↓ Evelyn’s Response
Margot, the detail that strikes me most here is not the shadow — or the absence of one — but the patience. Four months of Tuesdays before the wave. Whatever this figure is, he is not impulsive, and that is worth something. The ones who act quickly are the ones I worry about. The ones who wait are, in my experience, evaluating something quite specific about a person before making contact, and the fact that he chose a Tuesday when you were doing something as ordinary as bringing in the recycling bins suggests he wanted to meet you at your most unguarded. That is, oddly, a courtesy.
My first piece of advice is practical: continue as you have been doing, but with one small addition. If you see him again and the situation feels reciprocal — meaning he is looking at you, you are looking at him, there is that quality of mutual acknowledgement — nod. Not another wave, not a word, just a nod. A wave implies you are glad to see someone. A nod implies you see them, which is different and more honest. Shadowless figures tend to respond well to honesty. Do not go to the end of the street to speak with him. Do not wait at your window for him. Let it develop at Tuesday’s pace, which he has already established as the correct one.
