‘Her Instagram made her seem high maintenance’

Anthony Khouri and Nathalie Mackinovski

Jobs: Head of coffee at The Gentlemen Baristas, and senior PR account manager at Brandnation Ages: Anthony is 29, Nathalie is 28 Live: Brockley

Length of time together: 15 months Status: Official

The meet-cute

Nathalie: I was a regular at the coffee shop where Anthony used to be a barista. He was always quite cheeky when I came in, which I really liked. He always had a smile on his face, which made my lunchtime coffee break a treat. It took almost four years before we started dating, though — I was at our regular after-work drinks bar with a couple of colleagues and so were Anthony and his colleagues. One of his friends invited us to their table, and the rest is history.

Making a move

Anthony: Nathalie was the one to ask me out, which was a huge egoboost. She got my number from one of my colleagues and started messaging me.

The first date

Nathalie: We decided where to meet, and when I turned up he said something like, “So where do you want to go?” I thought: “Oh God, this guy has no clue.” But he proved me wrong straight away. I think he was quite nervous and thought I was going to be very different to what I am.

Instagram stalker

Anthony: Because I sort of knew Nathalie before the date I had an idea of what she might be like. Looking through her Instagram, I thought she was going to be a bit high maintenance but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Charming the friends

Nathalie: My friends love him. They think he’s really sweet, especially my friends back home in Sweden — he’s been great at getting to know them when we’ve been to visit. He gets on really well with my sister too, which is important as she’s my best friend.

Date night

Nathalie: After we started dating, Anthony convinced me to swap from my usual cappuccino with no chocolate order — now I love a flat white. We’ve spent numerous days and nights at Flat Iron Square in London Bridge as we both work around the corner. Our favourites are the pizzas from Baz & Fred and wine on tap from Tap & Bottle.

Bad habits

Anthony: I would definitely say she’s the more stubborn one, and she would definitely say me, but I love everything about her. It just annoys me when she calls Sainsbury’s “Saino’s”.

The L-bomb

Nathalie: When it came to saying “I love you”, I was first — again! I won’t be proposing that’s for sure.

Roomies

Nathalie: We moved in together at the end of summer. We’ve enjoyed decorating it to our taste, though his obsession with house plants is annoying — he treats them like his babies.

Future love