It Started with a Morning Shopping List

When I logged into datingformature.com, I didn’t have big expectations. I was looking more for conversation than a relationship, for calm more than excitement. Loneliness had become familiar to me — it wasn’t bad, it just was. Yet something inside me still believed that somewhere out there, someone thinking the same way might be waiting.

Marek was the first to write. No clichés, no rehearsed phrases. His message began with the words: “You know, morning coffee really tastes better when someone is sitting next to you.” I smiled. There was more in the simplicity of those words than in dozens of messages I’d received before.

We started writing. Not every day, but regularly. About morning routines, walks around the neighborhood, favorite books, and how hard it is to find a true conversation. We didn’t rush. With each email, I felt something quiet but real forming between us.

After a few weeks, Marek suggested meeting. “How about morning shopping at the market? No fuss. Just vegetables, coffee, and some conversation.” I was surprised. But I felt that this tone — simple, without pressure — was exactly what I needed.

We met by the old clock on the corner of the market. Marek had a linen bag, slightly messy hair, and a warm, somewhat tired smile. We greeted each other as if we had known each other for years.

We strolled leisurely between the stalls. We stopped by the apples, laughed at the names of unfamiliar cheeses, talked about whether lavender really helps with sleep. Marek remembered my little details — that I liked seeded bread, that I picked only carrots with tops, that I had a soft spot for dried plums.

I felt natural with him. I didn’t have to be funnier, younger, or more interesting. It was enough just to be myself.

After shopping, we sat on a bench in a nearby park. The bags rustled with lettuce leaves; between us, you could smell fresh bread and apples. We sat in silence, which was far from awkward.

Marek spoke first:

- I thought I didn’t know how to meet people anymore. But with you… it’s like we just missed each other for a moment and now we’re back in the right place.

I looked ahead but felt the warmth of those words settle deep beneath my ribs.

Since then, market shopping has become our ritual. Sometimes we go just for bread but come back with a pumpkin, cheese, and a new story to tell. Sometimes we sit in the same café under the linden tree and watch how the morning light changes.

There are no grand declarations, but there is tenderness in the little things. In how Marek brings me coffee without asking, knowing exactly how I like it. In how I remember that he likes smoked cheese that’s not available in every store.

Love — if that’s what it is — didn’t come with fireworks. It came with a shopping list, with the question,

- Do you feel like a pear? - and with the calm that I can be myself.

And although there are still evenings when each of us sits in our own armchair, the mornings… the mornings belong to us now.