She walked in to their apartment at around 1:30 in the morning. It was dark, but it didn't feel dark. For Paige, the house was all lit with wonderful memories of her and Ian. In her mind, she could see Ian desperately trying to cook her breakfast. She could see herself sitting on the living room couch reading a book with Ian sleeping on her lap. She could smell the paint as she and Ian painted their calendar wall. This place became her source of joy for the past weeks.

Tears fell from her eyes.

She's leaving.

She slowly walked toward their sofa and sat on her favorite spot beside the lamp. She was trying to remember how everything looked and felt. At least she could hold on to that. She looked at the picture that she took of her and Ian by the patio. She remembered how good it felt to have her arm around Ian's neck. How good he smelled. Their smiles on the photo was sincere. She thought about what Ian said about pictures. How it was a like a book without words, of people's good experiences. How every photo is a memory of one good moment to another. You never take pictures when you're sad, or having a bad day, he said, for me personally, people with many photo albums are the happiest. She laughed at this thought before, but now, she wished she'd taken more pictures.

"Paige," she said standing up. "Memory lane is closed."

She placed the picture back on the side table, but it fell straight to the hardwood floor. The wooden frame fell apart, fortunately the glass didn't break.

"Shit!"

She kneeled down and started picking up the pieces of the picture frame. The frame was not damaged, it was just dismantled. Paige thought it was a little funny. Was it a sign from God?

"Funny," she said smiling.

While picking up the picture, she notices a small 4 by 4 envelope that was sealed about 5 times with tape. She flipped the envelope over and written on it was "Don't open until our 30th annviersary!"

It was like a punch in the gut for Paige. Her eyes started to form tears, but she was smiling. She couldn't believe that there was a time when Ian thought they'd last 30 years. It was overwhelming. It was overwhemingly painful. Wait... No, it was just painful.

"Well, looks like our 3oth anniversary won't be happening," Paige tore the sides of the envelope, "so what the hell?"

It was a note written on the yellow cardboard coaster of David's club. It read:

7/26/04 You've never looked more beautiful tonight. And I've never been more in love.

Paige started to cry. And not just tears falling slowly, but really bawling. She couldn't breathe. Ian wrote that note 2 weeks ago from today. The night they spent with their hands super glued together. The night they spent in each others arms. The night they made love in his hole. The night Ian realized he was falling in love with her.

That night had been a complete waste.