A Workplace Crush Heats Up Thanks to Burned Cauliflower Pizza

Early on in her career in Native American education, Taylor Dawn Maki accepted a role as a youth coordinator at Torres Martinez Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a social services program for Native Americans in Long Beach, Calif.

On her first day at the TANF office in November 2017, Ms. Maki met Jorge Armando Melgoza, a driver for the organization. Their brief exchange left an impression — enough that Ms. Maki, 31, returned to her desk and immediately scanned the office phone directory.

“I wonder what his name is,” she recalled thinking. “Is it Adrian? Maybe it’s Daniel.”

Mr. Melgoza, 39, who had been working at there for five years, was also curious about Ms. Maki. She had filled a role that his friend had applied for, and he was disappointed that his friend didn’t get the job.

Ms. Maki’s office, which she shared with two colleagues, eventually became a hangout spot. Employees gathered there during breaks, and each time Mr. Melgoza stopped by, she wished that he would stay a bit longer.

Mr. Melgoza was not in a dating mind-set at the time, though. He had recently ended a 14-year relationship and was still healing. To make matters more complicated, his ex girlfriend’s sister-in-law was Ms. Maki’s supervisor.

“At that point, I was comfortable being alone,” he said.

They got to know each other better in the office, and in January 2018, Ms. Maki invited him over to her place for some homemade cauliflower pizza. When he received the text, Mr. Melgoza was at Starbucks with a friend, chatting with two women they had just met. But he quickly ditched them to hang out with Ms. Maki. And though the pizza was completely burned when she pulled it out of the oven, they ordered takeout and talked late into the night.

“That’s the night that I was like, ‘OK, this can be something that I can pursue,’” Mr. Melgoza said.

But their relationship was platonic for months — so much so that they never even hugged each other hello or goodbye. And yet, they started car-pooling to work and purchased season passes to Disneyland, which they visited often.

They even spent Valentine’s Day together — going to Blaze Pizza in West Covina for dinner after work — but he never made a move.

Though Ms. Maki said she was “very obvious” about her crush, he said he was oblivious. He had been out of the dating scene for so long he said he couldn’t tell the difference between someone being nice and someone being flirty.

So it was Ms. Maki who made the first move, and in early March 2018, they had their first kiss. In April, Ms. Maki’s parents spontaneously invited him to a trip to Cancun. They hopped on a flight that same day.

They tried to keep their relationship private at work. She tried so hard to avoid attention that whenever she went to the break room, which was in front of his office, she walked hurriedly with her head down.

“He’d be like, ‘Good morning, Taylor.’ And I’d ignore him,” Ms. Maki said. “I couldn’t be normal about it.”

Binge more Vows columns here and read all our wedding, relationship and divorce coverage here.

Despite their efforts, colleagues started to catch on. One day, Ms. Maki went to work with a brand-new pair of red Nike Sock Darts, which, Mr. Melgoza, a self-proclaimed “sneaker head,” said were popular at the time. He had bought them for her.

A co-worker, Mercedes Murillo, noticed the sneakers and asked Ms. Maki about them. Ms. Maki admitted that she was dating Mr. Melgoza. (Ms. Murillo attended the wedding and recounted the story about the red Nike sneakers in a speech.) They were dating for about a year before Mr. Melgoza accepted a job offer in 2019 at Hyundai Translead.

“It was her tenderness,” Mr. Melgoza said of what drew him to Ms. Maki. When an ex girlfriend reached out to him, Ms. Maki suggested that he get coffee with her. He realized how trusting and encouraging she was, and it made him feel safe. Previous dating experiences had left him “a little insecure,” he said.

Ms. Maki said they had lots of open conversations, and he appreciated that. “I think initially, it took a lot of demonstration of commitment,” she said.

Ms. Maki appreciated his patience. “Growing up, I saw men in my life who weren’t very patient and had short tempers,” she said. “Being around Jorge, who is very cool and calm, was very nice.”

They moved in to an apartment in Long Beach in October 2019. And in October 2023, they moved to San Clemente, Calif., where they still live. Ms. Maki started a job at the San Diego County Office of Education as a project specialist in Native American studies and Native scholars pathway. There, she is helping to create a Native history curriculum for the California Department of Education. She also teaches Native American studies at California State University, Long Beach, as a guest lecturer. She has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Azusa Pacific University and a master’s degree in education from California State University, Long Beach.

Mr. Melgoza relocated to the San Diego office of Hyundai Glovis, where he is currently a supervisor of outbound and special equipment. He graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in finance, business and law.

On March 16, Mr. Melgoza proposed on Coronado in San Diego Bay, surrounded by friends and family who had traveled from all over California.

On Jan. 11, the couple were married before 70 guests in the front yard of Ms. Maki’s parents’ home in Auburn, Calif. Christopher Aguirre, Ms. Maki’s uncle who was ordained by the Universal Life Church, officiated.

Before the ceremony started, Ms. Maki’s great-uncle, Joe Walling, lit sage in the aisle, a Native American ceremonial practice known as smudging that spiritually purifies and blesses a space. Mr. Walling is an enrolled member of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux tribe. Ms. Maki, who grew up in Loomis, Calif., is an enrolled member of the Santo Domingo Pueblo tribe.

After they were married, the couple participated in a blanket wrapping ceremony, a Native American tradition that signifies coming together as one. The couple walked down the aisle wrapped in a turquoise and orange woven blanket given to them by Mr. Walling.

Many guests flew to Auburn from Los Angeles; several had evacuated their homes because of the wildfires. Mr. Melgoza made many trips to the airport the day before the wedding to pick up loved ones.

Mr. Melgoza, whose family is from Mexico and who grew up in Covina, Calif., said he wanted to be there for his community the same way they showed up for them: a friend from New York, Kate Carlon, made the wedding cake; Ms. Maki’s parents hosted the wedding; and another couple who drove from Los Angeles brought doughnuts from the Donut Club. (The couple also served food and beverages from two food trucks: tacos from Chando’s Tacos and coffee from Dvora Coffee Cart.)

In her vows, Ms. Maki called back to the day they met at TANF: “What a wonderful place to meet someone, you know? I just can’t imagine meeting anyone else in a different way that would have made sense.”

While reading his vows, Mr. Melgoza looked her in the eye and said, “When I look at you, I see everything I’ve ever needed.”

On This Day

When Jan. 11, 2025

Where Auburn, Calif.

Sustainable Fashion Ms. Maki purchased her wedding dress for $50 from Brides For a Cause, a nonprofit that accepts donated wedding dresses and resells them to raise funds for women-focused foundations. Mr. Melgoza rented his suit from Men’s Wearhouse.

Nike Sweatsuits and Sneakers After the ceremony, the couple changed into matching Nike sweatsuits: she wore white; he wore black. Mr. Melgoza had designed a logo with their first initials, J and T, joining together to form a heart. The logo, which also resembles an M, for Melgoza, was embroidered on the sleeves of the sweatsuits. They also wore matching Nike sneakers.

A Labor of Love The couple sewed hand warmers for their guests as party favors. They took a sewing class together and sewed 70 plaid white and green hand warmers so that guests could stay warm in the 50 degree weather. They tied little bows on the hand warmers that read: “To have and to hold in case you get cold.”