San Francisco and I live in south west London. We met in a pub in Fulham when he was in the UK on business and I was having a sneaky and spontaneous afternoon drink with a friend after a meeting finished early. Neither of us should have been there, so it was a real fateful meeting.
He came and sat on the edge of our table and we got talking. We ended up having a wild fling during his few days in London and then briefly saw each other again in Germany a few months later when he was on another business trip and I flew over for a dinner date. After we said our goodbyes, things quietened down for the next 18 months and we didn’t talk much, aside from the occasional WhatsApp.
Then, out of the blue last January, he got back in touch and somehow persuaded me to fly over to California soon after. I took a real risk going there and was terrified that it might end up being a disaster but as soon as I hugged him at the airport, I knew it was the right decision. I felt as if I had come home. During that trip he introduced me to all his friends and family and I visited him again in August. He came to London too and we spent Christmas and New Year together in California.
This was the first time it really hit home how serious the situation was and I remember trying to get onto the plane’s Wifi to message Luc as I was so scared. None of the messages went through and then they all delivered to him at once when I landed. He called me straight away in a panic and we were both terrified. By the time I got to the luggage carousel I was in tears.
When the US enforced a travel ban, we were devastated. I’ve booked a three-month trip to see him in July but have no idea if things will have settled by then. I was hoping to return in October and then begin applying for a visa. I was already in talks with an estate agent to rent out my flat, and speaking to immigration lawyer, with plans to hand in my notice at work and start my own business.
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