"And that is how you make a strawberry cheesecake." The baker on his Ipad smiled brightly at him while holding up a perfect looking cheesecake. "Enjoy your delicious treat!"

A wave, and the screen turned to black. 

On the other side of the screen played a completely different scene. Charlie stood back from the kitchen counter. Something yellowish dripped down unto the floor. He wasn't completely sure how there was something yellow in his strawberry cheesecake that was supposed to be pink, but here he was.

The strawberries, that he hadn't butchered, were floating around in something gooey. The goo was pink. At least he had managed that. 

"Well, I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy that Dan." Hesitantly, he dipped his pinky into the goo. He tasted it. "Nope. I'm 100% sure I'm not going to enjoy that." He fished the strawberries out of the goo and cleaned them off in the sink. After cleaning them, he walked to his couch and turned the television on.

The drip continued on behind him. 

The channels changed rapidly in front of his eyes. Eventually he shut it off. There were no more strawberries left in his bowl. Time to clean the kitchen. 

Or not.

Now that everyone had to stay at home as much as possible, Charlie didn't know what to do with himself. He was used to going outside for long walks through the park, going out to buy groceries for his dinner almost every single day, and playing basketball with his friends on the basketball field. 

He stood behind his window. A couple of birds flew past. "You lucky bastards."

There was absolutely nothing to do inside. At least not for him. Maybe he could quickly run downstairs to check on his mail. Maybe there would be something there. Something to keep him entertained. 

Charlie went out of the door for the fifth time that day. He only walked down the stairs to check his mailbox, he just couldn't help himself. The world was changing and he wasn't sure that he liked it. 

"Oh come on. Come here. You can do it. One more step."

Charlie looked up. There was a girl standing right in the middle of the hallway. He sighed. There was absolutely no way that he could go around her without getting too close to her. What was it again, 6 feet? "Euhm, sorry, I have to" he awkwardly pointed at the stairs in front of her.

The girl turned around. "I'm so sorry. I'll move out of the way." She turned back towards the staircase. "Come on Boomer. Move out of the way. We are going home!"

When Charlie walked forward, he could see a small brown dog sitting on one of the steps. Boomer, apparently, was wagging his tail. Charlie couldn't help but smile. 

Boomer put two front paws on the floor he was supposed to hop onto. His interest was piqued when he saw Charlie appear behind his owner. "Woof!" His tail was wagging excitedly upon seeing the new face. 

"Hello to you too!" Charlie smiled. "He is excited" he said, pointing at Boomer.

The girl pulled a strange face, looking disappointed. "If only he listened to me every now and then." She narrowed her eyes at her dog. "Come here. Please."

"Woof!" Boomer stayed exactly where he was.

"What is my life?" The girl sounded exhausted. 

Charlie grinned. The dog sniffed at his leg as he walked down the stairs. He heard his small paws on the stone as he descended. 

"No, come here!" the girl shouted.

He didn't have to look back to see that the dog was following him down the stairs. Charlie halted and turned around. Yes, there he was, looking up at him with sparkly eyes. "You're a cute headstrong dog, aren't you?" Charlie asked. He reached down, allowing Boomer to sniff at his fingers. 

The girl came down the stairs. "He likes you."

Charlie looked up at her, scratching Boomer behind his left ear. "Is that so strange?"

She nodded. "He usually barks at strangers and tried to bite their ankles."

Charlie looked down at Boomer who was excitedly licking his wrist. "Euhm... Thank you for the heads up."

"He would have already bitten you if he didn't like you." She looked down at her dog. "I think."

"That's reassuring." Charlie got back up. Boomer tried to jump up to let him know he wasn't done yet. He awkwardly waved at the girl. "My name is Charlie by the way." 

The girl replied by raising his elbow to him. "Nice to meet you. My name is Jenna."

They stared at each other. 

"So, this is a bit awkward."

Jenna shrugged. "Just a bit. How do you you enjoy spending so much time at home?"

"I hate it. I feel like an animal locked in it's cage." He stretched his arms a bit. "To be honest with you, this is the fourth time that I went out to check on my mail. I am not expecting any, I just need to get out of there for a bit."

"That bad huh?"

Charlie nodded. "How about you?"

Jenna pointed at Boomer. "I am lucky that I have him. I still get to walk him everyday. So that helps with getting some fresh air." She smiled. "And I am still very busy with work. I work at a publisher and I decide whether or not a book is good enough to be published by us."

"Ah, so you are one of those dreamcrushers?" Charlie smiled. 

Jenna nodded. "That's me. Here to crush your dreams." She smiled back at him.

They fell silent. The only one who was making a sound was Boomer that sat down between Jenna and Charlie. He looked from one to the other. "Wraf."

Charlie played with the keys in his pocket. 

Jenna looked down at Boomer. She pointed at nothing in particular behind her back. "I, we, should head back up. It was nice seeing another living person in real life."

"Likewise."

She tapped her leg three times, looking at Boomer. The dog huffed but got up and ran up the stairs. Jenna herself followed slowly after.

"Maybe I can walk your dog for you sometimes?" Charlie shrugged. "I mean, I don't have a lot to do. And it would be great to go outside again. With a real reason to be there, I mean."

Jenna stopped halfway. "Hmmm." She looked back at him. "I'd like that, then I can continue reading when there is an exciting chapter." She smiled. "Yes, Boomer likes you, so that is alright. Where do you live?"

Charlie smiled. That Boomer was his saving grace. "I live on this floor, number 82."

"Really? I live at 64. That is on the other side of the hall!" Jenna said.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how happy that makes me." 

They waved each other goodbye. Charlie checked his mail for the last time that day. It was getting pretty late and there were still some Netflix shows to watch.

He almost made it back to his studio when he noticed that number 64 was straight across the hall from him. He smiled to himself. And went inside.