Rachel

I had recently quit my previous job and starting working at Chick-fil-A, the same one where Anthony was working. I absolutely had no interesting in dating him, or anyone for that matter. I had gotten out of an awful relationship, and was working on bettering myself in everyway. Solely focusing on my wellbeing.

Anthony was a fast friend though. Him and I both have strong work ethics, so it was easy to bond as work colleagues. We also bonded over our shared love of reading, Avatar the Last Airbender, board games, ADHD, and just having fun at work with shenanigans.

During a conversation at work, the inevitable topic came up, where I had not gotten a reference of some kind, and Anthony asked if I had seen a specific movie. I said no, and then he started asking a full list of movies and if I had seen them or not. I did not. After putting it off for a few weeks, I decided to join him at his place for a movie night.

Despite what a lot of folks might think, movies night were just that. Our friendship was strengthened by many deep conversations and shared interests.

However, over time, Anthony had let me know he liked me, and said if I was ever interested in him, then I should let him know, and maybe one day we could date. The following day, I told him I was interested.

He immediately followed that up with, " Are we dating now?" and I responded with, "No sir, you need to properly ask me to be your lady." He told me to give him a few days. The next movie night two days later, I was met with the sweetest note & a few of my favorite snacks and a hot coffee waiting for me after a long work day. He then turned from around the corner, and I ran up to him and said well of course, I'd love to date you.

Fast forward to May of 2024, we had a trip planned to go to PA for a concert, and also to see many loved ones. I had an inkling that Anthony was going to propose that week but didn't know how or when or where. He did it, where our whole relationship started, in that same Chick-fil-A. It was perfect, surrounded by so many loved ones and close friends. I did respond with "Stop it" over and over again, since I was in disbelief. Here we are now today, at the beginning of our forever together.

Anthony

Our story began with a new external hire from Chipotle. Her first day scheduled she called off sick - not a great start. But I don't like making snap judgments so I decided to wait to decide how I felt about the new hire. When she did start I was quickly impressed with her ability to fit in with the team. She had the work ethic I expected from my kitchen as well as a desire to improve in all the areas that I felt were important.

It only took a couple of weeks together before she quoted some line from Avatar: the Last Airbender and I knew we would be friends after that. Over time I discovered her love of reading, board games, and just laughter in general. I knew she was someone I wanted to be friends with, but knew it was dangerous territory to tread since I was her boss.

Just as she stepped into her manager role, I had to leave for a month to recover from the last of seven eye surgeries over the previous 15 months. When I got back I was began noticing some strange things she was doing. I discovered that her training had not been handled correctly, but what was important was how well she handled correction and being retaught. It was clear to me that she had a great desire to do things properly, and that might have been the moment of first attraction (even if I didn't notice it at the time).

By the fall I had learned that there were many great movies that she had never seen and so we had created a list of movies that she needed to see. After many long talks after closing I finally told her she should at least come hang out at my place so we could sit down so our feet didn't hurt. Next thing I knew she was over at my place and we were watching movies (really).

Somewhere during this time I noticed the thought that I would love to find someone like her eventually, and thus I knew that I was smitten. It took a little while before I believed she might actually say yes, so one night when she was coming over to watch another movie I wrote a little note and left it out along with some coffee and some snacks she liked to ask her out on a date. She said yes.

We promptly went overboard with our respective birthdays going to some really fun and really fancy restaurants to celebrate the occasions, both of us grinning from ear to ear and just laughing like we hadn't laughed in years.

In February of 2024 Rachel was offered a position of GM for a Dunkin Donuts store in GA, and hour south of where I had gone to college and several members of my family had settled. So at the end of March we made our way said some very difficult farewells, packed our bags and headed south (but it wasn't too bad).

Based on things Rachel had told me I knew that she wanted to be engaged for at least a year before we got married, I also knew that she wanted to at least have a few friends around. We had a trip back to PA already planned for mid May so I knew that was the perfect opportunity. It took a long time for me to settle on the details of how I wanted to propose, but I knew right off the bat that I wanted to do it at the Chick-fil-A where we had met since it was a cute full circle moment and would mean she was surrounded be her new family.

For those that want to know, there is another employee there who I have known for years. I have no idea how it began but our friendship has always been built around pretending to hate each other as long as I can remember. Ours was the friendship that her arriving meant "my day was ruined". She and Rachel had become fast friends and she even told Rachel that she was going to make me the grossest nugget imaginable when we arrived. That was when I knew what I wanted to do. I contacted her secretly and when she got to work that day she took a nugget box and wrote "Will you marry me?" on the inside of the lid. Then all I had to do was go grab Rachel and tell her, "You have to see what Bri just handed me." When Rachel opened the box I dropped to a knee with the ring and asked her to marry me. For the second time she said yes.

We both appreciate anything that anyone purchases for us, but also anyone that knows us well knows that we do not expect it. If you can, and want to get us something, feel free. If not, no worries!

We both appreciate anything that anyone purchases for us, but also anyone that knows us well knows that we do not expect it.
If you can, and want to get us something, feel free. If not, no worries!