He flew to Paris to surprise his girlfriend, while she traveled to Edinburgh to surprise him.

When Finlay McAfee took a flight from Edinburgh to Paris to surprise his girlfriend Salma, he knew it was a bold, romantic gesture.

"I wasn’t trying to compare it to any movies or romantic comedies," McAfee shares with Dinogo Travel.

Still, anyone who's seen a few films knows that a surprise trip to one of the world’s most stunning cities, followed by an unexpected reunion at the airport, has been the plot of many iconic cinematic moments.

It was January 2017, and McAfee, a 23-year-old student at Edinburgh University, had the idea to book his flight after discussing it with his roommate, Adam Jenkins. Jenkins laughed, calling it both silly and sweet.

McAfee called his father for final approval. His dad thought it was a fantastic idea, so McAfee went ahead with it: the flight was booked.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend, 21-year-old Salma Saade, was returning to Edinburgh from Beirut.

Saade had a one-day layover planned in Paris and was traveling solo. McAfee decided he’d surprise her at Charles de Gaulle airport.

In theory, what could possibly go wrong? There were only a few flights between Beirut and Paris, so McAfee was confident he had figured out which one Saade was on.

What McAfee didn’t know was that just as he boarded his flight from Edinburgh to Paris, Saade was already landing in Scotland’s capital.

It turns out, she had changed to an earlier flight, with the same intention: to surprise her partner and reunite a day ahead of schedule.

Neither of them knew they had both passed through Edinburgh Airport at the same time. To make matters worse, the airport was so small, they could have easily crossed paths. And if Saade had messaged McAfee as soon as she landed, he might have avoided boarding his flight altogether.

"It’s wild to think about, we probably walked right past each other at some point in Edinburgh Airport," says McAfee.

The missed connection.

Fast forward to January 2021, and Saade and McAfee are still together, now living in London. McAfee works as a software engineer, while Saade is employed by the Scottish National Party.

Today, they're on a Zoom call, sipping coffee in their kitchen and reminiscing about the early days of their relationship—and the near miss at the airport.

"We'd only been dating for three months," McAfee recalls.

"Yeah, more like two and a half months," Saade adds. "It was our first time being apart."

"We really missed each other," McAfee says, looking back.

"The first time you're apart is always the hardest," Saade agrees.

When Saade stepped off her flight in Edinburgh, she chose not to contact McAfee immediately. She was exhausted from the journey and wanted to go home, freshen up, and then surprise him at his flat.

"I was so excited to be back with my boyfriend... and then I realized we weren’t in the same place," she laughs.

Saade realized something had gone awry when, back at her apartment, she sent McAfee’s roommate a message.

"Hey Adam, do you know if Finlay’s at the flat? I’m back a day early and want to surprise him," she texted.

"He just flew to Paris," Adam replied. "To do the exact same thing. Like literally."

Saade couldn’t believe it.

"I honestly thought he was joking with me," she says.

She immediately texted her boyfriend: "Please tell me you’re not in Paris, lol."

When there was no reply, she tried calling him. But as McAfee didn’t answer, the truth of the situation began to hit her.

"It was a mix of disbelief, frustration, and, honestly, I found it pretty hilarious," Saade recalls.

"COME BACK, I’M HERE," she typed. "HERE, AS IN EDINBURGH, NOT PARIS."

"I’M SORRY, I WAS TRYING TO BE CUTE. PLEASE COME BACK NOW."

"Hahaha," McAfee responded, still shocked that his surprise had backfired so completely. "Wow. I’m in Paris."

Saade quickly booked McAfee a hotel near the airport in Paris for the night, while McAfee updated his Facebook status:

"Anyone in Paris? I flew in to surprise Salma, but she flew back to surprise me, and now I’ve got 12 hours to kill."

The post got 173 likes, and the comments started pouring in: "This situation is trophy-worthy," one friend joked.

"Your love is literally killing the planet," quipped another.

Since no friends were in Paris, McAfee spent the day wandering solo, capturing a moody selfie in front of Notre Dame and, of course, snapping the iconic shot of the glowing Eiffel Tower.

The following day, he returned to Edinburgh. Saade picked him up at the airport, marking her second visit in just as many days.

She was simply relieved to see him again, she says, and glad everything was back on track after the unexpected chaos.

"Icebreaker story"

Since they had only been dating for a short time, the couple hadn’t yet met each other’s families.

Over the years, it’s turned into "a really great icebreaker story," McAfee says.

"Every time I meet Salma's family, we tell them the story and they're like, 'This guy’s just a fool,'" he laughs.

"We’re not a particularly impulsive couple," Saade admits. "Apart from this story, I think we have a pretty normal relationship. So I find it even funnier that we both made such an impulsive decision when neither of us are really like that."

It confirmed what they had already suspected—that they had a solid foundation for a strong partnership, and that they were falling in love.

Saade and McAfee had met in the fall of 2016 on Tinder. For both of them, it was their first-ever Tinder date—and it turned out to be a success.

They quickly discovered they had a mutual friend. The friend had been in a student play that McAfee had directed, and Saade had attended the show, though their paths hadn’t crossed directly at the time.

When they finally met, the couple quickly hit it off. They spent their days discovering the historic streets of Edinburgh together— their second date was a memorable trip to the city’s dungeons.

Global Reaction

On January 12th of this year, Saade was reminded of their unforgettable trip to Paris when Facebook's "Memories" feature brought up an old post from that time.

The memory made Saade smile, as it always did, so she decided to share it on Twitter.

"I usually just tweet about politics," Saade admits.

But she thought this more personal post might bring a bit of joy to others, just as it had to her.

"Happy 4-year anniversary to the time I flew to Edinburgh to surprise Finlay, and he flew to Paris to surprise me—and this is why we don’t do surprises anymore," she posted, alongside screenshots of their messages and Finlay's lonely Facebook status.

The tweet quickly went viral, racking up over a million likes and more than 150,000 retweets and quote tweets. The couple's story had caught the internet's attention, much to their surprise.

"The response on Twitter has been really unexpected and heartwarming," says McAfee. "It’s strange how many people have connected with it, and almost every comment has been genuinely kind."

Saade says people from all over the world have reached out with kind messages.

"Although, comparing us to Ross and Emily from 'Friends' isn't the best comparison," she chuckles.

In the years since, Saade and McAfee have enjoyed many other unforgettable trips—ones where they actually managed to be in the same place at the same time.

Memorable moments include a winter road trip through Iceland, and a visit to the breathtaking Baalbeck Roman ruins in Lebanon, where Saade’s family lives.

Currently, the couple is in lockdown together in their London apartment. It's been a bit surreal, they admit, watching their story spread across the world while they’ve barely stepped outside their home.

As for Paris, they still haven’t made it there together. They had planned to visit last year, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to cancel those plans.

However, seeing their story go viral and spending the past week reminiscing about that unforgettable day has only strengthened their resolve to one day visit the City of Light together.