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

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Todd asked, obviously upset.


“We need to talk,” Mark replied, starting across the room toward the sofa.


Taking a deep breath, Mark said, “About us. About you presuming I’ll always drop everything to be with you when you come into town. About the fact you never ask if it’s…convenient I guess, for you to show up whenever you want to.”


Todd seemed puzzled. “It always has been, and it’s not like I drop in unannounced.”


“True. You warn me first,” Mark replied. “But you never ask if it’s okay. You only presume it is. If you really loved me, you wouldn’t do that.”


“What the hell? Of course I love you,” Todd said, crossing to where Mark was standing. He gripped Mark’s arms. “How can you think otherwise, after all these years?”


Mark pulled away, looking hard at Todd. “If you did, you’d ask Janice for a divorce so we could be together all the time, not just when the mood hits you.”


Chapter 11