Mark is a man on the horns of a dilemma. He's in the midst of a five-year affair with a married man and he wants out ... but isn’t sure he can give up his lover.<br><br>Austin, who lives in the apartment building across the street from Mark, has his own problems. Two years earlier, the man he loved died in a horrible auto accident. Austin is still trying to come to terms with seeing it happen, and dealing with the aftermath.<br><br>After watching Mark from his balcony, making up stories about what he sees, Austin decides to meet him. Will the meeting help the two come to grips with their problems? And if it does, can they move on to something more than possible friendship?

The Man on the Balcony

If I had a daisy…He mimed pulling off the petals. It should be so easy to find out if he loves me or is using me. He had a bitter feeling he knew the answer, if he only had the guts to admit it.


He ended up making a sandwich, eating it standing at the kitchen counter. Pouring coffee, he wandered into the living room and flicked on the TV. Nothing caught his attention, so he turned it off, putting one of his jazz discs into the CD player. Going to the window facing the street, he pressed his forehead against the cold glass, staring down at the traffic below, lost in the strains of Ellington’s version of “Mood Indigo”


Chapter 3