When Vincent takes shelter in a bookshop one stormy day, he happens upon a book of male nudes. One of them brings back memories of his first, and possibly greatest, love -- Daniel McClary. When a sales assistant tells him there’s a man who resembles the model in the picture that comes into the shop every week, Vincent wonders if it could be the same man who broke his heart twenty years ago.<br><br>He looks up Daniel’s Facebook page and is disappointed to discover Daniel is married and has two sons. Nevertheless, he starts to frequent the store, watching and waiting for the man he’s sure is Daniel. Finally, Daniel makes an appearance. Vincent approaches him and says hello, immediately realizing his love for Daniel is still strong. But what difference does it make? Daniel’s a family man.<br><br>However, the next time they meet, Daniel reveals something which gives Vincent a tiny spark of hope.

Down Memory Lane

On the other hand, he was overthinking things. Daniel did have a lot on his plate, and it was only natural he wanted to spend as much time with his parents as he could before he flew halfway around the world. When Vincent looked at it that way, he realised he’d been selfish. Just because Daniel hadn’t contacted him in five days didn’t necessarily mean anything.


“Daniel, how are you? I got your message.”


“Just a quick bite to eat. Somewhere cheap and cheerful.”


“Listen, I’ve got to go. Mum and Dad are taking me out for lunch. I’ll drop by around six-thirty.”


“Yep. Taking it back first thing in the morning. Anyway, gotta run. See you tonight.”


Fortunately, his next client arrived and stopped him from analysing how Daniel had sounded on the phone. He’d find out all he needed to know in a matter of hours.


Chapter 15