To think it all started with a right swipe...
If you're single and in your 20s/30s in a city, dating apps are an unavoidable norm. Rachel had become quite the expert at the 1-2 drinks Mon-Thurs and home by 10 dating app cycle, while James was new to the game.
James and Rachel had both right-swiped each other on Hinge, when James made the bold move of asking Rachel to drinks after only a few messages back and forth. He thought she seemed like a lovely 7/10 he could pass a Tuesday happy hour with, and she thought a quick drink sounded nice.
It ended up raining on Tuesday, and for anyone who knows James, they'll surely understand that he was about this close to bailing rather than having to walk the 10 blocks to Ampersand, a local cocktail bar, in the rain. Miraculously, he decided to see it through, book an Uber, and show. Rachel was 20 minutes late, but he had a cocktail waiting.
What started as one old fashioned and gimlet turned into 5, and the rest, as they say, is history.
After two months of seeing each other, Rachel told James she was going on a few week business trip to Istanbul and Tel Aviv. They said they would text and keep in touch while she was gone.
James shot her a quick text before her flight, ending in a purple heart. Not the commitment of a pink, or god forbid red, heart, but a heart just the same. Rachel texted back, saying she would speak to him in a few weeks.
Two days later, from her hotel room at 4am, peak jet lag, Rachel gave James a call. They talked for hours and talked again the next night. She wanted to tell him everything about her trip, and he wasn't going to miss his chance to be there for her. This may, or may not, have included clearing his schedule and setting middle of the night alarms for himself to be "casually available" for any and all chats.
By the time Rachel came home, both couldn't imagine not talking every night and so they officially coupled up.
Here James insists that Rachel disclose that it was she who TECHNICALLY asked James to be her boyfriend first.
A little over a year after the official coupling, James was growing tired of living his life out of an overnight bag. His lease in Jersey City was coming up, and it was the perfect time to make the big move.
Looking for housing in NYC is an Olympic sport. Any couple who undergoes it understands the endurance and tenacity it takes to find a place. After looking for a few draining weeks, the pair found an apartment in the East Village that was perfect.
Here, Rachel insists that James disclose that it was she who discovered this open house and James had almost not come as he was tired and wanted to go home.
They moved in on February 1st. One month and two weeks before COVID-19 took over the world.
After five months of living in a 1-bedroom apartment during COVID, James and Rachel had been put to the test. New roommates who were not only living together, but working from the same space, and seeing almost exclusively each other in-person for a few of those months, they had come out the other end. They had actually come out +1 with Roland, their miniature dachshund puppy, who joined the family.
James knew that if they could could enjoy this time together, then he was ready to take that next step. He'd been writing an entry in a journal for Rachel for each life event: her birthday, Christmas, anniversaries, etc. He now took the book to write the most important entry of all.
James had the ring, a bottle of champagne, the journal, and the promise of the building doorman to not allow anyone else onto the apartment roof. James convinced Rachel to get all dressed up and come to the roof, where he was waiting on one knee.
Its probably no surprise, but her answer was yes.