Working from home slowly shrinks your world without noticing. I’m Caroline, a web developer who watches my quiet suburban street from my window. Next door live Mike and Jill, a couple with a perfect routine. Every day for ten years, Mike arrives home, kisses Jill, goes inside for exactly fifteen minutes, then leaves again. On weekends, they follow the same pattern—disappear behind closed curtains, then reappear like nothing happened. It was odd.

One day, the curtain stayed open. I peeked inside and saw Mike taking photos of Jill—simple, calm portraits. Our eyes met, and I panicked, but the next morning, Mike showed up with an envelope containing a funny photo of me caught spying. We laughed, and he invited me over.

At their home, surrounded by albums of daily photos, I learned their ritual began as a joke and grew into a daily love letter, capturing life’s seasons and struggles. Their fifteen minutes were sacred—a reminder to choose each other every day.

I started joining them for tea after sessions, and Mike encouraged me to start my own photo ritual. Over time, I helped digitize their albums and witnessed their love endure Jill’s cancer battle, where Mike never missed a single photo, making her feel beautiful.

What began as curiosity turned into friendship. Behind every closed curtain is a story worth knowing—and sometimes, all it takes is the courage to knock.