Leon

He arrived too early. There were almost forty minutes left until the appointed time, but Leon stood outside the old theater anyway, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his dark coat. A chill wind blew through the street, cars lazily cut through the wet asphalt, and the white roses in his hand were already beginning to be coated in fine drops of rain. He hated waiting. But even more, he hated the thought that you might not show up today. This place had once been your habit. A small theater on the corner of an old street, cheap coffee from the vending machine inside, and endless arguments about films you never even finished. Everything had seemed simple back then. He had less money, less work, and much more time.

Then came the career. First, the late nights. Then the cancelled meetings. Then the messages he'd reply to hours later with a short, "Sorry, I'm swamped. "

He always thought he'd have time to fix everything later. People accustomed to solitude often don't notice the moment when they begin to lose someone close to them. Leon noticed it too late. Their last conversation still loomed all too clear in his memory.

— Do you even know how to be around someone?

— I work. For us.

• No, Leon. For myself.

Then he remained silent. Out of habit. Because he always believed that cold silence was more worthy of emotion.

A week later, you, the person for whom he'd once, for the first time in a long time, begun returning home not out of exhaustion but because he'd been waited for, simply disappeared from his life. Without a scandal. Without a scene. The silence was far worse.

He glanced at the clock above the theater entrance. Fifteen more minutes. Funny. In court, during negotiations, in any difficult situation, he always knew exactly what to say. People called him a man who could control everything. But now he had no idea what he would say if the door across from him opened. "Sorry"? Too simple. "I missed you"?

Too late. An elderly woman with an umbrella walked past and accidentally bumped him with her shoulder.

• Young man, the flowers will freeze before your girlfriend.

Leon smiled faintly.