We Can't Wait To Celebrate With You!

Thursday, August 29th, 2013 - Michele was working at Demandforce at the time and became good friends with Arthur McPadden (still great friends to this day and is now our officiant). Arthur had a buddy coming into town that evening that he had gone to the University of Arizona with, a buddy he said Michele would "definitely find attractive" (or something along those lines). Arthur asked if she wanted to go out to happy hour at Bluestem Brasserie in San Francisco that Thursday and Michele shrugged saying "Sure, why not." As Michele sat with her friends enjoying a cocktail, Arthur goes "There he is!", and as Michele turned to look out the window, she saw a guy with slicked back hair, rocking a suit and dragging a suitcase. She half rolled her eyes, but secretly smiled. Stephen walked in and introduced himself to everyone and when he sat down across from Michele, she started asking him questions such as "Where do you work?" and "How did you and Arthur meet?", you know, normal questions...basic communication 101. Stephen gave one-word answers and was looking everywhere else except for at Michele while she was talking. Finally, Michele said "Alright, if you're not going to look at me while I'm talking to you, I think we're done here." Stephen, caught off guard, got up and offered everyone drinks at the bar to fill the awkwardness. A few moments later, Stephen came back with the drinks while everyone did a 'Cheers' and enjoyed a shot together. Someone had found their way next to Michele and was making conversation when Stephen walked up to the gentleman, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey man, you're in my seat." As the guy stood up and walked away, Stephen slid in next to Michele, put his arm around her, looked her right in the eye, and said "I'm sorry about that earlier. Can we start over?" Michele and Stephen proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend together and were long-distance friends for almost a full 2 years before admitting that it was love.