They told the story differently every time. Both of them had varying opinions on which one started it all, but the one thing they could agree on was that their story definitely all began with a letter.

A letter, according to the dictionary, is a "a written or printed communication addressed to a person or organization and usually transmitted by mail." What the dictionary fails to mention is how a few simple paragraphs either written or typed onto a piece of paper can change one person's life, or in this case two people's lives, forever.

"Finished!" Aubrey Posen looked up from the cluttered table and smiled at her fiancé Eric triumphantly. "I told you I would be done with these by the 20th," She said smugly, tilting her head backwards and throwing her pen in the air. "NO MORE WRITING FOR MEE!" Eric laughed and glanced at the table on which his soon-to-be wife worked tirelessly for days trying to write out all of their 250+ wedding invitations. It was covered in so many papers and envelopes in so many different stacks it was virtually impossible to actually see the wood underneath. "Now you have the fun job of cleaning all of this up." Aubrey groaned and sunk down in her seat. "Hey, you were the one who insisted on doing this, not me. I said you could type them but NOO-" "They look more classy this way!" The blonde interjected loudly. "I don't really care how they look, babe. We just need this mess to be cleaned up soon, and I have to go to work! Taxes don't collect themselves, you know." Eric replied, swiftly grabbing the first invitation he saw and started reading it. It hadn't been put into an envelope yet.

Aubrey stared blankly at her fiancé. Eric was an average man in every sense of the word. Average job, average looks, average in bed- your regular Jo Shmo. He was a simple man and him and Aubrey couldn't be more different. But opposites attract, right? She had met Eric at a restaurant a few years back. He was a gentleman to her and they hit it off right away. It's just that sometimes… Aubrey felt like she put more into their relationship than Eric did. And sometimes she would get this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that this wasn't right. That she wasn't meant for Eric. She sometimes even wondered if she was making the right decision by marrying him. Aubrey would usually brush off these feelings and pretend like nothings wrong and everything was perfect and under her control, but deep down, if she really contemplated it, Aubrey knew that she was settling for Eric because she genuinely afraid that nobody else would love her. A high-maintenace and overbearing personality came with a price, as Aubrey had learned the hard way over the years. She didn't want to feel this hopelessness. Eric was a great man and Aubrey was happy being with him. Its just that he didn't really connect with her on the level that- he wasn't… wasn't…

"Chloe Beale?" Eric's voice stirred her to attentiveness and she looked up at her fiancé, startled. "Your best friend from college?" "What about her?" Aubrey shifted in her seat. She was tired and her hand was cramping and not in the mood for a long conversation. "Is she still going to be your maid of honor? I know you've been talking about asking her for a long time." Aubrey's eyes glazed over and she became suddenly very intrigued in a small ink stain on the oak of the table. Aubrey had started out with the best intentions to ask Chloe to be her maid of honor in the early stages of her (solo) wedding planning. She had been excited, even. But as the days rolled by and the weeks turned into months and the date of the wedding came closer, Aubrey became less and less motivated to actually discuss really anything regarding weddings with Chloe. But she was her best friend. Weren't best friends supposed to be super excited and involved in wedding plans and the dress and girly shit like that? That's what they always made it seem like in the movies. And why wasn't Aubrey also really excited to have her best friend take part in the most important day of her life? Aubrey wringed her hands together under the table nervously, fingering her engagement ring. "I'll call her tonight," she said, finally looking up at Eric. "Okay?" He nodded and stood up. "Okay." "Now that that's taken care of, I better take a nap if I have to clean up this mess by MYSELF-" "Yeah, you better do that," Eric grinned, grabbing his briefcase and heading for the door. "I'm ever so sorry Aubrey. I mean, if there's any thing I can do to help…" He said teasingly. "Fuck you." Aubrey called over her shoulder as she headed over to the bedroom. "And I hope you have a terrible day at work."

Two weeks later

Chloe closed the door to her one-room apartment forcefully and rubbed her forehead, in the process dropping all the mail she just got from her doorman Allan. Work was horrible today. Usually the kids she nannied for- nannied? Is that even a word? Nannying?- usually the kids she looked after were a joy to be around but Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have been gone for going on two weeks on their annual vacation and Max and Chastity were according to Max, "getting sick of Chlolo." She inhaled deeply and picked up the scattered envelopes and those stupid little catalogs that no one cared about. Chloe dumped them on the counter and started going through them. "Bills, bills, bills, nothing but motherfucking bills," she murmured and practically threw herself onto the nearest stool, draping her arms over her legs. She could have slept for 100 years and still wake up looking like a freaking zombie. But something caught Chloe's eye. One of the envelopes had slid across the counter in a way close enough to be hit by the light reflecting off of the tiny window next to the sink. Chloe slowly but surely managed to snatch the envelope and tore open the letter- or invitation, rather- all without leaving her seat. Her clear blue eyes grew wider as they scanned the words on the paper, which read:

You are cordially invited to celebrate

the wedding of

Aubrey Elizabeth Posen

and

Eric Channing Peterson

On Tuesday afternoon

June the 27th at 4 o'clock

The Commerce Club at 191 Peachtree

Followed by a reception

Ps. Call me when you get this, Chloe!

"I thought this wasn't happening until next year!" She sprung up, shouting, and then remembered that she wasn't actually alone in this godforsaken building. Chloe slowly walked over to her sofa. She sunk down and bent her head down, closely studying the wedding invitation, her strawberry-blonde ringlets cascading down the sides of her now slightly paler face. These must have taken Aubrey a really long to write, was all Chloe could think of when she stared at the invitation. Wasn't she supposed to be all happy and running around screaming? Aubrey was her best friend, so why didn't she care? And why was she a tiny bit upset over it? She thought she knew why, but Chloe quickly shook away the thought. It's been years. The ginger ran her hands over the page and she could feel the indentations where Aubrey had pressed harder on the pen whilst writing. Wait, aren't I supposed to call Bree? Somehow this thought soothed Chloe and she pulled out her phone. Fuck, I probably don't have her number or something, with my luck. Nevertheless, she quickly scrolled through her contacts and found Aubrey Posen on the list.

Soon to be Peterson.

Chloe pressed on the call button and swallowed hard. She nervous to talk to Aubrey for some reason but also extremely excited to hear her voice again. They hadn't seen or heard from each other in over a year.

This dial tone was driving Chloe insane. Could Aubrey pick up already? Or can it just ring forever? The now 27 year old fondly remembered their college years while she waited. Her heart ached just thinking about it. About how long its been, things she could have said or done…

Suddenly a voice came through on the other end.

"Hello?"