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Both Kristen Grennan and Guga Robakidze felt an immediate attraction to each other when he drove her home after a night out with friends.
When Kristen Rita Grennan got into an Uber outside Nancy Whiskey Pub, in Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood, in the wee hours of March 17, she locked eyes with the driver, Guram Robakidze, in the rearview mirror. She immediately noticed how handsome he was.
“He said hello, and I noted his accent and asked him where he was from,” said Ms. Grennan, 35, who had been out with friends.
“I told her Georgia, but didn’t say that I was referring to the country, and she replied how great the skiing there is,” Mr. Robakidze, who goes by Guga, said. “Most people don’t know about Georgia and think I’m talking about the state. I liked her from there.”
His English was limited, so they chatted for the rest of the ride to her apartment in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan using Google Translate. They discussed his homeland’s beautiful mountains, beaches and delicious wines.
Ms. Grennan knew when Mr. Robakidze pulled up in front of her building that she wanted to see him again, and inquired if he had a girlfriend. “When he said ‘no,’ I asked him for his number and a kiss,” she said.
Mr. Robakidze agreed to both requests.
The two had their first date hours later, that evening. Mr. Robakidze took Ms. Grennan to one of his favorite Georgian restaurants in New York, Chama Mama, in Chelsea. He picked her up in his burgundy Toyota, but this time, she sat in the front. They talked all the way downtown, again with the help of Google Translate.
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