A case for love

Forrest Deegan and Ryan Richardson met as co-workers at an international law firm. After Deegan made the first move, neither of them could argue against the power of their feelings.

Both associates in the litigation group at Arnold & Porter, Forrest Deegan and Ryan Richardson's relationship started off as "business casual." But thanks to a few romantic gestures -- and some good timing -- on Deegan's part, Richardson realized he was the man she'd been waiting for all along. The couple was married at a ceremony on Dec. 11 at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Dupont Circle.

Ryan Richardson is the type to agonize over a decision between two dresses. When one is finally chosen, she'll bring it home and start to wonder if she should've picked the other.Deciding whom to marry, she knew, would be a tortured process. Again and again she'd asked her long-wed parents how they determined they'd found their mate, only to receive the same unsatisfactory answer: "You will just know when it's right."

"I was not a big believer in that," says Richardson, whose methodical thinking has served her well as an associate in the litigation group at Arnold & Porter.
In the fall of 2007, she was healing after the end of a long-term relationship and started to think about dating again. Besides the younger sister with whom she lived, the core of Richardson's social circle was made up of other young lawyers she'd met during her two years at the firm. On the outer ring of that circle was Forrest Deegan, a fellow associate who was always quick with a joke or friendly smile.
Though Richardson didn't know it, Deegan, 33, had been harboring a crush on her for some time. Even after her relationship ended, however, he was hesitant to make a move. "I frankly thought I never had a chance," he says. "So I didn't want to get my hopes up."
But surrounded by friends at a happy hour before Thanksgiving, Deegan suddenly felt as though he and Richardson were "on an island by ourselves." For the first time, he wondered if the affection was mutual. "It was like, Okay, I am not making this up,' " he says.

On a dark night after the holidays he saw her waiting for a ride as a cold rain pounded the streets outside their office building. Deegan stopped to chat on his way out the door and noticed she didn't have an umbrella. He nonchalantly slipped her his own.

 "He manages to pass off the umbrella and is down the street before I can even say anything. So he walks off and gets soaking wet," she recalls. "Of course I yelled at him, 'Forrest!' But he just waves and smiles."
That night Richardson called her father at home in Cincinnati to tell him chivalry was not dead.
Several weeks passed and both left town - he on a ski vacation, she to Puerto Rico. On the night Deegan was supposed to return to Washington, a storm canceled his flight out of Wyoming. He slept on a friend's couch and woke up feeling compelled to talk to Richardson.
"I don't remember the details of the dream," he says. "I just remember understanding I had to ask out Ryan Richardson immediately, if not sooner."

Back in Washington, Deegan stopped by Richardson's office, something he'd never done before. He told her how much fun he'd had at a recent birthday party thrown in her honor and asked if she was "interested in taking our dress code up a notch."