King County Metromance: Coffee, two trolleys and true love

Their story begins in back in 2003, when Darryl and Cheryl Estes were both King County Metro operators working out of Atlantic Base in Seattle.

“We were both new trolley operators at the time, and both of us were also new fulltime operators,” recalled Darryl. “We were in the (same) room at the base and had to wait there a long time. At one point as we chatted, I thought ‘maybe she likes me.’ I asked if I could buy her some coffee.”

Cheryl wasn’t too sure at first: He looked, well, a little counter-culture for her tastes.

“It took me a while to say ‘maybe,’” Cheryl said, but she finally agreeing to go grab a coffee with him.

But then, oh no! She canceled that first get-together due to work that came up. But the pair finally rescheduled, and after coffee, decided to go out for real.

“She cooked me dinner on that date,” Darryl said. “That was so nice.”

That date – over grilled chicken, rice and a salad with sliced strawberries – gave them plenty of time to chat. They discovered they both loved to garden, as well as other common interests. They continued to see other.

“We would pass each other driving on similar routes, and we would wave and smile,” Darryl said. “I’d always be looking for her.”

“We dated for two months when I realized he was The Guy,” Cheryl recalled. “He proposed two-and half-years later, on Valentine’s Day. I was right in the middle taking a bite of steak. The way he started talking, I thought he was breaking up with me. I thought, ‘Well, I know we talked earlier about how we probably won’t get married…and this is it.’”

But he must have seen her face, Cheryl said, because he quickly got to point and popped the question. She said yes, and April 22, 2006, they got married at South Seattle Community College.

The couple still works as Metro operators, carpooling together daily before dawn. They work out of adjoining bases, Atlantic and Ryerson, where they’re pretty well known as Cheryl and Darryl, the rhyming operator couple.