Trivial Pursuit
Summer of 2011, Boston’s South End
Jonathan is in need of short term lodging while he looks for a new condo. His friend Jen is moving to Singapore for work, leaving a vacant room in Kurt’s condo. Jonathan makes the trek from Brighton to the South End to play trivia with Kurt and Jen and discuss taking Jen’s room when she leaves for Singapore.
Natalie is a successful go getter, busy at her fancy consulting job, and preparing for the arrival of her new puppy. She decides to take a break from her hectic schedule to spend quality time with her friend Jen before she moves to Singapore.
Jonathan’s parents had been told by one of his Elementary School teachers that he had more useless knowledge than any student he had ever had. It turns out, knowledge isn’t useless, and left quite an impression on Natalie.
Courtship
After the initial encounter over trivia, it was a few months until Natalie and Jonathan would meet again. Again, Jen brought them together, this time with a return visit from Singapore. They all met up for drinks at the W Hotel in Boston, before Natalie, Jonathan, Natalie’s Maid of Honor Caitlin, and Jonathan’s friend Dave retired to Rock Bottom for a nightcap. This led to their first official date, where they bonded over their love of their young niece and nephew.
Their courtship continued throughout the fall, and went pretty smoothly, with the notable exception of their trip to see “The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo”, which both will agree is the worst date movie in history.
Over the next several years, Natalie and Jonathan went on many adventures as their relationship blossomed. Natalie convinced Jonathan to learn to ski and play golf, which became some of their shared passions. They travelled to Brazil, England, Park City, Lake Tahoe, Montreal, and British Columbia.
The Other Woman
Throughout this time, a dark, furry cloud hung over their relationship. Leela was just a puppy when Natalie and Jonathan started dating. Between Leela’s puppy energy, and the fact that Jonathan is allergic to dogs, he was initially not a big fan of her. At one point, there was even a difficult conversation about spending more time away from Leela so that Jonathan could breathe (literally breathe due to asthma, not like “I need more breathing room”).
No one quite knows how or when it happened, but eventually something changed. No one knows who fell for who, but suddenly, Leela and Jonathan were inseparable. Leela would wait up for Jonathan if he was out late. Jonathan performed all of Leela’s grooming.
Today, the three of them have found a way to live a happy life together, with the help of inhalers and Singulair. Natalie still gets a little bit jealous from time to time, but overall, she couldn’t be happier that her two favorite creatures are so close to each other.