Elbahrain.net When Shylo Malcolm’s week in Cuba came to an end, she assumed her vacation romance was ending, too.
Not that she wanted the romance to be over — far from it. Shylo just assumed all vacation flirtations have an obvious end date.
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Shylo tells CNN Travel today.
To her surprise, the object of her affections, Frenchman Yann Dervaux, was keen to share numbers, emails and social media information. In fact, he told her they’d “stay in touch.”
“Yeah, right,” Shylo thought.
She was returning to her life in Ontario, Canada. Yann was going back to his home near Lille, France. Over 3,500 miles would soon stretch between them.
Still, when Shylo boarded her flight back home, she surprised herself by not feeling sad. Instead, she felt a twinge of excitement.
“I’d had such an amazing week, and maybe we wouldn’t see each other again, the future was uncertain,” recalls Shylo. “But I went to Cuba, had the best vacation, had fun with my friends, and I met him …”
Meeting in Cuba
Shylo’s trip to Cuba coincided with her 27th birthday in the summer of 2016. When she imagined turning 27, Shylo envisaged herself lounging on a beach, a drink in her hand, the sun’s warm rays on her skin.
Shylo recruited two of her oldest and best friends — persuading them with the allure of beaches and cocktails aplenty. The trio picked a resort in coastal Varadero, Cuba, known for its stretch of sandy beaches and vibrant bars.
“We were ready to have fun, party it up,” recalls Shylo.
But when the trio arrived at their hotel late one June evening, Shylo had to swallow her disappointment. Nothing seemed to be open, and no one seemed to be around. It definitely wasn’t the party atmosphere she’d anticipated.
Still, after walking around the resort, Shylo and her friends eventually tracked down the only bar at the resort showing signs of life.
They walked inside and glanced around. It was pretty empty. A soccer game blared from a television, and a handful of guys were sitting, beers in hand, watching the screen.
Shylo and her friends raised eyebrows at one another. This still was not the vibe they were after. But they decided if the party wasn’t coming to them, they would have to bring the party. So the trio went to the bar, ordered a round of fruity cocktails and grabbed a table.
Before long, a couple of the guys in the bar turned their attention away from the soccer and to the group of women.
“We all just started talking,” recalls Shylo.
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Shylo tells CNN Travel today.
To her surprise, the object of her affections, Frenchman Yann Dervaux, was keen to share numbers, emails and social media information. In fact, he told her they’d “stay in touch.”
“Yeah, right,” Shylo thought.
She was returning to her life in Ontario, Canada. Yann was going back to his home near Lille, France. Over 3,500 miles would soon stretch between them.
Still, when Shylo boarded her flight back home, she surprised herself by not feeling sad. Instead, she felt a twinge of excitement.
“I’d had such an amazing week, and maybe we wouldn’t see each other again, the future was uncertain,” recalls Shylo. “But I went to Cuba, had the best vacation, had fun with my friends, and I met him …”
Meeting in Cuba
Shylo’s trip to Cuba coincided with her 27th birthday in the summer of 2016. When she imagined turning 27, Shylo envisaged herself lounging on a beach, a drink in her hand, the sun’s warm rays on her skin.
Shylo recruited two of her oldest and best friends — persuading them with the allure of beaches and cocktails aplenty. The trio picked a resort in coastal Varadero, Cuba, known for its stretch of sandy beaches and vibrant bars.
“We were ready to have fun, party it up,” recalls Shylo.
But when the trio arrived at their hotel late one June evening, Shylo had to swallow her disappointment. Nothing seemed to be open, and no one seemed to be around. It definitely wasn’t the party atmosphere she’d anticipated.
Still, after walking around the resort, Shylo and her friends eventually tracked down the only bar at the resort showing signs of life.
They walked inside and glanced around. It was pretty empty. A soccer game blared from a television, and a handful of guys were sitting, beers in hand, watching the screen.
Shylo and her friends raised eyebrows at one another. This still was not the vibe they were after. But they decided if the party wasn’t coming to them, they would have to bring the party. So the trio went to the bar, ordered a round of fruity cocktails and grabbed a table.
Before long, a couple of the guys in the bar turned their attention away from the soccer and to the group of women.
“We all just started talking,” recalls Shylo.
A couple of the men were German — Germany, it turned out, was the soccer team playing that evening. While the German guys were happy to chat to Shylo and her group, they were still half-watching the game.
But one of the guys was French and less bothered by the soccer happenings. And when he mentioned he was French, Shylo was intrigued — she’d always been a bit of a Francophile, dreaming of visiting Paris. Helping matters, Shylo and her friends were all French speakers. Their high school had run a French immersion program, where some of the classes took place entirely in French.
“My friends and I were excited to practice our French, since we hadn’t used it in years,” Shylo recalls. “Immediately we were having a good time.”
The Frenchman — of course — was Yann, a 29-year-old tech expert from who was in Varadero with a group of friends, all of whom had retreated to bed before Shylo and her friends turned up that night.
Shylo thought Yann seemed friendly and sweet but didn’t immediately pinpoint him as a romantic prospect.
Yann, on the other hand, fell for Shylo right away.
“I remember I looked at Shylo, and she was beautiful,” he tells CNN Travel today. “And also attractive — the way she was speaking, and she seemed so happy.”
More rounds of drinks were ordered. The soccer game ended, and the German guys left. But Yann, Shylo and her friends were still in full swing.
“We ended up hanging out late that night,” says Shylo. “Then we went to the beach. I don’t even know what time it was. We were up into the early hours of the morning, hanging out as a group.”
For Shylo, the prospect of a romantic connection with Yann didn’t cross her mind until the group got down onto the beach. Shylo’s two friends suggested a nighttime swim and immediately ran into the water and started frolicking in the ocean. Meanwhile, Shylo stood back. It looked fun, but she was more than a little apprehensive about the inky black water, illuminated only by moonlight.
“I don’t like going into the water when I can’t see,” says Shylo. “Everyone was being spontaneous and going out into the ocean. And I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to do that.’ ”
Noticing Shylo’s hesitance, Yann suggested they could go in together. He offered to give Shylo a piggyback to keep her at a decent distance from the murky depths.
“Come, I’ll take you on my back,” he said, smiling.
Something about Yann’s presence — teamed with Dutch courage from multiple rounds of fruity cocktails — reassured Shylo. She agreed, leaping onto his back.
And that’s when it happened. Shylo realized Yann wasn’t just helping her counter her fear of the ocean. This was definitely flirting
As they waded into the water, laughing and splashing Shylo’s friends as they went, Yann started whispering “sweet nothings” in Shylo’s ear, telling her she was “très belle.”
