Jensen carried a bowl of oatmeal to the living room where Les sat on the couch. He said, “You’ll love this even if you’re not a big fan of oatmeal. I added a touch of maple syrup and some grated apple.”

Les reached out for the bowl and set it on the coffee table next to his glass of milk. He asked, “Whatever happened to Cheerios? I think I ate cold cereal nine days out of ten when I was growing up, and I’m fine. The other day was usually my mom letting me do something like eating leftover pizza from the night before. It would make your weekday mornings much easier if you ate cold cereal. You could sleep a few more minutes before getting up.”

“Oatmeal is good for you. It’s fiber. That’s a positive.”

“Okay, yeah. I’ll try it.” Les pointed at the TV. “Did you know that you can find cartoons on TV in the morning? These are old-fashioned ones like my dad talked about watching. He always rambles about the good old days of TV with only five channels. I found these shows when I switched over from the streaming stuff to your antenna. It’s smart of you to have the antenna.”

“I got it for the local news. If the city’s burning down, I’d rather see it reported here in the city instead of on the national news with obnoxious talking heads. You know, Les, I want to say something serious if you can pull your attention away from the TV.”

Les turned the volume down, stretched, and picked up the bowl of oatmeal. “Okay, but I can’t promise I’ll do very well with serious stuff at 7:00 a.m. I’m not usually awake yet. You get moving early here. I crawl out of bed at about 7:30 at home.”

“You don’t have to process much. You only have to nod and be appreciative of my sentiment. I wanted to thank you for being so great on Thanksgiving when Alec was here, and when we went to his house to spend the night.”

Les swallowed and said, “Mmm, this is pretty good. Personally, I’d add a little more syrup, but you did a good job.” He took another bite. “I’m not sure what I did on Thanksgiving that deserves a thank you, but I’ll take it. You deserve the kudos for the awesome food.”

“Well, I know when you kid about you and me ending up together again and serving as a backup plan for each other, there’s some truth in that. You were a perfect gentleman around Alec. Thank you. I understand that it might have been difficult.”

Les shook his head. “Fuck, Jensen. If you saw how the two of you look at each other, you’d react like me, too. I don’t think Cupid shot you with one arrow. I think he unloaded the whole quiver. I couldn’t be happier for you, but you have to make a deal with me now.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah. You and your sexy man next door need to keep your eyes open. You know what I like. Basically, I like a living, breathing man who has a smile that makes me weak in the knees. I like smart and funny, and I like him to have a good job. I don’t ask for much. I want you and Alec to keep an eye out for that guy for me.”

Jensen laughed softly. He asked, “Do you want me to look while you’re still out of commission with that injured leg?”

“Why not? I think having a sweet, handsome man carry shit for me and help me in and out of the car is a great bonding experience. Don’t you? He can hang out on the couch with me and soak in my personal charm.”

“Whatever you say. I’ll say it again. Thank you, and are you sure you’ll be fine today while I’m at work?”

Les nodded. “Of course I will. I’m looking forward to it. I can watch TV all day long, and I can nap whenever I want. There’s still a pile of leftover turkey along with bread and cheese in the fridge for lunch. I’m set. The only thing better would be a puppy or a kitten lying in my lap.”

Jensen shook his head. “I’m so glad you don’t ask for much. I can’t imagine what you’d come up with if you were demanding.”

The day unfolded as Les expected. He dozed off and on while watching reruns of sitcoms he remembered from his childhood. The day held no surprises until Jensen arrived home half an hour early. He walked through the kitchen door and slammed his briefcase on the kitchen table.

Les called from the living room. “What the fuck? Are you okay? You’re early. Did you come home sick?”

Jensen grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator, walked to the living room, and threw himself down in the easy chair. He turned toward Les and said, “Turn the sound down or turn the TV off. You need to talk to me, and you need to tell me whether I’m insane or not. If I’m not crazy, then you need to help me make a decision. I can’t believe this got dumped in my lap today.”

Les opened his eyes wider. He said, “Wow, something big is up. You had a much more interesting day than I did. I watched Joey and Chandler act like little kids with no cares in the world. I was a little jealous. Why can’t I live in a TV show?”

“You need to be careful with that TV remote. You might get addicted. Maybe you should consider reading a book, Les.”

Les held up a finger and thumb with a tiny gap between them. “Do you think I should read a book with an attention span like this? I don’t think that’s going to happen. So what’s up with this crazy news and all?”

Jensen leaned forward with his hands on his knees. He said, “Well, I was having a normal day. It was a usual Monday. I had to set up a couple of afternoon meetings with kids who had rough weekends. I also had a desk full of assessments to look through. It looked like a busy day, but not a horrible one. Then, half an hour before lunch, my principal walked into my office.”

Les raised an eyebrow. “The principal? Did he have an appointment, or did he show up unannounced? That sounds kind of serious. I got called to the principal’s office twice, and neither time was good news.”

Jensen sighed and reached up and scratched his head. “I think in a lot of cases this would have been good news. Yes, he appeared unannounced. It wasn’t a scheduled meeting. I looked up from my computer screen, and there he was.”

“Well, what was the reason? Oh, fuck, you’re home early. You didn’t get fired, did you? At least you can move next door now if you did get fired.”

“Oh, it was almost the opposite of that. I’m in no danger of getting myself fired. The principal walked into my office to tell me about a job.”

Les smiled. “That sounds like excellent news. Did he offer you a promotion? Does that mean you’re going to work at a high school or take on a job in the school district offices?”

“He told me about a job in Arizona.”

“Whoa, wait. You lost me somewhere in there. What does Arizona have to do with anything other than it’s like a thousand miles away from the Midwest? Why did he bring up Arizona? Does he have a time-share there?”

Jensen sighed. “He has a good friend from college who is a district superintendent in Arizona. They are looking for a new counselor down there. It’s a big school district in Phoenix. My principal recommended me. I didn’t know anything about that, and now the guy from Phoenix wants me to do an interview. I need to let him know by noon tomorrow.”

Les was silent for a few moments. “You’d have to move for that, right?”

“Well, yes, of course. I don’t think I can be a telecommuting school counselor.”

Les choked out one word, “But…,” and he pointed in the direction of Alec’s house.

“Yeah, I know. It’s the worst timing ever, right? It’s a promotion. It’s more money, and it’s a part of the country where I’ve always wanted to live.”

“And he’s like the guy you were destined to meet.”

Jensen growled, “Fuck. I can’t win.”

“You’d be winning if you never heard about the job. If you moved to Arizona, you’d be leaving me, too. I don’t want to sound selfish about it, but they always say honesty is the best option.”

Jensen covered his face with his hands for a moment. When he pulled them back, he said, “Yeah, I know. It sounds like hell, but turning it down sounds awful, too. I ran it all through my head over and over the rest of the day. When I finished my appointments for the afternoon, I told the school secretary I wasn’t feeling well and headed home early.”

Les sighed. “All I can say is if you decide to do this, go easy on Alec. He’s had it rougher than either of us can imagine. I don’t have to be a counselor to know that. Treat him well. Be the man that I know you are.”