02.22.20

One day following work, and having my arm twisted by my friend to join, I found myself mingling at the local brewery. After some conversation, I remember being introduced to a peculiar individual I hadn’t seen before who had joined the group by himself just prior. What I didn’t know was that he had been plotting this approach for the past 20 minutes.. "Hi my name is Derek, Derek Franchino." He could quickly read the girl I was, and the conversation came easily – then, the question(s!) for my number. Of course I told him no, however did share that if he truly wanted to talk to me he could “find” me easily. Derek returned to his group with his tail between his legs with no number! Little did I know that Derek was originally there with some tenured sales coworkers. He was trying to impress them by stating “getting meetings is like getting a girls number” – oh, salesmen.. So one asked Derek, “how about that girl” pointing at me, “go get her number”. Unknowing to the group, Derek had been eyeing my vibrant lipstick from afar. He used his shark instinct to approach me and the group of girls – but you know how that went! It just so happens that the tenured sales guys were friends of my older brother who I knew for many years. They knew, Derek didn’t – he was being set up for certain doom! (or so they thought) Derek shared with me later that for hours he noodled in his brain how to get a hold of me and finally remembered to use his resources! The afternoon of the following day I received a call on my desk phone with the caller ID of none-other-than a one “Derek Franchino”. Instantly, butterflies filled my stomach and I picked up the call. That Friday, due to his persistence, I gave him my cell phone number and planned our first date. Years later I realized not giving him my number was the best decision I'd ever made – because he wasn’t going to give up and ultimately popped the BIG question that would change our relationship status forever!