Actually, it was a scorchingly clear day, and our story begins with 5 bromigos embarking on their first adventure to Sin City together. Little did one of those bros know, that this was going to be a trip to change his life forever.
Charlie was a normal college-kid, attending university full-time and working the front desk at Planet Hollywood to make it through her final year of school. It all started out as an average day at the hotel: drunk tourists, rowdy Canadians, and hotel guests trying to buy their way to an upgraded room with a sly "I bet this hot Lincoln says there's a better room available," and a sideways wink. This day was going to become anything but average.
The boys landed, took a taxi to their hotel and were standing in the cue, when one of the crew, Kevin, first laid eyes on Charlie. He immediately forgot about the group of cute girls standing ahead of them in line who had been on the same flight with them during their journey.
The line slowly began to disperse and finally it was the 5 amigo's turn to check in. Charlie beckoned the group to step up to the desk and an excited Kevin stepped forward to obtain the keys to their rooms and, of course, flirt with this front-desk hottie. Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly, and then when it was discovered that they were Canadian, Charlie excitedly piped up and asked Kevin who his favourite hockey player was. Apparently, he wasn't as smooth as he thought, because all that fumbled out was a flustered "Uh...wait...that's a hard question..." and then Charlie responded in a half second flat with her number 1, Luc Robitaille, putting the Canadian to shame.
After that miserable exhibition of bumbling idiocy, Kevin took the keys and the group headed up the elevator to find their rooms. As luck would have it, there had been an error with the reservation and they had actually only got the keys to one room. After a quick call down to the front desk, two of the guys, Kevin being one of them, made their way back down to the lobby to sort out the miscommunication. After another short wait in line, the two made it up to the desk yet again, and you can probably guess who was there to help them. A few playful minutes of teasing later, Kevin had the keys to their second room. Before they stepped away from the desk, Charlie asked Kevin,
"Are you going to come down again in 10 minutes with another room for me to check in for you?"
To which Kevin uncharacteristically responded, "No, but I may come down just to see you."
He surprised even himself with that line. James Bond would have been proud. Charlie giggled, and Kevin and Beau left the desk to meet back up with the rest of their friends. Charlie remained on Kevin's mind—he knew there was something special about this girl.
As it happened, the guy's rooms were located on opposite sides of the hotel. They settled in, and after a few back and forth trips, during which a disappointed Kevin noticed that Charlie was no longer at the desk, and another half hour of deciding what they were going to do first, they set off on one more trip across the lobby to the room with the bathtub full of ice and beer (which they had the cab driver stop for on the way to the hotel.) Much to Kevin's surprise and excitement, he saw that Charlie was back at the desk and he realized that this was going to be his last chance. After some encouragement from his friends, he sent them off to the room and headed to the desk to call Charlie over. She saw him motioning for her to come over, and she smiled at him, nodded, and mouthed "one second" while she finished helping her guest check in. She sent the guest off on his way, and came over to talk to this persistant and handsome fellow.
They said hello, and Kevin asked Charlie what time she got off work. Learning that her shift ended at 8:00PM (it was now 6), Kevin finally mustered up the courage to ask his next question.
"How would you like to show us around the strip after your shift?"
Charlie looked a little flustered, she blushed, and for the first and only time (she had been asked out before by many a bold guest trying his luck in Vegas,) she agreed. They made plans to meet back at the hotel at 10PM and Charlie jotted down her phone number on a Post-It, and trembling slightly, handed it to Kevin, who excitedly took it from her, smiled and told her he would see her in a bit, and hurried back to the room to meet his friends. He knocked on the door to be let in, slapped the Post-It to his forehead, and victoriously strutted into the room.
10 o'clock finally rolled around, and after calling her to confirm their meeting place, Kevin and his friends headed down to the casino floor to find Charlie.
Charlie, nervous to go out alone with a group of strange Canadians, asked her friend Marissa and Marissa's MMA-fighter boyfriend to come along with her. They waited together to meet the tourists. Meanwhile, Kevin and his 4 amigos wandered aimlessly around the casino looking for the elusive Earl of Sandwich, their agreed upon meeting place. After 20 minutes of waiting, Charlie was beginning to think she was going to be stood up, but finally the boys found the restaurant and Kevin and Charlie made eye contact with each other and waved. She started over to him, and her friends followed. They met, exchanged hellos, and began to introduce their friends (Kevin at first mistakenly heard her introduce Marissa's intimidatingly hulking boyfriend, Chris, as her own and his stomach dropped. Luckily, the confusion was cleared up shortly after,) and they made their way out onto the Strip.
After a short time, Kevin's friends wisely decided to let Kevin and Charlie get aquainted, and probably have his organs harvested by these complete strangers.
Luckily for Kevin, his new friends were not into such dealings, and they began walking the immense Strip and taking in the free shows while getting to know each other. They watched the pirate show at Treasure Island, and when it ended and the crowd began to disperse, Kevin grabbed Charlie's hand so they wouldn't lose each other in the confusion. Neither of their hands unclasped, even after the crowd had thinned. Charlie's friends, seemingly satisfied that Kevin wasn't a serial killer, made their departure shortly after, and now Kevin and Charlie were on their own. They spent the next 5 hours wandering the Strip, not taking in much of the sights, but instead becoming more and more fascinated with one another. After watching the comedic performances of drunk karaoke-singers, they headed back to the parking garage at Planet Hollywood where Charlie had parked her car. They exchanged Facebook info, and said their goodbyes not sure if they would ever see each other again.
They both spent the next 2 days thinking about one another, and hoping that they would be able to see the other again before Kevin departed back to Kamloops.
As it would turn out, they would see each other one more time, on the night before Kevin and his friends headed home. Kevin was set on seeing her again, and called Charlie to invite her out to Rok, the nightclub where they were spending their last evening. They danced the night away and after a few hours, he walked her back to her car and promised to say goodbye before they left in the morning.
The next day, they said their goodbyes and sadly, they went their separate ways. They missed each other immediately.
Upon crossing the border back in to Canada, Kevin sent Charlie a text message telling her that he missed her and he wanted to Skype with her as soon as they both could. Later that week, they had their first Skype-date and so forth began 10 months of missing each other, jetting back and forth, spending a few days together, and then going back to missing each other. In May of 2012, Charlie graduated from university, packed up, and moved to Kamloops to be with her Canadian.
Two months later, on their one year anniversary, Kevin popped the question and the next chapter of their love
story began.