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

Everyone at Mark’s party had heard the cars crash and immediately gone to the windows to see how bad the accident was.


“Just a fender-bender,” Mark said, relieved it hadn’t been worse. That particular corner had, for whatever reason, seen more than its fair share of bad accidents, although none in the past few weeks. As he watched, he thought he saw a familiar figure. He’s the man from the balcony. At least I think he is, from what little I’ve seen of him. He looks terrified. No, not terrified. More horror-stricken. I wonder why. No one was hurt, or even close to. He got a better view of the man as he walked down the block, before entering the building across the street. Yeah, he’s definitely upset, like it brought back memories. Bad ones. He saw lights come on in the man’s apartment, and for a moment the man was silhouetted against the closed curtains. I was right, it was him.


“You need a fresh beer,” Roger said from behind Mark, handing him a bottle.


Chapter 7