Despite his best efforts, Timothy Raymond Murray could not get Michael Alexander Hoy Bullard to give him the time of day — that is, until a mutual friend intervened.
The two met in November 2014. Mr. Bullard was a bartender at Bareburger in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. Mr. Murray would often sit at the bar and write.
Mr. Bullard paid him no attention at first. But when a mutual friend, Melanie Brook, formally introduced them there one night, “the flirting began,” Mr. Murray said.
The two connected on social media, and, for the next two years, Mr. Murray would casually reach out on Facebook and twice asked Mr. Bullard on a date. Both times Mr. Bullard was out of town. They also ran into each a couple times on the subway, discovering they both lived in Harlem. Mr. Murray again suggested getting together — twice.
“I had no excuses,” Mr. Bullard said of the final invitation, a Facebook message on Nov. 21, 2016.
That night the two went to a bar called At the Wallace in Harlem. “We just clicked,” Mr. Murray said. After quite a few drinks, Mr. Bullard said to Mr. Murray, “You live nearby right?” He did and they headed there to continue the evening.
The following day, the two left separately to visit family for Thanksgiving. They texted constantly the week they were apart.
