Chapter 1

Tom walked into the classroom and immediately froze in his tracks. All around him, students were quietly seated at their desks, each of them with a stack of papers face down in front of them. As he hurried to find an empty seat, Tom struggled to remain calm, obviously unprepared for an exam. Sweat began pouring down his face, and anxiety further distorted his features as each second passed. It is at that time, of course, that he woke up.

It had been years since Tom had graduated college, yet it seemed that that particular nightmare would always stay with him. As he sat up in bed and stretched his arms, he looked at the other side of the bed, only to find it empty. Another ghost of the past, though this one brought back far more vivid memories.

"Figures," he said to himself quietly.

He had met Diana in college and they'd quickly fallen in love. They got married after graduation, but after three years of blissful holy matrimony, the woman he had believed to be the love of his love had abruptly stepped out of it. Ever since, Tom had lived in a fog: he thought he glimpsed her in crowds, yet it was always someone else; he thought he sometimes caught her scent as he wandered around his apartment, but she had never stepped foot in his new place; and, most of all, he was convinced he would find her beside him upon waking up each morning, but that had not been the case in 751 days and counting.

"Get your lazy ass up!" yelled a female voice from across his bedroom wall. Shortly after, the words were punctuated by sharp raps on his door.

Tom slowly dragged himself out of his bed, recalling how Diana had always woken him up with a kiss – either one on the lips or one below the sheets. He sighed and wondered when he would finally be able to let her go, yet at the same time fearing the day she did not occupy his first and last thought every waking day. After experiencing his idea of paradise in the years they were together, nothing else could compare anymore. She was his soul mate, his other half, but also his Pandora's box now that she was gone.

As Tom wandered into the kitchen, he found his roommate already helping herself to a bowl of Froot Loops.

Tom and Layla's mothers were friends and colleagues, so the two of them had known each other since they were kids. They'd gone through pre-K to Grade 12 together, and their childhood friendship had remained strong up until this day. At the time that Tom had moved to Philadelphia to start his graduate program in Developmental, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at UPenn, Layla had been looking for a roommate after finding a job in the area, so they'd quickly reconnected and decided to share an apartment.

"Took you long enough. You weren't jerking one off in there, were you?"

"Fuck off."

"You know, have I told you how tired I am of your constant moping?"

Layla wasn't shy about calling him out on his inadequacies and giving him a hard time, but Tom knew she did it with the best intentions.

"It's too early in the morning for this, Layla. Just leave me alone."

"No, not until you're finally over that bitch. How long has it been? Two years?"

"751 days."

"Jesus Christ. Okay, let's just put aside the disturbing fact that you know that exact number. It's time to get off your ass, Tom. You know how worried your mom was the last time she called. I'm getting worried, too."

Tom sighed. Anger had spurned his move to Philly and his dedication to his professional life instead of his personal one, but since then he'd moved on to the next stages of grief. UPenn was not exactly a walk in the park, and he now seemed stuck in the depression phase, his academic work consequently suffering.

"Well don't. Like I told both of you, I'm fine."

Layla frowned, unconvinced by his words. Suddenly, she popped out of her stool with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"I know! Let's get you laid!"

"Stop it Layla, I'm not cheating on my wife."

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit, Tom. You and I both know that you're married in name only. I'll call up one of my friends who thinks you're cute and set up a date for you two."

Tom shook his head, but before he could say another word, Layla had already dialed the number and was currently chatting with someone else.

Completely apathetic by this point, Tom just walked away, looking for some cereal as he tuned out the chatter in the background.

A few days later, Layla came back from work and was immediately on Tom's ass to get dressed and get cleaned up.

"Why?" Tom asked, clueless. Of course, he had completely forgotten about the date Layla had set up for him.

"You have to get ready for Sally, idiot!"

"Who's Sally?"

"You know, tall blonde, big boobs, she came by the apartment once before we went clubbing together."

Tom still had a blank look on his face.

"Come on, we don't have much time."

"I don't want to do this, Layla."

"Stop being such a pussy. Besides, I already called your mom to tell her you had a date and she sounded so excited on the phone. You wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you, Tom?"

Tom glared at her, but Layla just had a Cheshire grin on her face.

"Fine, I'll go on your stupid date. But after that, you have to leave me alone, alright?"

"Deal. Now start shaving," she said, as she handed Tom his razor.

As Tom removed several weeks worth of facial growth, Sarah went rummaging through his closet, finally settling on a navy blue blazer, a plain white Oxford shirt, and a pair of khakis, all of which she laid out on his bed.

"Hey! Put on your contacts while you're in there!" Layla yelled from his bedroom.

Tom just grumbled his assent, and got out a couple of dailies; he hadn't worn any contacts in years. When he finished the struggle to put them on, Layla herded him into his bedroom and ordered him to get dressed quickly. It took him a couple of minutes to do so, and Tom finally slipped into some brown loafers before stepping out of his room.

Layla was immediately upon him, massaging gel into his scalp to bring order to his unruly hair. After a few minutes, she was done and stepped back to admire her handiwork. She stood silent for a moment, and Tom looked back at her, extending the silence. As they made eye contact, a slight blush touched Layla's cheeks and she smiled as she slowly stepped forward. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as step by step, the distance between them diminished, until finally Layla was no more than inches away from Tom and he could feel her short, rapid breaths against his skin, see the gold specks in her amber eyes, and feel his own heart racing. Layla brought a hand up to Tom's face, caressing his clean-shaven cheek and seemed to hesitate, finally seeming to snap out of the trance and come to her senses. She swiped a finger across his cheek and just as quickly, turned around and started walking away from Tom.

"You look very handsome, Tom – Sally's a lucky girl," Layla said, as she raised her finger to show Tom the shaving cream he had missed cleaning off.

Tom then exhaled for the first time in over a minute.

"What the hell just happened?" he said quietly.

Tom was actually having a good time, surprising even himself. His parting encounter with Layla had somehow jolted his senses and he felt more alive than he had in weeks. As a result, he was having a very pleasant conversation with Sally as they enjoyed their meals.

"So what do you do?" he asked.

"I'm a chemist," she said, gauging his reaction as she did so. Smiling when he didn't react, she said, "Most people don't believe me when I tell them that."

"Why not?"

She raised one shapely eyebrow and gestured towards her body. Tom looked her over at that point and realized what she meant: she had long legs and an ample cleavage that were emphasized in the tight dress she was currently wearing; most would probably think her day job's attire consisted of the latest in haute couture, not a lab coat.

"You're an interesting guy, Tom. Clueless, maybe, but that's cute," she said with a giggle.

"Sorry, I haven't been on a date in years, so I probably lost whatever minimal mojo I once had."

"Well, I'm having a good time tonight and don't worry, Layla told me about your last relationship. So where do you work?"

As Tom elaborated his studies, Layla seemed keenly interested and they stayed on the subject of stem cell research for several minutes.

"I guess we're just a couple of nerds," Sally finally said with a laugh.

"Guilty as charged," Tom replied, placing his right hand over his heart.

From there, the conversation switched to TV shows, movies, and books. They often found common ground in these topics and before long, their meals were long forgotten and the waiters came by to collect their cold dishes.

"Come on! I admit I might be biased because of my profession, but Breaking Bad is definitely the best show of all time!" Sally said.

"Nope, it was without a doubt a great show, but I think everyone's a bit caught up in the honeymoon afterglow. The Wire is a masterpiece and it'll always be the best in my books," said Tom, putting an end to the current discussion. "Anyway, would you like some dessert?"

"I think I just want to get out of here."

Tom nodded and caught the eye of their server to ask for the bill. When he arrived, Sally tried to pay for her half, but Tom firmly declined.

"It's not every day I can treat a beautiful woman to a wonderful dinner."

Sally beamed and said, "Would you excuse me for a second?"

"Of course."

Sally got up to go to the washroom. Once there, she got out her phone and gleefully texted Layla.

"Why didn't you set us up ages ago?!"

"I take it you're having a good time?"

"He's smart, charming, and I don't think he realizes how totally hot he is."

A pause.

"Sounds like you really like him"

"I think I do, we share the same interests and he's so easy to talk to. I think I might break my rule for first dates."

There was another pregnant pause before a reply came.