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

By then, everyone had settled in, having rearranged the chairs into a less rigid formation. Mark sipped his beer, beginning to relax since everyone seemed comfortable. Not that they wouldn’t be. I guess I had host jitters. Hell, I know I did.


He was about to sit as well when Norma took his arm, nodding toward the kitchen. When they were there, she asked, “Any word from your soon to be ex?”


“Umm, yeah. I didn’t tell you because, well…” Mark sucked in a breath.


“I didn’t want you making a big thing of it.”


Mark chuckled. “Like hell. Anyway, he called to say he was coming out this weekend and I told him I was busy and he sort of took that in stride I guess and said he’d call again soon when he could arrange to come out and, well, that’s where it stands,” he said, all in one breath.


She nodded. “What happens when he does call?”


“I don’t know. I’ll figure out something.”


Chapter 6