The year is 2021 AD. Location: Soundstage 5, Hollywood Blvd, Winston-Salem. "House lights coming down," shouts a grip as the overhead lights blink away, leaving only the dramatic, low-key beams of ancient tungsten fixtures. Noelle and I sit on a couch in the corner of a living room set as the assistant director rushes around, anxiously checking the time on their phone. "Striking!" shouts a set lighting tech. A golden beam backlights the two of us, giving our hair a romantic glow. We lean towards and away from each other in cycles, never ceasing our hypnotic conversing, even when the assistant director ushers all non-essential personnel to quiet themselves and exit the set. "Alright, let's go for a take." An excited silence washes over the soundstage. We look at each other with cheesy grins. The director comes over to us and takes a knee. "Alright guys, the question on the audience's minds right now should be 'will they or won't they?' Do your best to get that across. Sounds good?" The director walks away and Noelle and I stare at each other. We've thus far given them good reason to believe in us. We gave the audience a reason to believe from the very first week of directing class at UNCSA since Noelle leaned over and asked me half-jokingly what my favorite color was. We gave them a reason to believe since Noelle Instagram DM'ed me during zoom Screenwriting 101 and asked for my number ("I only message on vinyl" she said). We gave them a reason to believe since I invited her to listen to a non-metaphorical vinyl and watch her favorite childhood movie, Lilo & Stitch. They surely believed in us when Noelle and I spent 6 hours discussing the existence or non-existence of souls. Unbeknownst to me, members of the audience had been rooting for us far sooner than seemed possible. Mattie, Maid of Honor, once famously said "I thought you guys were already together." When I told my closest friends Noelle and I were dating, they were happy for us and acted surprised, but most of my friends' looks said "about time, dude!" Perhaps most unsurprising of all was when I first confided in my best friend, Lucien, that I wanted to ask Noelle to marry me. A smile dawned on his face before I even finished my preface and he said the words with me in unison, predicting exactly what I was going to say. So how is it that we got here? How was the script devised to lead us on this journey which in retrospect seems so precisely plotted out that if I were handed it by a prospective writer I would say “that would never happen, it’s too perfect!” The key to analyzing this story, in my opinion, is to unravel the cosmic mystery of Noelle’s beautiful mind. To fully unlock this mystery and convey it in words, however, would fill the Library of Babel and take the rest of our lives to write out. I will report back on my findings as soon as possible…