At the table near the bookshelf a note was left. 

It looked like a letter-a moment's wisdom to the self...

Beloved,

We spend so much of our lives

 searching for love

 as though it were something

 lost somewhere beyond us.

And yet, there are moments

 when it becomes clear:

love was never absent.

 Only unrecognised.

Turning inward

 is not withdrawal

it is the place

 where love begins again.

The cup was cold, but the message was warm.

Mistress of the Brew.