After a quick poll around the room, everyone agreed to allow the two guys to join them and use them as a trial audience for the presentation of the proposal.  Bailey called the two guys back to tell them they could come.

As they waited for the erstwhile blind dates of Angie and Bailey to join them, the group continued to munch on the pizza.  Brad followed-up Bailey’s question with one of his own.  “Yeah, TJ.  Can you tell us again the story of how your moms?  I mean, I know a bit about how they got into charity-work, but I’d really like to hear again about their story.  It’s the coolest story I know. My mom has said so, at least.”

Haley smiled, “And they had the most romantic start, right?”

TJ and Angie exchanged a smile, laughing lightly.

Angie started, “Well, you all better get comfortable because this can take a while …”

As their friends sat back on their chairs or lay down on some of the comfortable cushions scattered around the floor, TJ started off, with that thousand-watt smile:

“To make the story easier to tell, for now can we just call our moms “Bette and Tina” ?”

“But you all have to swear not to tell anyone that Angie and I were calling them by their first names, ok?

Their friends smiled back and nodded their heads.

“Ok, so about 20 years ago, they met in Bette’s gallery in Los Angeles. She was expanding operations of the airline service she’d inherited from her father, and launched a new service to Paris that evening.  Tina had been dating this guy Eric at that time, but sparks flew between them when they’d been introduced.  As fate would have it, later that evening, she and Bette separately saw Eric kissing another girl in the Japanese garden of the gallery.”

“Taken aback by what she’d seen, Bette nevertheless initially thought the affair was not her business. However, after contemplating about what she ought to do, Bette decided to look for Tina. Meanwhile, Tina had been devastated by what she’d seen and then drank too much after witnessing Eric’s betrayal.  While descending the staircase of the gallery, she missed a step and nearly fell to the floor, but Bette had spotted her by then and rushed to her side to keep her from falling.”