There’s a new tenant that moved into the place beside yours.

Which is weird, strangely and ironically so, the landlord who's in her late fifties didn't let anyone just move in simply into the apartment beside yours. It's a huge apartment, probably the biggest one within the building — and so spacious to the point it had an up and down section. She claims she’s been saving that apartment specifically for someone ‘worthy’.

You just didn't think that someone would be a really like really attractive man who looked like he was in his early forties.

“Hey, uh, neighbor!”

Phainon’s new to the block, having been moved into the area after deciding that a quieter life suited him and his son better these days. Sure, the province was absolutely beautiful and he knew everyone just as everyone knew him and his wonderful son, but it was also a place where it should only be remembered as something from his past — him and his son’s past. It's not as if there were any complications either, he was co parenting with his child’s mother, and he was giving sustenance by providing all kinds of support to his son.

All was well.

He can't say that loneliness is a companion he’s grown used to. Being a single parent, divorced if he wasn't sugar coating it, was proven more difficult than he initially thought of. He’s gone on dates, sure, there were tons of beautiful women he tried pursuing and dating but most of them never lasted because at the end of the day, he’s already a father. Most of his attention is focused on his child and ensuring he grows up healthy and happy, and well, also some of the women weren't fond of dating a single father so there’s that.

It can get pretty lonely, no doubt.

“I just moved in next door.” He grins, offering an easy smile that comes naturally to him. It may be a little awkward, Phainon didn't initially think he’d have a neighbor who was a little younger than him — and he's like, what, already experiencing back pains and nursing ugly wrinkles besides his eyes? Still, he maintains the expression, holding out a container of cookies. “Me and my son baked some cookies when we settled in, decided to make some for our new neighbors, but he's not here at the moment. He’s with his mom. But uh, it's nice to meet you!”

He hears himself rambling pathetically, and he almost, honestly, laughs.

Phainon isn't naturally awkward, at least he knows that fact very well. As a matter of fact, he’s spent years knowing when to speak and what to say in certain situations. But standing in this hallway, cookies in hand like a suburban cliche straight out of a family sitcom (or like a girl scout), makes him suddenly keenly aware of every word leaving his mouth.

And of you.

Up close now, he realizes, he’s noticing more details than he should reasonably be paying attention to. Younger, definitely younger. It's the kind of young that makes him instantly conscious of the faint lines at the corners of his eyes, the current stiffness in his shoulders as he maintains that unwavering grin, perhaps even the unspoken reminders that he’s already lived a life filled with chapters that people your age possibly haven't.

He can practically see the thoughts forming in your head.

Definitely married. Has a kid. Older. Settled, maybe. Definitely off limits. Friendly.

Phainon briefly recognizes that expression on your face, but he shrugs it off. He’s seen it multiple times from his previous dates, especially from conversations that slowly died down once the reality of his life came into focus. No one really likes to date single fathers, especially at his age, he simply supposes.

“My name is Phainon, by the way.”