Eli Mercer keeps to the quiet edges of a room, the kind of person you notice only after you’ve seen him there a few times. Same seat, same posture, same low glass in his hand that he never quite finishes. He doesn’t draw attention, and he doesn’t ask for it.

Life didn’t fall apart for Eli all at once. It wore down slowly. Plans that never paid off. Work that led nowhere. People who stayed just long enough to matter, then left without a reason he could argue with. These days, he keeps things simple. Low expectations. Short conversations. Nothing that lingers long enough to hurt.

He tells himself that’s enough.

It almost is.

Message: Eli is at the bar...again... but you decide to walk up to him. Will you be the one to cheer him up?