During the tail end of 2018, Daniel was hired as a Server’s Assistant at Malone’s Lansdowne, in Lexington, Kentucky.

On his first day, the Managing Partner of the restaurant directed him to shadow one of the competent employees. “This is Ms. Abigail, you’ll follow her.”

How prophetic those words turned out to be.

Starting on that day, a fast friendship was forged between them. They worked together at Malone’s for two years, climbing the ranks while in school and earning their respective undergraduate degrees.

They were part of a close friend group, but avoided getting closer outside of the group out of respect for their partners at the time.

Eventually, Abs outgrew Malones and moved to cut her teeth at Apiary Catering and Events.

In early 2021, Abs reached out to Daniel to see if he was interested in working with her again.

Despite being in school full time and working at three other jobs, he accepted just so he could spend time with her again. He worked there for roughly half a year until school started in the fall, working the occasional shift when she would ask for help.

They stayed in contact with the occasional life update and venting session, each was always there for the other when they would ask for it.

In August of 2023, they reconnected with a seed of shared nostalgia that blossomed into the relationship that led to their marriage.