Recounted from Austin’s point of view.
Discounting a very brief introduction in 2006 that neither of us hardly remember but is photographically evidenced (see image to the right), we first met near the end of spring of 2007. I was a budding young star quickly rising through the ranks of Accenture. On a new project in Chicago, I had just finished up a development piece on a small project and had some bandwidth. Through a fortunate combination of available time and my newly acquired (but quite promising) skillset, I was thrown to the wolves to help another budding young star on a related project at the same client. Eva as my manager and I as her faithful sidekick slaved through many long working days, nights, and weekends to complete our development. We’d always gotten along professionally and enjoyed each other’s company, and though I developed a bit of a crush, I knew that could never develop into anything. So friends we remained. We shared many meals together, exploring a collection of carefully selected restaurants widely ranging in global cuisines, meticulously chosen through skillful maneuvering of certain internet tools. When the project abruptly ended about 3 months later, we parted ways and moved onto other projects, but kept in touch through AIM and emails.
Around February or March of the next year, a group of my closest Atlanta friends decided to make trip to Vegas for Memorial Day weekend for a UFC fight. Since it was a UFC fight, I knew they wouldn’t flake out, so I booked my flight, knowing they would shortly follow suit. Yet, one by one, each great friend dropped out. No matter, I KNEW the most hardcore UFC fans wouldn’t drop out, so I remained excited to go to Vegas. By chance, I mentioned this chain of events to Eva, who graciously volunteered herself to be a backup if no one else went. As May rolled around, inconcievably, the last of them dropped out, leaving me on my own. “Things” came up. At least as a consolation prize, I was given the hotel room for the weekend. Oh well, I figured I could hangout in Vegas by myself for a weekend. With two weeks before the trip, another friend expressed interest in going, but his work schedule conflicted. Of course, I kept Eva updated, joking that she might have to book a flight after all, not really expecting her to. Finally, and perhaps grudgingly, Eva actually booked a flight the week before the trip. We’d never been isolated together for an extended period of time outside of work, so all I was hoping for was a nice relaxing trip without any conflict. Of course, we hit it off and had a great weekend together. When the weekend concluded with her sendoff at McCarran airport, as she walked away from me onto her flight back home, I knew I would spend the rest of my life with her.
