Maalik and Octavia initially met through mutual friends at an event. Later that night, at a friends house they continued to talk a little more. Octavia recalls Maalik being one of the few people that she talked too that night. She thought he was funny and he thought she was cute. They added each other on AIM (lol) and stayed in contact. One date that stands out to the couple was on Octavia's 18th birthday where he took her to Applebees. He was excited because he liked her but things did not turn out as he expected. She told him that she only seen him as just a friend. Yup she friend-zoned him lol After that, He was still consistent in contacting her because he didn't want to give up just yet. However, Octavia wasn't responding as much so he started to pull away. As time passed, Octavia remembered thinking that she had not heard from him in a while and maybe she should be more open to the idea of him. She was skeptical but she reached out to him to see how he was doing. From that moment on, they talked everyday. They started to go on dates and on April 23, 2010, they became a couple.

We were on vacation in Puerto Vallerta, Mexico. Maalik told me that he booked a private beach dinner for us. I didn't think anything of it because we had done that before. The reservation was for 630pm on Tuesday 1/23. The day of, we decided to go to the spa for 430pm and didn't leave until 550pm so we were running late. As I was getting ready I remember asking him if I should wear makeup and he says yes! I was skeptical because we were already late and makeup would take an extra 15-20mins. But he insisted lol Once we got to the lobby, we had to take a trolley to the other side of the resort to get to the beach. Before that, he told me to go wash my hands ( I had a little makeup on them) and put lotion on. So I did but at first I didn't want to wash them at that moment because the trolley was waiting for us but he insisted lol When we got off the trolley the receptionist greeted us and started to walk us to the beach. As we were walking, she introduced us to the photographer. Maalik tells me that he booked one for our dinner. As we made our way to the beach, there was a white walkway covered in rose petals and surrounded by tiki torches. The waiter greeted us and walked us to our table. The table was beautiful. It was covered in rose petals with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I remember thinking "wow this is beautiful". Before I sat down, Maalik tells me we are going to take pictures. As I started to walk over, he wasn't following me so I asked him were we both taking pictures? He says yes, so I start to walk over to the area. As I was standing there, I hear him talking to the waiter. He asks the waiter to record with his phone but the waiter didn't understand him. So he says video and at that moment my heart dropped! lol I was standing there thinking "omg omg omg he's going to propose!" He walks over with a smile on his face, so nervous lol He gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him! and of course I said Yes!