Thank goodness I was your typical poor, struggling college student in need of a second job because that is exactly how I met Chris. I was walking around downtown Santa Cruz all morning, turning in my resume to anyone that would take it. One of the last places I stopped was Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and that was the first time I laid my eyes on the handsome man behind the counter, with the most ridiculous twirled mustache. Lucky for me, I was hired on the spot with no barista experience; unfortunately the handsome man behind the counter had also put his notice in earlier that day. So I had two weeks to get this guy to notice me and let him know that I was very interested in getting to know him outside of work. Maybe this next part of this story is a little cliché, but from that first shift that we worked together, I felt like I had known him my whole life. He was a magnet. I made sure to flirt with him every chance I could get, all I wanted was to hang out with him. I remember our last shift working together, he was sitting in the back, counting out his last register drawer. I was finding any excuse to go in the back to smile at him or make small talk. Before he left his shift, he finally did it. He asked me for my phone number so we could get together sometime outside of work. And the rest is history, we have been a pair ever since. It will be seven years since our first date on May 16, 2020. I am so full of joy that we are finally joining our families and making it official . . . WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!
I was traveling through the Milky Way from the Zork Galaxy when my ships rocket boosters malfunctioned and I was forced to make an emergency landing on Earth. It would take 2 weeks to repair the damages so I did some reconnaissance to learn about the inhabitants and their customs. I learned I was in Santa Cruz and the inhabitants were called Kooks. Disguising myself with a large looping mustache I obtained a job at a hot beverage facility to gather moneys to trade for resources. None of the Santa Cruz Earth Kooks saw passed my clever mustache. That is none of them except, Jessica Bauman. I was working behind the exchange counter when Jessica first entered. She noticed me right away and wore a look of confused frustration at the sight of me. She approached me and asked to speak to the manager. “Our ruler? Peet?” I asked. “Sure”, she replied, “There's a help wanted sign in the window, I really need a job”. I fetched Peet and brought him to Jessica. They said words at each other then Peet began to guide Jessica toward his office. “Who is that guy?” she asked. “That's Chris", he replied. “He’s ridiculous”, she said, “I think he's alien.” She knew! How did she see through my disguise? I told Peet I had to leave right away! He told me I had to put in a two-week notice. After that I did everything I could to avoid Jessica and she did everything she could to work as close as possible to me. I even changed my disguise to a big beard but she still knew it was me. The day had come to leave this Planet and that scheming Jessica. The shift passed with no Jessicas in sight, so I quickly started toward the door. It was pointless, Jessica was already standing in the doorway. She approached me and said, "It was really nice meeting you, even though you're a weirdo alien. Maybe some day you can show me your spaceship." "Sure", I said, "But you have to show me how to be a Human Kook". "Deal", she replied with a smile. Maybe this Jessica Kook isn't so bad after all.