How we
got here.
A first meeting, an iced coffee delivery, a baseball conversion, and a quiet trip to the Seattle courthouse. September 4, 2026 is the long version.
Across the office
Early 2018. Chris is new at work and notices Aakanchha across the office immediately. He does not say anything. Aakanchha, for her part, remains blissfully unaware that he exists — which was probably for the best, because he had not yet figured out how to say hello.
An iced coffee delivery
When the world shut down, the office shrank and the two of them ended up working much more closely together. Chris finally engineered a real meet-up — and showed up with a bottle of his (locally famous) homemade iced coffee. The ice, in every sense, broke.
Coffee walks and spare keys
They got to know each other in the ordinary Seattle way: long coffee walks, overlapping friend groups, and lots of time with Chris's brothers, who were living in the city too. Aakanchha met Chris's friends; Chris met hers. When Chris moved out of Capitol Hill, Aakanchha found his next apartment — partly because she liked it for herself. Right before Chris left for Berlin with his brothers and Aakanchha left for Mardi Gras with her friends, she realized her keys were locked in his apartment. Chris had just bounced his phone from the bed in his loft all the way downstairs, shattering the case, because apparently the week needed one more logistical problem. He left her his key anyway. When he came back from Europe and found her waiting in his apartment, he knew this was something different.
Baseball, of all things
Things got serious. Aakanchha — a lifelong cricket loyalist — took it upon herself to learn baseball with alarming commitment. Cricket remained her favorite. Chris's heart became hers anyway.
A quiet trip to the courthouse
In 2025, Chris and Aakanchha quietly made it official at the Seattle City Courthouse. The paperwork is done. The big celebration is still ahead — and that's where you come in.