My guy making a rare appearance at work on Friday

My guy is going through another bout of depression. I have been giving him some breathing room, so he can sort out his feelings. We both hope that his mood will improve.

He was supposed to be at work this week for some training seminars. However, when I communicated with him on Tuesday, he said that he decided to stay at home. I simply told him to let me know when he was in the office.

On Friday, I didn't bring my lunch. Most of my team members could not go out for lunch. My boss was free, so we went to a vegetarian dim sum place. The food was tasty. I felt full for hours.

When we got back from lunch, I saw my guy exiting the building. We were both shocked to see each other. We each were with a colleague, so we kept our chat brief. My guy was smiling. He seemed like his usual self.

At 17:00, I had had enough of work and decided to wrap up the week. I typically stay longer than this departure time, but I often work more hours than I decided to pack up and go.

I was about to turn off my laptop. My guy sent me a message on our company's instant messaging program. I asked my guy if he needed anything, as I was powering off my laptop. He quickly pointed out that he wanted to wish me a good weekend. I knew that he was in a better mood.

I asked him whether he would like to chat. He was fine spending some time talking to me over tea. We met in one of the lunchrooms. We were both sitting close to it.

Of course, a software developer decided to track me down to ask me a question at the end of the workday and workweek. We spent perhaps ten minutes talking.

I then met my guy in the lunchroom. It was nice to see him. He looked good.

He confirmed that his mood was good today. He confessed that it was horrible for him the day before. He shared with me an app on his phone that lets him track his mood. It comes with analytical graphics. It's a useful tool.

I asked him whether I could hold his hand. Normally, we wouldn't do it at work, in a fairly public setting. Without waiting for a reply, I held his hand under the table. He liked that. He felt good. So did I.

We chatted some more about our week. We both cracked jokes like we usually do. It felt normal.

Baby steps. Friday was a positive, optimistic sign.