Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Balcony Above Naples
A Naples alley divides two balconies, and every morning the neighbours hang their washing across the gap. One day a sheet falls, and they have to talk.
Stories tagged “romance”
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Beekeeper's Garden
Tina inherits her grandfather's beehives beside a Slovenian lake. The neighbour who has tended them, Matej, says the bees only work for someone who listens.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Bridge Painters
Réka joins a night crew painting a Danube bridge. Her harness partner Gábor has terrible jokes and an annoying habit of being right about knots.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Cable Car
A cable car above Tbilisi stops mid-air with Nino and a stranger inside. Giorgi is calm, funny, and has a bag of walnut-stuffed churchkhela he insists on sharing.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Cardamom Café
Selin owns a small café in Istanbul's Kadıköy and knows every regular's order. The quiet architect at the corner table has never once told her his name.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Clockmaker's Door
Veronika's grandfather's watch stops on her first morning in Prague. The only repair shop open is a crooked doorway in the Old Town, and its clockmaker is not in a hurry.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Cold Brew
A Melbourne laneway barista knows every regular's order except one. A quiet man on the corner stool never orders, and always draws in a sketchbook.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Diamond Cutter's Apprentice
Mila starts as an apprentice in a family diamond workshop in Antwerp. The master cutter, Joris, speaks to stones, and to nobody else, until she asks him what they say.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Glassblower's Daughter
Chiara has spent her life at her father's glass furnace on Murano. A visiting architect wants to modernise it, and she refuses to let anyone change their work.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Last Appointment
A Seoul stylist agrees to a last-minute appointment ten minutes before closing. The nervous client wants a new look for a new life, and an honest talk follows.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Harbour Lights
Elin closes her Hamburg harbour café at night. Then a soaked stranger knocks on the glass, having missed the last ferry, and asks for coffee.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Ice Cream Van
On the Brighton seafront, an ice cream seller has never sold a cone to the lifeguard on the tower. Then he starts coming by every afternoon for the same flavour.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Jazz Cellar
In a New Orleans jazz cellar, a trumpeter who has been watching a regular for months stops mid-song to ask her name. Her late husband used to come here too.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Lake House Caretaker
A city artist takes a winter job caring for an empty Lake District house. The local handyman, Owen, is stubborn, and the house has a locked room nobody will discuss.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Last Dance Card
At a Stockholm wedding, Freja's dance card is full except for one slot. The man who fills it is the best man, the one she was once told to avoid.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Last Show at the Harbour Cinema
A Glasgow harbour cinema is closing after seventy years. Its last projectionist, Kirsty, lets a reporter named Callum watch the final films from the booth.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Letters from Galway
After a year of letters, Aoife steps off the Dublin bus in Galway to meet Cian. He is late, windswept and holding a bunch of slightly crushed tulips.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Lighthouse Diner
A woman inherits a failing diner beside a dark Maine lighthouse. The roofer fixing it insists she taste his grandmother's blueberry pie before she decides to sell.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Midnight Sun Marathon
Dísa trains for a midnight-sun marathon in Reykjavik, and her pacer, Arnar, runs beside her every evening, talking about volcanoes, bad poetry and the rest of her life.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Motorbike Taxi
Linh is late for a Hanoi job interview when the rain hits. The only free ride is Minh's motorbike taxi, and he insists on a shortcut through the lantern streets.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Night Market
Mei finds one empty stool at the best noodle stall in Taipei. Jonathan, a visiting engineer, has the stool next to it and absolutely no idea how to order.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Pianist's Room
Anna rents a room above a Vienna concert hall. A pianist practises every night below her, and one evening his voice calls up the stairs.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Reading Group
A Dublin book club has been stuck on one novel for months. A newcomer, Niamh, argues with the only member who finished it, and the argument becomes a real conversation.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Record Shop
In Berlin's Kreuzberg, a vinyl shop owner meets the only regular who never buys a record. Every Friday he asks for something obscure, and she starts to hope he returns.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Rooftop Bar in Lagos
A sudden downpour traps Folake and a stranger under the only umbrella on a Lagos rooftop bar. Tunde is a structural engineer who cannot stop admiring the skyline.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Rooftop Cinema
A rooftop film night in Mexico City loses its projector. The only person who can fix it is a sound technician who likes to hide at the back.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Salsa Lessons
Valentina joins a Cartagena salsa class after a breakup. Her partner, Andrés, the teacher's nephew, is qualified only by not minding being stepped on.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Salt and Sugar
In a Lisbon bakery that opens before dawn, a pastry chef meets a delivery driver who keeps coming back for her custard tarts. The first one is always the best.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Sculptor's Studio
Sofia is hired to assist a sculptor in the marble quarries above Carrara. Marco is a demanding master who hates interruptions and secretly admires her steady hands.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Sea Glass
A sea glass collector on a Cornish beach finds a rival hunting the same treasure. Their competition over the best pieces turns into shared tides and cold tea.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Second Language
Hugo takes Spanish lessons in Madrid to speak to his grandmother properly. His tutor, Lucía, is patient and sharp, and their third lesson is about feelings.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Soup for Two
A broken stove on the coldest night of a Montreal winter sends Léa downstairs to her neighbour Samir, who cooks lentil soup and listens to her hum.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Morning Ferry
Yuki takes the 6:40 ferry across the bay every morning. When a stranger takes her usual seat, she plans to be annoyed. He offers her half his tea instead.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Chess Club
Sofía plays chess every Sunday in a Buenos Aires park. One Sunday a stranger sits down across from her and refuses to let her win.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Girlfriend Who Dared
Tia and Jesse have dated for a year. Tia has a jar of thirty small, safe dares, and Jesse draws the first card. Day one is more honest than either expected.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Rooftop Garden
Hana's tomatoes are dying on a Melbourne rooftop. Theo, the neighbour on the next roof, has the sunniest spot in the building and a very helpful opinion.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Tram 28
Inês rides Tram 28 every night after her shift. Rui, the driver, has noticed. On the last run, a power cut stops the tram halfway up the hill.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
Tuesdays on the Ice
A skating teacher who has skated alone on a Helsinki pond for ten years meets a clumsy engineer who falls at her feet and asks her to teach him.
Romance & Sensual · 2 parts
The Wine Cellar
Camille, a wine critic, tastes a Bordeaux estate's new vintage during the harvest. Thomas, the reserved winemaker, makes her taste everything twice.