When Lily Gene Ramirez and Michael Anthony Fasano attended the same December 2017 holiday party in Denver, both were nursing wounds from recent romantic woes.
“I recall just saying hi to each other very quickly, and I didn’t really give him the time of day,” Ms. Ramirez said.
The next day one of their shared personality quirks emerged, and the seeds of an accidental first date were planted.
Mr. Fasano has a propensity to ignore boarding times for his flights, and on Sunday morning he skipped his departure to his home in New York City altogether. Ms. Ramirez, who tends to postpone travel plans depending on the situation, also decided to stay. She had planned to fly to Gainesville, Fla., for the holidays that day.
Their friends had persuaded them to attend a Denver Broncos game later that Sunday.
Both got tickets at the last minute and sat together, just the two of them (they took in a 23-0 thrashing of the New York Jets). For three hours, they got to know each other. Both liked what they saw and heard.
“We weren’t looking for anything romantic,” Ms. Ramirez said. “We just went to the game and had a fun time together.”
