How We Met

Our story begins in June, 334 BCE. Alexander of Macedon lead a charge across the river Granicus towards a Persian Army. Now alone on the far bank, Alexander was easily identified by his buckler and large plume of white feathers on each side of his helmet. He wheeled his horse to and fro, lashing out with his lance, trying to create space for his men to join him. He was largely successful, avoiding injury, except for his cuirass being pierced by a javelin on one of the joinings.
Seeing his distinctive buckler and helmet, Rhoesaces and Spithridates, two Persian commanders, fell upon him. Alexander avoided an attack and struck Rhoesaces with his spear. Rhoesaces paid his armorers well though, and his cuirass proved too strong for Alexanders spear, which shattered in his hand. Alexander drew his dagger, momentarily distracted. Spithridates capitalized on this moment, standing up in his stirrups to deliver a blow to Alexanders head with his battle ax. The blow cut the crest off of Alexanders helmet, removing some of his hair along with it.
As Spithridates was about to repeat his blow, Alexanders man Clitus ran him through with his spear, saving Alexander. Alexanders soldiers had finally caught up to him, establishing a foothold on the bank of the river. Now being able to assemble the Macedonian Phalanx, the battle quickly turned. The Persian forces were unable to contend with the Phalanx and quickly gave ground and dissolved. The Persians lost twenty thousand foot, and two thousand five hundred horse. Alexander lost no more than thirty-four soldiers, gaining entrance to Asia.
Several thousand years of events that aren't particularly relevant to the story passed. When suddenly Reem of Alexandria went to Arizona Snowbowl to get a Snowboarding lesson. Reem was a young woman of exceeding beauty, the type only seen once or twice a generation. She had piercing golden eyes, a heart shaped face, and bright blue hair. She was wearing an unflattering snow coat, but it looked like it was most likely warm.
Reem's snowboard instructor was tall and lean. Unkind, but astute observers might even classify him as lanky. He kept his goggles and helmet on for the entire lesson, so the only part of his face she could see was his big dopey smile. He had one other unique defining feature that separated him from all the other snowboard instructors though; He didn’t hit on every single woman in his lessons.
Reem, being the generational beauty that she is, was used to all the instructors hitting on her. This new instructor’s more professional/less gross approach sparked her interest. At the end of the lesson, she walked with him back to the lesson starting area. He was doing back-to-back-to-back lessons and was rushing to his next one. Sensing his fatigue from 6 hours of lessons with no breaks, she offered him a swig from her trusty fox shaped whiskey flask.
He eagerly accepted and took a couple swigs of whiskey. Swigs that ended up being critical, maybe even necessary to him surviving his last lesson of the day. This generous proffering of whiskey sparked his interest in turn. He told her that he would be at the bar after work if she wanted to hang out after the mountain closed. She agreed and they parted ways until the last chairlift stopped.
With the mountain closed Reem headed to the bar in the lodge. Looking around she couldn’t see the snowboard instructor. Her eyes brushed past a man with a big dopey grin staring right at her (A not uncommon experience for her). As her eyes moved on, something about the big dopey grin sparked recognition in her and she whipped her head back to see that the grin on that unfamiliar face belonged to the snowboard instructor. Now that she could see his face, she could see that the Snowboard Instructor had been Carl all along (This revelation is only relevant to the audience reading this, who might be familiar with Carl from his previous roles. She had never met him before this day).
Now that she could see his face, some subconscious apprehension in the back of her mind relaxed. As she could see that under the goggles and helmet his face wasn’t ugly (Unless you compared his face to hers, which isn’t a fair comparison for any person). They got drinks and talked all night. He gave her a ride back to her Air BnB and they exchanged contact information. Over the next couple of weeks, they talked non-stop. Until he finally drove down to Phoenix where she lived to go on their first date.