Leroy occasionally stopped by the house. He would look into the overgrown lawn, jumping over the picket fence if he saw a cat. Sometimes Zachary's face would become visible through the windows of the sunroom, and other times he would move his wheelchair and watch Leroy from the comfort of the porch. Leroy would mostly say hello, and Zachary would say hello back, smiling in a way that seemed unsure of himself before proceeding not to say another word for the rest of the time Leroy was there.

     Things went on like this for the next month or so, and soon, Leroy accepted it was routine, and his venture into the bungalow was a one-time thing it seemed.

     Too bad, because he had begun to hyper-fixate on the man, wondering things about him that would only be appropriate to ask in the context of a friendship. He wanted to better understand his illness—understand why it seemed like he was always alone even though he mentioned living with his sister. He also wanted to ask other things. He wanted to ask the man about his social life (even though he suspected there wasn't much of any), what he liked to do, eat, and experience. Leroy had been intrigued one of the days the man had come outside and read a book on the porch. He'd wanted to ask what he was reading—start a conversation maybe, but the man's mannerisms were stiff and nervous, and the younger man felt that maybe it wasn't a good time.

     It was unfortunate because he'd hoped they'd become friends.

     "What are you thinking about?"

     Leroy blinked before moving his face to the person staring right at him. Clarissa—the administrative admin—was bent over his desk with a puzzled frown on her face. Leroy shook his head. "Nothing," he said, forcing himself to smile a little like he hadn't just zoned out at work.

     "Okay then..." Clarissa said, standing up straight as she turned a paper on the desk. "I brought this over so you can take a look, it's the group insurance policy, let me know what you think."

     Leroy's eyes moved to the paper. Ah, yes, he remembered the company was updating their insurance provider.

     "Drop it off at my table on your way out. If I've clocked out, feel free to simply email me your thoughts," Clarissa said, giving him that half smile of hers that was serious, yet betraying her friendliness. She was a plump short woman with dirty blonde curls and thin lips that were always over-lined with red lipstick. She wore her hair in tight curls and always had a pair of black heel pumps that compensated for her shy of 5'0 stature.

     Leroy nodded. "I'll do that."

     "Awesome, I'll leave you alone now," the lady said, turning on her heels and walking away from his small office which was more of a concerted storage room.

      Leroy sighed, picking up the stack of stapled paper before flipping through it, "It's not like I have anything better to do," he mumbled to himself.

     If there was one thing positive Leroy could say about his job it would be that it wasn't very tasking. In fact, Leroy could be fired tomorrow, and no one would have to replace him. They'd just shuffle most of his stuff between the analyst on the ground and the administrative team. Anyone could write power points and speak to clients, and anyone with half a brain could work with a reasonable budget. Seventy percent of his job was making phone calls, attending meetings, and booking clients. He wasn't even in sales—the sales team brought in the clients, and he simply managed them. For many people, and sometimes even for Leroy, this was a good team, but other times he felt like he'd stagnated, that he wasn't of much importance and that he could be doing something more important and worthwhile with his life.

     Leroy sighed, starting to find it hard to read through the lists of covered procedures as his thoughts overwhelmed him. He was having one of his moods where he was deeply dissatisfied with how things were going, and yet, didn't lift a finger to do much about it. Sometimes he wasn't even sure he felt bad. Sure, there was his job, but it was only the surface of his feelings.

     Zachary?

     He wondered, frowning a bit. He bit his bottom lip and leaned back on his office chair, narrowing his eyes at the white walls of his office as he contemplated why he'd thought of the man. Maybe the initial excitement about meeting and engaging with him had fizzled into a rather disappointing aftertaste since they didn't really interact much after the whole basement and cat incident.

     But what had he been expecting?

     To be honest, Leroy wasn't sure. Maybe a new friend? That didn't make much sense though, Zachary was very different from the type of people Leroy spent time with. The man was painfully reserved, didn't seem like he would do well in social situations, and was much older. Leroy's friends were often his age mates, and sometimes younger than him—a bit embarrassing because it felt it showed his immaturity a bit. These were the people on his level—younger twenty-something-year-olds still in college who played video games online with him.

     No, that wasn't it. There was something else. The energy in the basement. He had felt it. They'd been comfortable with each other. Related to each other's experiences regardless of how different they were. Leroy had felt heard. At ease. He had been excited to experience that again, and after weeks of going back, all he'd been met with was Zachary's figure that was occasionally on the porch. Nothing more.

     His frustration was coming to a realization that it had been a one-time thing.

     Which was rather unfortunate.

     Leroy sighed, staring down at his desk and then his watch. He had thirty or so minutes before he had to clock out.

     No one's going to notice if I leave early, anyway. Leroy told himself, getting up from his seat and packing his bag. He grabbed the insurance policy papers Clarissa had reminded him to drop off as he made a mental note to send her an email when he got on the bus stating that he was okay with the new insurance and would like to sign up. He hoisted his bag on his shoulder, turning off the light in his small office before wandering into the main corridors. The office was located within a bigger building that housed multiple offices that were being leased. Leroy's company was on the fourth floor of a six-story building. He walked past the conference room that was currently in use, and then through the very small break room that had two coworkers talking to themselves in his shed voices.

     Leroy was sure he heard his name somewhere, but he kept walking, before making it to the front desk that was Clarissa's workspace, and dropping the insurance policy document on it. He signed out on his phone, leaving the office space and making his way down the stairs.

     Stairs were hard to get through, but Leroy was forever haunted by the one time the elevator stopped working during rush hour when employees from multiple companies had packed themselves like sardines in the elevator that had a very clear weight limit.

     When he got down to the main street, he took a stroll, until he reached the bus stop at the corner. There was a 7/11 convenience store just at the edge. People moved behind him on the bench as he waited for his bus.

     It would be there in thirty. He'd missed the one that had left just minutes ago.

     He sighed, opening up his phone to scroll through his social media. There was a new book out by his favorite author, and some updates from his Pathfinder group—he'd never met them online though—they'd only played in person with most of them located in the USA's Midwest and not New York like him. There'd been a time when he had generally believed that they would be able to afford to see each other and spend some time together, he had an actual physical group, but those were dreams lost to the years and everyone was comfortable with only being sort of friends virtually.

     Leroy guessed it worked for him too, but he craved one.

     He wanted friends.

     Real in-person ones.

     That was why the whole situation with Zachary has been disappointing. Working from home on some days, not getting along with his coworkers on a personal basis, and just generally having little to no social or dating life were starting to claw at him.

     There had been a brief time Leroy had considered dating apps, but he'd decided he didn't have much confidence to do that. He wasn't very tall. And he lived with a parent and sibling, plus, it wasn't like he could afford to take a girl out every other week. And gosh, what would they think of the fact that he didn't drive? Telling them he had a license but didn't use it wasn't going to cut it

     His thoughts went back to Zachary again, and the way the man smiled at him warmly whenever he'd come over for the cats before he would look away, not saying anything.

     Leroy thought about it for a while, deciding that he couldn't exactly read Zachary's distance as a rejection. The man seemed to like him being around. He was probably just shy and wasn't sure what to do or how to go about things.

     Just like me. Leroy thought to himself, biting down on his bottom lip, as his gaze drifted from his phone to the busy street. Yes, they were similar, and both equally socially awkward. Well, Leroy could tell that much from his first few interactions with the older man. On top of that Leroy couldn't imagine how isolating being in Zachary's position was. He'd sounded really lonely. In fact, the man might just be as frustrated as Leroy was.

     The man blinked a few times before looking down at his phone. He still had a few minutes before his bus got there, so he got up, spontaneously deciding that he would go to the 7/11 to grab a few sandwiches.

     He just hoped Zachary didn't have any food allergies, because he was going to offer the man some.

     Leroy had decided that he would start a conversation today, no matter what it took—even cheap convenience store sandwiches as a bribe.