Michelle was born and raised in a small village in the north of England. Her parents were both early fans of the Beatles and named her after one of their more popular songs. While she never did pick up French, she did have an affinity for all creatures large and small from a young age. Growing up north of Liverpool was a thrill as she enjoyed the area's many themed vistas but also felt it was a bit touristy and besides, music was never her real passion. It was always the critters. She grew her curiosity into a degree, going away to a prestigious school further south in the United Kingdom. Her parents were a bit strict with her though, strongly advising her to the main town church's teachings of chastity, keeping her virginity intact past her 28th birthday. It was the summer of 2014 and that year she would be going overseas for her first residency in the United States. She had traveled abroad many times before, especially around the EU with its lax borders and fascinating cultures. She had also been to the US as well, only for brief trips lasting a few weeks along with a few other locales, but nothing on this magnitude before. Born into an upper middle-class family, her mother was, of all things, an English teacher. And yes, the queen's proper. Her father was also quite conservative and distinguished; he was a well-respected ear surgeon who had done many procedures over the years restoring an important sense to those who were losing or lost it. It also meant that the music choices in the house were more subdued, but being a typical daughter, she skewed more rock than her father would have liked. She mainly kept it to radio friendly tunes and nothing too heavy, but the volume and sound system in her Ford Mondeo was precise and voluminous. He was now inching towards retiring as the years had taken their toll on him as repetitive surgeries around the smallest bone in the body strained the joints. His daughter going overseas did worry him slightly even if it secretly enthralled her. She would be spending a few years there in her residency and she was going to indulge herself in a few pleasures and explore a little when she could. But not knowing anyone would make things a little challenging for her. Standing 5ft4 with a shy demeanor would help her not stand out, but her addictive accent perks the ears of some American guys.

That spring across the pond, Aaron was finishing his first year at his new job. He was at his second sales job for the same company but never had too great aspirations, the computer accessories were just a paycheck for him and helped him lead his unique lifestyle. Earlier that year he had just bought an out of place mobile home, as they were rare in the central New York region. But it was superior to apartment living, had more space and privacy, and was an asset that could help him wade his way to owning a home with a foundation rather than just paying rent to someone else ad nauseam. It was situated on a lake in the foothills. Aaron was no ladies' man but was a little bit of a wanna be free lovin’ hippy. With a few tie dye shirts and a number of on again off again relationships, he lived his own way that suited him well. The new job had long but steady hours and pay was decent enough, but like everyone he did hit the occasional rut. His luck would once again change when he met Michelle. It was just a normal day at work, Aaron was putting up some point-of-sale materials from the quickly fading Gateway computer company. He was also helping stock some of Dell's final components as it was just a couple years prior to them buying out a cloud storage firm for a record amount and switching industries. It was a weekday like any other, until the first time he laid eyes on her.

Michelle had arrived in the United States at Logan International Airport a few weeks prior. Upon getting off the plane it did not take long to know she was out of the United Kingdom. Looking up at the weird robot shaped control tower after she climbed into a Lincoln MKX Uber that whisked her the hundred miles inland to her new home. Her residency would be for animal surgery focusing on threatened reptiles, amphibians and mainly small mammals. The latter has many uses as lab animals since testing on humans can be a bit more of a tricky process, companies wanted to make sure their stock was ready for the next experiment and that a stray variant would not endanger the bunch. Michelle was very excited for this opportunity in her life and wanted to make the most of it. After a ride of several hours, she arrived at her new home. It was a modest apartment paid for by the facility in the woodsy, suburban northeast near the Adirondacks. Seeing some deeper forests in Germany could only partially prepare her for the natural wonders that awaited. Deep into the Adirondacks in areas that had never been deforested, the virgin woods were pristine. Most of the Eurasian continent had been touched by the hand of man for millennia. Her big brown eyes marveled at the wildlife as she went, having never even seen a chipmunk as they were only in North America. She was soon deposited up north in a modest, shared apartment to meet the new roommates. They too were in residencies for the noted veterinary student hospital. Though they were all from other states, but shared being in upstate New York for the first time together.

Aaron had been raised in a bit more liberal setting, but never needed to rebel in his small town as there was not much to do outside the usual activities. Snowmobiling in the winters and visiting the distant finger lakes in the summers were the main attractions. But Aaron had other hobbies and passions outside of his contemporaries' comfort zones as well. Science and nature were passions of his and what better area to be than upstate New York. Plus, with the terminus of I-81, it brought the whole of Appalachia into travelability. He was also a bit of a nerd about computers, though most of it was useless information that held little sway in the modern environment as the computing power of a retro Commodore64 was not needed to know info. Regardless, he made do with what he had and lived most days as he had planned out. Jeff had settled into a groove at work and was generally single outside the occasional fling. Some might say his life was a bit drab and dull, but he went along with a positive attitude and felt he was destined for big things this year. Little did he know how right he would be.

Michelle settled into her new life, the campus being her second home. She bought a high mileage 2006 Toyota RAV4 to get around, but it covered the great distances as needed. She marveled at the interstate highway system and the familiar layouts of the American roadways. They even had roundabouts, although they called them rotaries here. As she began her workload and the patients scurried, slithered, crawled or hopped their ways in. She had never been out of the UK for this long before, and was homesick on occasion, but had an adventurous spirit about her. She was, however, a bit backwards in technology needing factory gps in her car and with an older computer tower and monitor. She kept all her technological dinosaurs limping along well past when they were completely outmoded. Goaded by many, she still held back from getting a smartphone. Not due to the costs but for the fact she still considered them a want rather than a need. Besides, they had yet to permeate every single facet of life though in the seven years since the iPhone was introduced even as they had made headway disrupting several markets she inhabited. But that only helped make them competitive, driving down the cost of her mp3 players and other soon to be outmoded tech that favored function over form. At times it seemed like her modus operandi. There were also choke points though which is why when her computer tower went on the fritz, she went to the computer repair shop where Aaron worked. Lucky for her it was not the hard drive though thankfully she was an early adopter on google docs, so even if the hard drive was fried not all would be lost. Instead, when she went, much more was found.

Michelle noticed him before Aaron saw her. Well at least she saw what he was doing. Stacking some empty black and white cow print boxes, along with a bovine cardboard cutout, she could appreciate a man who put things on top of other things. Besides, his regional dialect was bearable as were his vegetarian ways. Curious to see if he knew if this podunk seeming store had what she was looking for without a stop on the internet, then it would be a worthy trip. It was nice to get out and drive to explore the region. As the small independent computer shops gave way to the CompUsa’s and Radio Shacks across the country, the store managed to hang on despite the constant Best Buy threat. It diversified by also repairing the burgeoning smart device market, but also got to watch the latter two retailers fizzling out. Even the last Circuit City was liquidated five years prior. Being from the UK, Michelle did not experience most of these places, for better or worse. She was still well adapted to ecommerce but had a knack for finding hidden gems. And she would find a couple here.

“Excuse me, might I bother you for some assistance?” a sweet feminine voice in a smooth British accent intoned.

As he hastily stacked another boxed Dell tower, he heard a voice that touched on something deep within him. Aaron was already a fan of the Pythons, Simon Pegg films and especially 60s rock and pop, so it was the last thing he expected to hear on a lonesome workday.

As Aaron finished his balancing act, he turned his head to find the source of this welcome intrusion and was pleased with what he saw. There she stood a few feet from him, around 5’4” with big brown eyes and a dashing smile on her face. He was instantly intrigued by this rather attractive young lady who had walked into the computer store. While the initial conversation was brief, he worked up the courage to inquire more and it turned out they had a lot of common interests. Even being a fully raised American for several generations, Aaron and Michelle both enjoyed similar music, pop culture and even cuisine. Though he tended to stay away from most meats, he was not quite to the level of a vegetarian, he was also adventurous and was very little culinary that he would not try. She ended up getting the tower she needed that day along with a few other goodies, with the plan of selling them back when the residency came to an end. But she was flexible on this as she was unsure what the future held for her, and fate had a way of showing itself in the proceedings. She was unsure how to possibly continue the proceedings as he immediately intrigued her, enough to give him her personal email address if she needed any tech support. It was a little unlike her but being in this vast new country after spending most of her days on a large island, it was time for an adventure. Looking back, they realized just how this moment would be the catalyst of their time together.

Michelle was always mapping out her life it seemed. Mainly her next adventures, and this time was unbound from the English Channel. In six months, she had a trip planned to a number of American cities in the rust belt. The history, culture and local wildlife along the way was appreciable, though the freedom afforded to her by her ride would come in handy. No doubt, America with it’s wide-open spaces was a car culture and having one came in handy. Also, the low gas prices did not hurt either, only amplifying her trip spending power with her unassuming four banger CUV. In the UK it was easier to take transit, but with destinations spread wide there would be little to do in a lot of places. Airbnbs are not quite as welcoming as the European Union, but a big spread between urban and rural options to choose as well. This and other reasons had her feeling a bit more than homesick for the ole U.K. For now, her work/studies had her too busy to be able to accomplish much, but when she could take time off, she made the most of it. This was all during the time she started to get to know Aaron, and it was a real balancing act to find the time for him as well. Luckily her department had a little less pressure on it which meant being on call would be sparse if existent at all. Trying new foods as she liked to on dates was hampered by one trait, he had which was him being a vegetarian. Well, sort of, he would flirt with pescetarianism at times but was turned off by the mercury ppms in water. Oddly, only some crustaceans were fair game as insects even were on the menu for him. Michelle had no reservations with chowing down on a juicy steak, or too fancy to enjoy a White Castle burger. She would have to work that into her trips to keep costs reasonable and they had not yet made the region of the country where she lived.

Sure enough, expecting a mainly plug and play experience, she was unsatisfied with the way a third-party browser was behaving and boldly decided to send Aaron an email. He had just finished a gym workout and arrived home, though was no fitness junkie. Having dropped some decent weight all the ‘wrong’ ways he intended to keep it off. Basically, he found a way via his lack of self-control to his advantage. His ‘see food’ diet as he called it meant that if he did not see much food during the day, he would not eat it. After some decent weight loss during a couple internships after college, he was still able to keep most of it off to some degree. However, the 14+ hour days for little to no pay was also a contributing factor then, now money came a little easier although the schedule was still grueling. Working long hours helped keep the scales at bay but not so much in the social department. That is why he, trending on the shy side, was surprised at the sweet voice behind him and was reserved at first during their initial conversations. He had been with a number of women over the past few years, though never in any relationships that felt a deeper connection. Something about Michelle however, felt different. When he sent the follow up email about the computer, he sold her at work he was surprised to receive such an enthusiastic response. It took a few back and forths before he realized she might have questions about things other than the operating system requirements. She actually asked him if he wanted to grab an ice cream and having a sweet tooth and not being too bothered by big dairy, decided to go with it. Aaron was not brave enough to ask for a lick of the despicable rum raisin flavour that she ordered.

As days turned to weeks, the relationship blossomed from there. It was only after about a month did Michelle reveal a secret that Aaron was surprised about given her outgoing demeanor compared to his introspective one. She was still a virgin at 28. While even in the mid 2010s this was an exception rather than the rule, he was fine with the decision she had made about her body to that point. While Michelle was occasionally involved with a man, her conservative upbringing did play a factor here. Her parents also allowed her to be her own woman, lest she rebel hard in a psychological bend not break scenario. Though it did not stop her ventures into big cities, which she would do with friends while in Europe. She had planned a few out in North America but decided to plan her first duo trip. Aaron was more than happy to accompany her, though she decided to make it a truncated trip to her usual longer drives. This way they could spend more quality time together at the stops along the way. She enjoyed some of America’s dingy roadside attractions, along with a few other more poignant ones. Having to tone it down for the vegetarianesque Aaron would be impossible in the BBQ joints with bacon in their beans, BBQ sauce and greens. There, the only options for him would be buns with mustard on them. She wisely found more natural spots along her route, and it would be a vaunted introduction to the rust belt. With a few decent stops available to her, she would look at menus ahead of time and surprise him with some decent stays and eats along the thruway. Then on to Cleveland and Youngstown with Niagara Falls, two great lakes and of course the Rock HOF in Cleveland. Regardless of who she thought should be in or out, Halls of Fames by definition seem to get more bloated the longer they are open. Before the long ride home the trip would make its southernmost stop in Pittsburgh with its scenic views, parks, bridges and terrifyingly steep intersections. He was able to clear the time off with his boss and a spring road trip was soon commenced.