Simon seemed like a catch when she came across his profile: 28, cute, geographically desirable, and his bio included his Instagram handle, which Cecilie immediately checked to get a fuller picture of who he was. Photos on private jets, another in a helicopter, nice cars, boats, food, a puppy, 103,000 followers—quite the mover and shaker. A too-quick Google search identified him as the son of Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev.
Simon wrote right away because, he said, he was leaving London the next day, and suggested they meet for coffee at the Four Seasons Park Lane, a five-star establishment. Auspicious beginning. And when he invited her to just come with him to Bulgaria on a business trip, sending a Rolls Royce to pick her up and take her to the airport, where a jet awaited… swoon! (Though Cecilie’s friends on her group text definitely had differing opinions, from “YOLO” to “not safe!!”)
“It was quick, but it just felt very natural,” Cecilie recalled. (He did pass one test: She was snapping photos and videos for the ‘gram, with no objection on his end. If they object, wonder why.)
