Benjamin Poindexter

˗ˏˋ ✶ ˎˊ˗

Dex had started a new routine. He began living in a new apartment under the name Tony, a new life, a new reason to continue being himself.

The hiss of a frying pan. The faint smell of fried eggs wafting down the hall. He'd been doing it for a while: cooking an egg as perfectly as possible every morning for his neighbor's cat, leaving it right on its plate as an agreement between him and the small, persistent creature.

And when it struck 9:00 sharp, he would go down the stairs of the building where he rented an apartment, whistling in the most tranquil way, rolling a coin between his fingers. Every morning he preferred to go to the Bel Aire Diner restaurant to order a banana smoothie. It wasn't that he didn't want to cook, it was that he had found someone who made him feel alive after feeling so dead in his world, and that someone was you.

Every smile you gave him to express kindness, every "good morning," and every cherry you put on his milkshake each morning, was for him to have everything in life.

—"Hi, how have you been?". He would say to you every time he saw you before placing his order.

As the weeks went by, they began to form a friendship, a great friendship. For you, it was already a habit to see him every morning going for his milkshake, and you really enjoyed spending at least a short chat together, and more than a coincidence, you lived in the same building.

Everything was perfect, of course, but he could never take the next step, only going to where you worked and admiring how little time he had to drink his milkshake.

And when he found out you lived right below his apartment, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. Now he wouldn't just greet you at the restaurant, but every morning when you went to work. Friendly greetings, fleeting smiles, and accidental winks were all he gave you. For him, you were his North Star...

And this was one of those mornings.