Joseph Abraham Gorman and Matthew Joseph Capbarat’s first meeting wasn’t a blind date by design. But it ended up feeling like one — and a wildly successful one at that.
In mid-November 2019, Carrie Lafferty, a mutual friend, invited friends to join her for drinks at Hi Tops, a sports bar in San Francisco.
“We were the only two who showed up,” Mr. Gorman said.
Ms. Lafferty and Mr. Capbarat, who were roommates at the time, arrived together. Mr. Gorman was already there, waiting. And the spark was almost instant, he recalled: “Matt took his jacket off and he had a T-shirt on and I thought he was very attractive.”
The feeling was mutual. “We were both trying to keep our cool,” Mr. Capbarat said. “We were both very smitten but tried to act like nothing had changed in the universe.” They exchanged social media handles that night, but it was a busy time for both.
“I was going on an international trip a day or two later,” Mr. Gorman said.
Still, they messaged one another on Instagram. It would be almost a month before they met in person again: Both were invited to the same Christmas party in San Francisco, but Mr. Gorman was in Denver visiting his brother.
“Matt messaged me and was like, ‘I’m going to this party. You should go,’” Mr. Gorman said. “It was somewhat aggressive.”
