Since I have been blogging, I have meant to tell this story but have not yet had the time to sit down and make a real effort of it. Considering the amount of grief that I got for having a particularly long post about my Radiohead concert experience and not yet telling this story, I figured it is about time. Well, it officially began in October of 2000. This was the fateful month that my Chili's career started. Hard to believe it was that long ago, but it was. Anyways, since I decided to hang up my barista apron and start making some real money as a server, I applied for a position at Chili's since it was on my way home for COD State. Needless to say, I got the job and started training within a week, and as luck would have it, Marilyn was one of my trainers. Now, at this point, I had no idea what the future held for me, and to quote Marilyn, "I did not think he was going to make it. Chris was too quiet, reserved and never smiled." This generally is a bad sign for a new server, but I guess I overcame the odds and here I am eight years later.
I eventually finished training, completing only four of five days since I was such a great learner. As I got to know my new co-workers, I started to let my guard down and get to know the great people that I was working with. One of these people was Marilyn. Not to long after starting the job, I was regularly hanging out with my co-workers and we all formed fairly tight bonds. After all these years, I still keep in contact with several of the people that I started with, even though most have moved on to bigger and better things.
The event that really kicked things off in my courting of Mar was a Cubs game. A perk of working at Chili's is the contests that they run. The prizes vary, but in the summer of 2001, the winning team of a margarita contest got to go to a Cubs game. The date was Tuesday, August 21, 2001 against the Milwaukee Brewers. We all caught the train together and upon arriving at Union Station, we saw several vendors selling fresh grown sunflowers. Marilyn made an off handed comment about how much she liked sunflowers, so I made sure to take note. After a great game, which featured the debut of Juan Cruz for thos who care, we made the long journey back to the Loop. While this shouldn't be a long journey, we were all listening to one of the people with us and he took us on a long walk that was headed in the wrong direction. Anyways, we finally made it back to the train station, where we once again saw the flower vendor. While Mar was in the washroom (shocking), I made my way over to the flower stand and bought her a sun flower. Even though this was before an official date, I think we both consider it to be the de facto beginning of our relationship.
Well, I had just moved in with one of my co-workers, Alyssa, for better of for worse, and we headed back to our place after the game. We all had a great time and rented a couple of movies. I really want to say we watched
The People Under the Stairs but I am not certain. As I mentioned, we all enjoyed ourselves and Marilyn ended up being the final person to leave that night. Over the next few days, Mar came over almost every night to watch movies or just hang out as we leaned more about each other. We also took in our first concert together during these days. It was a Bare Naked Ladies show on August 24 at the World in Tinley Park. OUR friend Elisa had a crazy college roommate who won a limo and concert tickets, so Mar invited me along. The show was a lot of fun, and we both enjoyed each other's company. This all lead to the following Saturday at Bar Chicago.
Todd's brother Brad's girlfriend won a free party, so we headed down to the city to take advantage of the free drinks. As was my habit in those days, I had my fill, so my natural nervousness was gone. This lead to some mean carpet burning as I was pulling out all of my patented moves. Mar claims that I was not the dancing machine that I remember, but my moves were obviously impressing her. After the crazy night of partying, we went to a party at a co-workers where the flirting continued. At the end of the night Mar dropped me off and I stumbled upstairs to pass out. The next morning I was totally hung over and could barely work the double that I was scheduled. Mar bartended that night while I was in cocktail. I got my butt kicked the whole night while she watched a laughed. The laughing at my expense seems to have become a theme, but I have learned to deal with it.
Well, the two weeks of flirting culminated on September 4, with our first official date. I once again used my considerable skills and procured Sox tickets in order to impress the lady. This will probably shock most of you, considering the fact that I believe there is only one team in Chicago that is worth my money, but I was willing to turn a blind eye in the name of the game. We both enjoyed the game and went out for dinner that night. That night, we shared our first kiss and the rest has become bitter history. Of course I am joking. I know that this was a long story, but this is how it all began. Seven years later, we are still going strong and as happy as can be. Even though we are still serving ritas and fajitas at the Pepper, we both know that without that store, we would not have each other. Needless to say, this goes out to my little Marilyn. I love you and cannot wait to see you walking down the aisle towards the happiest American of Puerto Rican and Mexican decent in the world.
Coming Soon: Chapter Two- The Further Adventures of Two Crazy Cat People
