The feelings that accompanied seeing that smile for the first time ranged from giddy exhilaration to whimsical alarm. I lost the ability to transmit my knowledge of the English language to my vocal cords with any coherency. This was all I could think about as I held the phone to my ear and I heard the siren song.

"Thanks for calling Paige's house of waffles can I take your order?" said a woman dispassionately.

"Um, hi. This is Theodore from the library the other day?" I said off balance from the opening salvo.

"Our special today is a savory falafel waffle with a sweet hummus syrup. How can I help you today?" the woman asked. I was pretty sure this was Paige's way of seeing what I was really made of so I relaxed and went with it knowing this might be my only shot.

"Oh, I'll take two of those tasty treats with tahini topping to go," I said with gusto. I hoped she would enjoy a journey on the alliteration train.

After a brief pause, she continued with the exchange, "Two orders?"

"Yes, please. A delicacy like that should be shared with someone special," I answered.

"If I could be so bold. Who is this special someone?" she asked getting back to her original deadpan tone.

"Someone I met the other day that I just felt a connection with. Have you ever felt that? Like you just instantly wanted to hang out with this person after speaking with them?" I said believing every word.

"Nope. I can't say that I have," she said with a little chuckle.

"Oh," I said deflating a little. "Is this going well?"

"You're doing great, Theodore. I've been called eccentric before and you just caught me in full Paige mode and haven't hung up yet," she said. It sounded like her tone had changed and she went from deadpan to normal.

"I don't really want to hang up until we have a plan for some real food in the near future if that sounds good to you," I said trying to secure a date.

"Do you have plans this weekend?" she said.

My heart just about lept out of my chest as we worked out the details for our first date. She was a strange person but in the best possible way. I couldn't wait to see her again.

That first date was filled with goofy digs, strange references, and jokes that endured me to her with each punchline. If she was the fisherman she had the line set and I wasn't putting up a fight as she reeled me in. She was the real catch though and I never wanted to lose her.

It didn't take many dates for us to realize that we were meant for each other. She was so intelligent and kind I couldn't believe I found her. I thanked my lucky stars that she had even given me a chance. She also happened to be one of the most beautiful women I had even met, but to me it was her mind not her looks that set her apart.

I could only guess that many men had been interested in her for the shallow, but they couldn't handle the depth. She talked about her time being single and was okay with a quiet, solo life. She had great friends as a support system and didn't care if she never got married. She was so secure in her own value and wasn't about to lessen it for a man that wasn't her brand of odd.

As we grew closer together we just knew it was right and that we wanted to get married. A lifetime of her humor mixed with mine was something we both had looked forward to. It was about a year of dating until I dropped to one knee and popped the question.

All of the memories of our time together came to mind one after the other in rapid succession. There were a few parts that seemed to slow and my proposal was one of them.

We were visiting the Library of Congress since it was only a day trip and we both loved libraries.

"You know there are close to three million volumes in this bad boy?" Paige said excitedly. She had the biggest smile on her face as we walked through the public areas in awe and wonder. I was starting to worry that she would never want to leave.

"More stories than the New York City skyline?" I said reminising about the day we met. I wanted to bring it to mind because I knew something she didn't know in that moment.

She smiled at the reference and gave me a hug. It was probably for remembering something she had said so early in our journey. She grabbed my hand and interlocking our fingers we continued walking those hallowed halls.

I waited until we were fairly isolated and her attention was on a book so fully that I could silently take a knee behind her field of view and pull out the ringbox. It wasn't the fanciest of diamond rings but it was classy if nothing else.

She turned back to me and saw me in that position with the ring box extended about to speak. Then she opened her mouth, probably to say something sassy, but stopped herself from speaking. If she had spoken I probably would have forgotten everything I had thought to say in that moment and just bumbled through it. Instead, I forgot only some of what I had thought to say and bumbled through it slightly better.

She was always good at reading the moment and really caring for people around her. She said yes to whatever I managed to get out about wanting to spend the rest of my life with her and we kissed there in the middle of the library.

It was the greatest moment of my life up to that point and I wished this part of the recollection would stay in this moment or even repeat a few times just for the heck of it.

It didn't. It passed just as quickly as it had come and I snapped back to reality.

I could only imagine what happened after I died. What was Paige up to now? Would she go back to her original plan? Would she find someone else? I had no idea, but I was glad that she had a support system to help get her through the ordeal.

I started feeling guilty for leaving her behind. I didn't have to do what I did and we would be living our happily ever after at this very moment. Why did I sacrifice everything for some kid that could grow up to be a murderer or something terrible. What if that kid doesn't return his shopping carts when he gets to his car?

I made a choice that would have a major impact on the rest of her life and I didn't even think about it until after I was already dead.

As I looked at the smile of the person in front of me a tsunami of emotions swept over me and my heart hurt. The smile that I had wanted to see for the rest of my life was there in front of me. I wanted to look away to stop the pain but I couldn't.

The woman standing in front of me was not Paige. The only feature that reminded me of my bride was that dang smile. Why did they have to share the same smile? I had a feeling that this woman was going to be a part of my adventure to some extent and I decided to do what I've had to force myself to do so many other times in this strange place. I rolled with it.

"I'm Theodore," I said meekly as I was still processing everything that had transpired in my brain over the simple act of seeing a stranger smile.

"Nice to meet you," she said shyly.

We both looked at Shamus who had begun the introduction and waited for him to break the tension.

"Theodore has agreed to get you back to your parents," Shamus said with a smile that stopped at his eyes. She nodded at him and then turned to me.

'Thank you," she said.

"I'm glad to help," I said with a slight bow of my head and continued, "I'm sorry for your tragic loss."

Both Jen and Shamus shared a glance with tears welling in their eyes. Their sadness fed off of each other and escalated. They excused themselves as politely as possible from the conversation as they both lost the battle of containing the deluge. As left quickly left I could hear the soft sobs. The attack was so recent I probably shouldn't have said that.

"Smooth," said Mae sarcastically.

I didn't say a word in response as I stood there feeling terrible.

"You need to learn to read the room," she said unsarcastically.