Today is Alek's day off, Monday, and of course, he has a routine for today as well. Having the one day a week off is okay, he would rather have none, but his boss insisted that he's overworked. Once again, another person agrees with Emilie that Alek needs to get out more.

Alek never argues, but Monday has become his least favorite day of the week, because his job isn't there to distract him from his thoughts.

Alek sighs as he opens the gate to the place he visits every Monday, a bouquet of daffodils in hand. The graveyard isn't that large, but he did what he could under the circumstances. Because of its size, it isn't that far of a walk until Alek approaches the spot he needs to be. The weeping willow has reached full height in the fifteen years it's been planted here, and Alek seats himself at the base of the trunk, facing the tree.

Placing the daffodils down, Alek looks at the plaque planted at the base.

Nadia Fedin

Filled with hope

1997-2004

Alek frowns as he looks at it. It was so long ago, yet it still haunts him to this day what he let happen. He sighs when he hears footsteps approaching and stands up. A man walks over to him, looking shady in all accounts with a long overcoat, reminiscent of black and white detective films Alek used to watch as a child.

Tommy isn't helping his look out with his stubble and greasy hair, although Alek has no room to judge.

"You got the money, Alek?"

"You know I have the money."

The two quickly make the exchange, the willows long leaves acting as the perfect cover, and Tommy walks away with more cash than he had on him previously.

It isn't often that he bought drugs from Tommy, but it was often enough that they're on first name basis. Besides, it allows Alek to forget on the days he doesn't have a distraction.

He shoves the small pouch of two white pills into the pocket of his leather jacket, takes a look at his watch, and sets off home.

Once he is outside the building, he sees a moving van outside. Someone new must be moving into the vacant apartment next to his. He's surprised that the landlord already found a new tenant, as many people tend to pass through, but not many people stay.

All Alek hopes for is that they aren't as loud as his last neighbor, the constant pounding of music against his wall driving him out of his apartment most nights.

He makes his way into his apartment building, avoiding the moving crew on his way, and doesn't have any interactions with his neighbors. The door next to his is open, and he sneaks his way into his own apartment before his new neighbor can think about saying hi.

Inside his apartment, he has a kitchen on the right side of the room, as well as the doorway into his bedroom. There's a simple leather couch against the back window, which takes up the entire wall, and a coffee table in front of that.

Alek sets the pouch on the coffee table after hanging up his coat and leaving his shoes at the door. Taking one glance at the clock, it's almost time for him to eat, so he heads to the kitchen to begin making something. It's only when he opens up the fridge when he sees his mistake.

Alek hasn't gone shopping in ages, on the days that he works he typically eats there, and because of it, he never even bothered adding a space in his schedule for it. He meant to go shopping this week, having eaten the rest of his food last Monday.

He looks at the clock once more, there would probably be enough time to make it to the cafe and eat, still remaining on schedule.

Alek sighs but grabs his jacket and places his shoes back onto his feet. He locks his apartment on his way out, keeping his head down to avoid being noticed. While Monday's were Alek's least favorite day of the week, it was also the only day he had to himself, and he liked to cherish them by avoiding socialization at all costs.

It seems he'll have to sacrifice some of that because of his mistake.

It's not that Alek necessarily chooses not to socialize on Monday's. But when there's no need for him to leave his house, it just doesn't happen. He doesn't like the idea of walking around when he's high off pills either. That's a part of his life that he keeps hidden even from Em.

He likes having Em around, and he knows that he's already a burden to deal with with his alcohol problems. If Em knew about his drug issues as well, she would force him to get help.

When Alek reaches the cafe, he lets out a breath, seeing that it's nearly empty, most people choosing to stay at home or work because of the muggy weather. He seems Em at the counter, and she perks up at the sight of him.

"Well, this is a change! Could it mean that a new and improved you might be right around the corner?"

"No, I ran out of food last week. Thought I would come here to eat." Alek knows that isn't the answer she wants to hear, and so the words leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

Emilie pouts. "Well, that's depressing." She changes the topic quickly however. "You want your usual?"

Alek nods his head in response and gets out the exact amount of change needed. He doesn't wait for Em to say anything else as he makes his way to his usual booth and looks out the window.

He hears the clink of the plate hitting the table, as well as Emilie sitting in the seat across from him a few minutes later. Alek looks at his watch, he has about fifteen minutes left on his schedule to get back to his apartment and get high off the codeine.

With this he begins eating his panini, not talking to Emilie as she taps away on her phone. She'll start talking soon.

About halfway through his sandwich, she does just this. "So, what do you normally do on your days off? Hole yourself away for hours on end?" He raises his eyebrow at this, although she isn't wrong. "I'm kidding, well, not really. You don't actually do that do you? I should start requesting Mondays off so we can hang out together."

Aleksander hopes she doesn't do this. He admits that she's right about most things. He needs to socialize more, needs to stop being depressed all the time. But he doesn't know how. He doesn't know how to be happy, if he even is capable of it.

Alek hasn't felt happy in years, and just the thought of when he last was causes him to go into an even deeper mood.

"I'm fine, Em. I think I can get out on my own."

She shrugs her shoulders. "If you say so."

Just then, the radio changes from music to an advertisement, however this one has Em sitting up in her seat.

Niel has just gotten rid of the atrocious couch he tried to sleep on last night, thankful all of his things arrived so he doesn't have to do it again. He cracks his back once more, he might have to go to a chiropractor because of that thing.

While most everything is in boxes and is in their respective rooms, Niel still has to get unpacked. But there's just one thing he needs first, and he opens up the box that has his radio inside, hooking it up quickly and turning it on to the local station.

Just in time for an advertisement, although this one actually has him intrigued.

"A week of activities designed to help you let go of your fears and boost your confidence, so that you'll be ready to meet your soulmate."

The advertisement goes on for a few more seconds, but it already has Niel hooked, and he scurries for something to write with so he can look up the website it gave later. With the website written on his arm, and music back on, he gets to work.

Niel is sitting on his couch, all of his belongings already put in place since he doesn't actually have that much stuff. Again, most of what he used to own was co-owned with Sarah, and neither of them wanted to keep it.

His wifi isn't set up yet, so he takes out his phone and decides to look up the website for the ad he listened to earlier.

Healing Hideaway, Niel disregards the corny name and continues on to the information about the entire experience. It's a week long series of activities like the radio said, and you fill out a questionnaire to be anonymously paired with who they believe would be a perfect match for you.

Niel isn't too sure about it, he knows that everyone has multiple soulmates out there, and that they're only found once someone truly loves themself but... going on a matchmaker trip for self healing seems a little weird.

Nevertheless, a part of Niel is intrigued and he finds himself delving deeper into the site. He tries not to think about the idea of soulmates too much, he never understood why exactly he didn't find his, and grew jealous when all of his friends began finding theirs. That's why he had Sarah.

The trip is completely free, Niel reads, running off of donations. You also don't have to get with whoever you're paired up with. You get to know the person anonymously first, and on the last day before departure, there's one final activity you choose to do if you want to be with that person.

So, really, there's nothing to lose.

But there's still something that is holding Niel back. He isn't sure he should go. Is it because he just got out of a relationship? Is he moving too fast? Or maybe it's because he's not so sure there's someone out there for him?

Niel sighs and closes out of the browser, pulling up the contact for his best friend Carter. He presses the button to dial the number, and waits as it rings against his ear.

"Niel? How's the new place?"

"It's great, Car. My stuff is finally settled in."

Niel has been keeping Carter updated throughout this entire thing through text message, especially since Carter was the one that gave him this idea in the first place. Step out of your boundaries, Niel recalls Carter telling him, gain independence.

Niel and Carter talk for a couple of minutes, catching up on things that they haven't been able to over text. "So," Carter says, "as much as I love to hear your voice, I wasn't expecting you to initiate a call. What's up?"

Carter is right, Niel isn't the type to initiate contact with people, a lot of times Carter would have to spam Niel over text and call just to be sure he was still alive.

Niel runs his hand over his face and sighs. "I just..." he doesn't know how to explain it. "An ad came over the radio, and I was really interested, but I don't know."

"What's it about?" Niel explains the entire thing to him, eventually leading into his reluctance to go. "You should do it."

"Really? You don't think it's too soon?"

Since the breakup with Sarah, Niel has been less and less spontaneous, even becoming hesitant at times, and although it may not be obvious to Niel, it is to Carter.

"Clearly you're interested, and if there's something holding you back, I think you should definitely go. You said it yourself, there's no strings attached, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. This may be good for you."

Niel nods his head, although Carter can't see it. "Step out of my boundaries."

"Exactly. Step out of your boundaries."

"Thanks for the chat, Car. You've been a great help."

"No problem. Don't forget to text me."

After that, Carter hangs up, and Niel looks down at his phone. Niel hopes that he doesn't regret doing this.