The whole thing was a beautiful disaster, a fantastic demonstration of how quickly life can get away from you when you’re not paying attention. Marnie and John had been together for 21 years and 15 weeks on the night that he came home and declared to her that he had fallen in love with someone else and was leaving her. 21 years…the two had met shortly after college in their first entry level job, side by side in white lab coats, separating samples to hand over to the experienced scientists like worker bees on an assembly line. What began as a friendship evolved into a relationship, which was further solidified a year later with the birth of their only child, Megan. Marnie knew it happened fast, but she never thought that John had any regrets or felt like the unexpected pregnancy had cornered him into something he wasn’t ready for. They were already in their mid 20’s when they met, with all their college partying behind them, and Marnie never nagged John the way other wives did. She never fussed at a day spent on the golf course, or at the nights when John came home in the early hours of the morning, inebriated and incapacitated. When Megan left for college, Marnie saw John recluse away from her, spending more time at work and less time in the arm chair beside hers. Now, Marnie glances across the room at that exact arm chair she always wished John would settle into each evening. He’s there now. His right hand sits on the moss green fabric of the chairs arm, his left hand gently resting on his lap. His eyes gaze across the room, a small trickle of blood running down the left side of his face, sliding off his cheekbone and dripping onto the beige carpet below. Marnie sighs, and for a second she thinks she might cry, however instead she’s surprised to find a soft smile spreads across her face.