Mark Delgado - Benicia and Vallejo Property Management, rental homes,: December 2011

Once upon a time... (well, not THAT long ago. I mean, I’m only in my 40's and she's in her 30's (but looks like she's early 20's))

In a land far, far away... (well, a couple exits down the freeway)

A handsome young prince... (that would be me, just play along would you?)

Journeyed far from the Kingdom of his youth to find his fortune... (just graduated from college and got a job)

Lo and behold, during the travels I stopped for lodging... (needed a place to rent)

And there, like an oasis in the hot desert... (well, she was one darn cute leasing agent)

Stood a Fair Maiden of such beauty as I had never seen before (maybe darn cute was an understatement)

She took me on a tour of the estate (umm, property) and showed me the view (I was enjoying a view, but not the one she was talking about)

Fair Maiden brought me back to the castle tower... (rental office)

(This Fair Maiden was quite the saleslady too, she rented my roommate and I the most expensive apartment in the joint!)

I admired her greatly with her divine beauty and melodic voice... (But, I wasn't exactly a ladies man having spent my college years the nerdy engineering student)

I yearned to prolong my time spent with this beautiful Fair Maiden... So, I did all I could think to do... I proceeded to slowly read the entire lease agreement, even the small print on back.

(Apparently handsome princes aren't supposed to read a lease in order to impress a Fair Maiden, because I seemed to lose some of her interest about then)

I proceeded to move to her kingdom (in the really expensive apartment) and admire her from afar(still trying to figure out what romantic gesture I could possibly do that would be more impressive than reading a lease)

Then, one horrible day, I discovered that she was gone! (She got a job somewhere else)

Oh the lost opportunity, oh the unfairness of it all... until I moved and just so happen to move to the same "new kingdom" that she was now managing (the girl was moving up in the world)

This time I had a much better plan to impress Fair Maiden... (I told her that there were no eligible young ladies around that I found attractive and that I would need to move on... I did mention that I wasn't any good with the ladies, didn't I?)

Alas, she beat me to it and moved on AGAIN (apparently she was good at her job and highly recruited)

Using my keen tracking skills (I saw her car in the parking lot) I found her at her new job, determined not to let her slip away again.

Using my most Dashing Prince bag of tricks (mainly trying not to choke) I entertained her with story, made her eyes sparkle with laughter, impressed her with stories of my great accomplishments (well, she politely acted impressed), and returned, day after day until finally she agreed to allow me to escort her on a real date. (By now I had learned a thing or two and took her to a real fancy restaurant with cloth napkins!)

Skip ahead a bit and... Ultimately, Fair Maiden took my hand in marriage and became my Queen. We've worked together building our own kingdom together (Delgado Property Management, we're really good, spread the word)

...and we have lived happily ever after...