She rolled out of bed and put on her slippers, careful not to wake Luke up. He was always angry when she woke him up too early in the morning, and she wanted to avoid that. Making her way to the bathroom, she turned the hot water on and stepped into the shower. As the steam slowly began to rise up, reached for the shampoo without even looking up. She didn’t need to. She knew where it was; perfectly located above her head, first bottle from the right. Her life was like that right now, neat and perfect unlike her high school years. Perfect husband, perfect job, perfect house, perfect neighborhood. As a matter of fact, everything was perfect in her life. Perfect and normal. Normal and perfect.

Rinsing herself off, she turned off the shower and stepped out of the shower. She dried off and put on her clothes and padded downstairs to make the breakfast. He always liked it when she made breakfast for both of them, so she did it every day. Her role as perfect little wife. When he was happy, she was happy. And she was happy. Right?

Stop it, she told herself, and leaned in to sniff the aroma of the coffee that she was making. Calm down, she told herself, read a magazine. Opening a magazine, her glance fell on a pink shirt. It was pretty. What was the color? Ashes of Roses. Ashes of Roses. With a sharp gasp, she pushed the magazine away from her.

“Wow, Liz… you look absolutely wonderful.”

“Thank you. You’re not looking too bad yourself.”

“These are for you.”

“Oh… you shouldn’t have. I love roses. They’re so beautiful.”

“Like you.”

“Corny, but I’ll let it pass. Oh, they match my dress, too!”

“I know.”

“Let me guess, Maria. That girl can’t keep her mouth shut, even about a prom dress.”

“It’s a beautiful color. Perfect for you. What is it?”

“Ashes of Roses.”

“Is something wrong?”

“NO. No, nothing is wrong. Let’s go, or we’ll be late.”

“All right.”

“Liz, I want to tell you… I love you. No matter what.”

“I love you too, Max. Are you sure there is nothing wrong?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Elizabeth! Is everything all right?”

Liz jerked to attention, and for a moment, her memories overlapped her reality. He couldn’t be here right now. He left her. Then why… and then Luke’s features swam into view. How dare Luke look so much like him? How dare he? Always reminding her of what she wanted most to forget. Her anger built up. Anger was good. She could use anger. It made her forget things. And she would forget him. Turning to Luke, she smiled what she hoped was a sweet and reassuring smile.