His proximity was overwhelming. He smelled like cedarwood, expensive soap, and espresso. Olive's brain, usually so sharp and analytical, turned to absolute mush.
The hum of the sub-zero freezer was the only melody Olive Smith needed at three o’clock in the morning. To anyone else, the fluorescent-lit biology lab at Stanford was a sterile, unforgiving box of stress. To Olive, a third-year Ph.D. candidate running on four hours of sleep and a diet consisting primarily of free department bagels, it was home.
When she stepped out of her apartment building, Adam was waiting by his car. He was wearing a tailored black suit that made him look unfairly handsome. When he saw her, he stopped mid-stride. His eyes swept over her, dark and intense, and for a long moment, he didn't breathe. His proximity was overwhelming
As Adam's arms wrapped tightly around her waist, lifting her slightly off the ground, Olive realized that some truths couldn't be proven with a p-value or a lab test. Some truths could only be felt. And the truth was, their love hypothesis was the most successful experiment of her life.
The rules of the experiment were simple. They would meet once a week at the campus coffee shop at a highly visible time. They would engage in light, public banter. They would attend the upcoming department gala together. And on September 29th, they would conclude the study and go their separate ways. The hum of the sub-zero freezer was the
Olive stretched, her spine popping in protest. She loved science. She loved the pursuit of objective truth. What she did not love was the crushing weight of academic politics, the endless hunt for funding, or the fact that her best friend, Anh, was currently trying to orchestrate her love life.
Then came the late nights in the lab. Adam started showing up at her bench around 11:00 PM. He didn't micromanage. He didn't criticize. He simply sat at the adjacent desk, grading papers or reading journals, silently keeping her company so she wouldn't be alone in the dark building. candidate running on four hours of sleep and
It was Anh’s meddling that had landed Olive in her current, utterly ridiculous predicament.