He saw the friend request while idly scrolling through his feed, the dull routine of his day interrupted by a sharp, unwelcome reminder. "Gary Henderson." The name brought a familiar dryness to his mouth, a sensation like chalk dust. He scrolled past, intending to ignore it, but the urge to look, to *know*, proved too strong.
Gary’s profile was a carefully curated tableau of suburban normalcy: a smiling wife, two perfect children, a Labrador puppy. It was precisely the kind of life Gary would have sneered at back in the day. A dark amusement flickered within him. He clicked on Gary's profile, finding an absence of anything interesting, anything real.
He imagined the request's motivations, the desperate need for validation. Had Gary finally realized what a jerk he'd been? Probably not. More likely, he wanted to network, to climb the social ladder, even if it meant stepping on the people he had once tormented. A dismissive snort escaped his lips.
He considered the options. A scathing message? A carefully constructed denial? He briefly considered a simple, mocking acceptance, followed by a swift unfriending. A subtle tightening of his fist betrayed the intensity of his feelings.
He closed the tab, the screen a blank white. He felt a profound weariness.