Our Adventure Begins

Her side of the story It was a Friday night in early May, 2019 and I walked into a local arcade bar, upset that my Bumble date had cancelled on me last minute. But since I was already here, I ordered a drink at the bar then went directly to the Mortal Kombat machines. I had not played arcade games since I was a kid but since I wanted to kick the guy who stood me up, playing a combat game seemed like the next best thing. As I looked for a place to set my drink I saw that there was only one very small shelf next to the Mortal Kombat arcade cabinet, which was occupied by a can of beer set squarely in the center of the shelf. No room for my drink to rest. At the machine next to mine stood the owner of that beer - a bearded dude wearing a Rockies jersey and playing Mortal Kombat very enthusiastically. In the loudest voice I could muster without yelling (it was a very loud bar) I asked Mr. Bearded Dude if he could please move his beer just a little so that we could share the shelf. He looked at me and smiled. Then he answered, "Only if you play me!" I thought about his request for a second and decided, why not? He was cute. I had come here intending to play arcade games with a guy (until he cancelled) and this bearded guy seemed like he would be fun. Maybe even more fun than my original date. So, I said, "ok, sure" and we played until our quarters and drinks ran out. Little did I know at the time, I had just met the love of my life. His side of the story It was guys night. A familiar quartet of Brett, Clark, Steve and myself were heading to Lower Downtown to watch a Rockies game and to celebrate Clark's last day of working for the City of Aurora. Just as soon as I was able to finish my Friday shift and change out of my work clothes, I was off to Clark's for a drink. Before leaving I played a few practice rounds on the Mortal Kombat machine that Steve had purchased and conveniently set up in Clark's living room. After a half hour or so, we were off to Coors Field for some bad baseball and tall boy Banquets. Our plan had always been to leave the game in the later innings (Coors Field stopped selling alcohol after the seventh inning stretch) and head over to 1UP, a local arcade bar located a block away from the stadium. My hope was to play Mortal Kombat and to show off my newly acquired arcade skills, honed over several hours of playing at Clark's house. Shortly after I deposited my first few quarters, a blue haired beauty with a contagious laugh asked if I could move my beer so she could set hers down. I told her I could, only on the condition that she play me a few rounds. To my immense delight she obliged. Several rounds later we had finished our drinks and I asked if she would like another. She said she would and requested a whiskey neat. I suggested that a far better whiskey could be found just a few short blocks away at a nearby whiskey bar. She agreed and without hesitation we were off, without my trio of brothers, and into a beautiful adventure that has lasted to this day.