Post-Life Options, a, b and c

Cole is in love, but it doesn't do him a lot of good.  That's because he's in love with the ghost who's haunting him, the ghost of his fire-fighter neighbour Sam, who died six months ago.  If only either of them had admitted back then that they were in love with each other, how much simpler things would have been...  Short, approximately 9900 words.  Part 1 of 2.