When the police cleared the room, and the hotel staff removed everything that was broken, Chad strolled back into his suite and took a deep breath as he closed the door behind him. He strolled through the living room which was obviously a little more spacey than it was just hours ago. He didn't have the heart to tell anyone that it was him who trashed the place after a fight with his ex rather than some random burglar looking for something valuable. He had to think about what he was going to do, but his first action he decided would be packing to leave. The place just wasn't the same without the Andersons and especially Rachel. Chad slowly put all his clothes and items from the bathroom into his bags, it took him less than an hour to pack and head down for the lobby to check out. As he rolled up with both of his bags, the manager was surprised to see him.

     "When does your flight leave?" the manager asked.

     "I'm not sure yet," Chad answered honestly, "I'll find out when I get to the airport and rebook it."

     "How spontaneous," the manager said, taking the keys from the client and processing his charges. "We've discounted over half of your charges, to apologize for the spider incident as well as the break in."

     "I appreciate that," Chad said passing over his last black card, "You can charge them to this card, thank you."

     "I can honestly say it was a pleasure to have you here, Mr. Barrington." The manager said, as he handed him the receipt. "We don't judge our guest by whether they were good or bad, but whether or not they were boring. I can say many things about your stay, Mr. Barrington, but boring is not one of them."

     "That's not a word I'd use to describe it as well," Chad agreed, "I will miss this place until the day I return."

     "I can certainly speak for everyone," the manager replied, "That we all eagerly await for the time that day comes."

     "As do I," Chad said, shaking his hand. "Thank you for your kind service and for putting up with me."

     "Good journeys, Mr. Barrington," the manager said, with a slight bow.

     Chad carried his own bags away and hopped back onto the very same bus that had shuttled him to the resort. He was checking out a few days early, but he had had his fill of paradise and was confident he would return someday as he watched the large facility fade off in the distance as the shuttle drove off. It took the shuttle about twenty minutes in light traffic to get to the airport. Once he was in the terminal, Chad walked up to the booth for his airline, ticket in hand.

     "Good evening, Sir." The lady said, "Can I help you?"

     "I need to reschedule this flight," Chad said handing over the tickets.

     "Of course," The lady said, taking them from. "I do have to let you know that changing with little notice will incur surcharges."

     "I'm okay with that," Chad said, "I'd just like the next flight back to the United States as soon as possible."

     "Yes, Sir." The lady said, working away at the machine to fill out his order. "We can get you on the next fight, leaving in about two hours. I can only get you one seat I'm afraid."

     "One will be fine," Chad said, unwilling to nitpick. He was willing to take the sardine special as long as it got him back home.

     "And I assume you want to head back to New York?" the lady at the counter asked him.

     Chad stood there at the desk, thinking about it. He was tempted to head for somewhere else, maybe even Philadelphia to visit Rachel. That part was drowned out by the other voice in his head, telling him not to do it. As much as Chad thought it would be great to surprise her, he knew Rachel was in heavy training to get ready for a big fight. He didn't want to distract her and cause her not to be prepared. Even worse, he didn't want to become her sparring partner. So, while he considered it, Chad decided to make a better move.

     "New York would be fine." Chad told her, "Thank you."

     On the flight home, Chad had a lot on his mind. The Andersons, the resort, the spider bite, the pranks, the fights, Rachel and her overbearing mom... even Paula's angering visit. If there was one thing he could say about this trip, it was never boring. His flight back to New York was very quiet, despite having to share a row with two people instead of one. Chad's mind was wandering all over the place, making it difficult to notice let alone give a shit about what was going on around him. The long exhausting flight he remembered felt shorter this time. The time of the flight never changed but it still felt like the pilot hauled ass back to the mainland. The fact that they gained time on the way back might have also contributed to that.

     As Chad stepped off the Jet and wandered to the baggage claim to get his stuff, he watched as the other people who flew with him ran to hug and meet with loved one who were waiting in the terminal for them. Chad couldn't help but feel down because there was no one waiting for him. It wasn't like he had given anyone fair warning, so Chad quickly shrugged it off and kept walking towards the baggage claim. Once he had claimed his luggage, Chad strolled out and hailed a taxi to take him home. Despite the traffic, he honestly didn't care how long nor how much it cost for him to return. He tipped the driver and was just glad to be back at his condo as he took the lift high into his ivory tower. Once back in his condo, Chad just stacked the luggage in the hallway and strolled into the kitchen. The place was immaculate, but only because Chad paid someone to clean the place every week whether he was there or not. He took a bottle of juice out of the fridge and slowly began to sip it, hard to believe he was finally back home, which felt surreal to him after where he had just been. The feeling he had made Chad discover what an impact the island and the resort really did have on him. Perhaps it was something, or someone else, making him feel this way.

     Chad looked over to the counter in his kitchen, and there were the papers that he had forgotten to sign for Paula. He walked over and stuffed them into a drawer, aware that their purpose was no longer necessary. Out of sight was out of mind, and he didn't want to think about her at that particular moment. It wasn't until later in the week when he was back at Doctor Connor's office that the subject of his ex-wife had come up. The shrink didn't even bring it up, as Chad had started the conversation all on his own.

     "Do you know what today is?" he asked the doctor.

     "I don't actually," The doctor replied, "Besides the fact that it's Tuesday."

      "Today is an anniversary," Chad informed him, "And I'm the only person who even remembers it. Does that make me pathetic?"

     "No," Connors answered, "That makes you nostalgic, compassionate, and respectful of the path you've traveled."

     "Good comeback," Chad observed.

     "I mean it," Connors continued, "You're holding onto something because it still means something to you. That's not something to make light of, so let me in on it. What happened on this day in history?"

     "Twenty years ago," Chad started, "Two decades ago today, I met the woman who would later become my wife and the mother of my child."

     "That's pretty big," his shrink conceded, "And she doesn't remember?"

     "No one does," Chad replied, "Yet in the last few months, I couldn't stop thinking about that night and how it changed my life."

     "Then tell me about it," Connors said, "Give me the Coles notes version."

     "It's nothing romantic," Chad warned him, "I actually met her at a bar."

     "Not judging," Connors said, "Many people meet at bars."

     "I was still in school," Chad continued, "I had just finished finals for the semester, and I was going to fly home to visit my father. It was one in the morning, and I was scheduled to fly out at six that same morning. My dad had a thing with early flights because he wanted people to arrive early so he can spend the day with them. Sleep on the flight, he'd always tell us after booking it. I knew if went to bed that I'd sleep right through the alarm and miss my flight, so I decided to take my Dad's advice and stay up the night and just sleep on the flight. So, to avoid boredom, I took off with a few buds to this bar just to pass the time. About a few hours in, that's when I saw her. She was talking to a few of her friends and having a jolly old time. I was scared to walk up to her but there was a cool song that had just started so I took a chance. I walked up and asked her if she wanted to dance. To my surprise she said yes. That was the beginning of it all: the first chapter in the book of Chad and Paula."

     "What was the song?" the doctor asked.

     "I don't remember," Chad replied.

     "Bullshit," Connors challenged him, "You remember everything about that night, so don't even try to suggest you don't remember the damn song!"

     Chad smiled, knowing he was right. "It was a cheeky ballad by Van Halen. Something from their last album with Sammy, who in my opinion was the best thing to ever happen to that band."

     "That's debatable." The doctor countered.

     "That's for another time," Chad said, unwilling to budge from his position. "The song was quite ironic because it was called "Not Enough". The ballad was about two people who were deeply in love, but in the end love wasn't enough for them to make it. That was Paula and I in a nutshell. We loved each other a lot, but when it was all said and done love just wasn't enough to keep us together."

     "The irony is deafening," Connors agreed. "Are you sure she doesn't remember?"

     "She doesn't want to," Cha explained to him, "She's made every effort to remove everything about me from her life."

     "How so?" the doctor asked.

     "She tossed out everything that had anything to do with us." Chad told him, "If I hadn't been there to stop her, she would have tossed all our wedding pictures, video and even gifts into a dumpster. Everything we had or shared together was something she didn't want anymore. It was like she was trying to erase me from her mind and even from existence. It was like I was just one big mistake she didn't want to remember anymore."

     "How does that make you feel?" Connors asked.

     "Angry, I guess." Chad replied, "We were not the perfect couple, but we shared some very good times. Why wouldn't she want to cherish those?"

     "Maybe they're too painful for her," Connors suggested, "Perhaps she doesn't want a reminder of a marriage that fell apart because of her actions, her betrayal."

     "What if she doesn't think she did anything wrong?" Chad asked. "Part of me believes that she doesn't regret anything. That she doesn't care who it hurt."

     "I'm not here to judge her, and neither are you." Connors reminded him, "This is about your journey, your life choices. Not hers. You have no control over what Paula has done or will do in the future. The only person you have control over is yourself. If you want to live a better life, with joy, compassion and love, the only person responsible for that is you. No one else is going to do it for you."

     "That doesn't mean I have to forget," Chad countered, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I forget who said that..."

     "It was George Santayana," his doctor answered, "And the exact quote is 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'. Is that what you're afraid of, Chad? That you'll fall into the same puddle and get wet again?"

     "No, I'm not." Chad admitted, "I'm actually not attracted to that kind of person anymore. I don't want the traditional lady that wants the man to take care of things. Believe it or not, I find myself connecting more to women who are capable of taking care of themselves and even me if necessary. I don't want to do the heavy lifting anymore, at least not by myself. I think I met someone like that on the island."

     "You're talking about Rachel?" The doctor asked.

     "I think so," Chad replied, "Everything about her is the exact opposite of what I had with Paula. She's upfront, in your face, and not shy to tell you what's on her mind. Being around her was so refreshing, considering that I had gotten used to being lied to all the time in my given profession."

     "She seems to have made an impact," Connors said, smiling. "And I'm not referring to beat down she gave you in the limo. To be perfectly honest though, you totally deserved it."

     "I sure did," Chad said, nodding.

     "This is interesting," Connors noted, "Usually this kind of violence would be a red flag for me, but considering this is what Rachel does for a living, and you're walking into this with eyes open, it seems to be more positive than a negative. Maybe Councillor Douche Bag could use someone to slap him into place whenever necessary; a physical course correction, rather than a gentle reminder."

     "I would prefer not," Chad admitted, "Because even with her, kindness seemed to work over much better than getting my ass handed to me."

     "I'm not going to sugar coat it, Chad." Connor said, tossing his note pad onto the table, and sitting up. "You've suffered some very traumatic events over the last several years; the accidental loss of your son, which eventually led disillusion of your marriage. It takes people a lot of time and therapy to get over just one of those, let alone both. I would strongly recommend group therapy, for both grieving parents as well as people who are coping with separation and in your case divorce. Nothing will make the pain of what happened go away, but just talking about it and sharing your stories with others who understand and will not judge you is very relieving."

     "How so?" Chad asked.

     "Just by knowing that you're not alone," Connors answered, "That there are others out there who've been there, who understand, is very therapeutic. You just need to open up a bit more, Chad. It doesn't matter if it's with me, a group, Rachel, or even her crabby mom. As long as you open up with someone, you'll take a colossal step towards a much simpler future. The path forward is much easier to walk with less baggage to carry. No one can relieve you of all of it, but just a little less weight can make a world of difference for anyone."

     "I'll give it a try," Chad offered, "But make no promises."

     "I'll take that and run," Connors said, "This is great progress, Chad. You have much more healing to do, but this feels right. It's not a hundred meter dash, rather more like a marathon. It's not important where you finish in a distance race just as long as you do finish, which is the real accomplishment."

     "What are you trying to say?" Chad asked.

     "Slow and steady," Connors answered, "Take your time, and do things right."

     "I think we should end there," Chad said, standing up. "We can continue this emotional jib jab next week."

     "I look forward to it," Connors replied as he stood up and shook his client's hand. "Take care and I'll see you next Wednesday."

     "Thanks," Chad said, as he took his leave after shaking the doc's hand.

     He never stopped seeing Doctor Connors, attending sessions, and even the recommended group sessions long after his court order had expired. When the new mayor of New York finally called up to offer Chad a new job, Peters was surprised to hear Chad turn him down. Chad was content to stay at his old job and try to turn a new leaf. He was still a ruthless bastard in the court room, maintaining a reputation that took years to mold, but he slowly stopped taking his leftover aggression out on others, especially those in his office. Chad was still a douche bag, but only when someone paid him enough to be the best one in town. It wasn't until months later when Chad asked his firm for a favor, which came to the partners as a surprise. He asked for a week off, without pay. Given the work he had done and the recent shift in attitude in the office, the partners were happy to accept his request.

     "Where are you planning to go?" Murphy asked, curious to know.

     "Vegas," Chad replied, with a smile on his face. "I've got a fight to catch."