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

From there, they visited some of the other enclosures where the animals were outside. They’d decided to pass on going into the buildings after the first one, because the noise level from all the kids was ear-shattering, as Mark put it.


It was mid-afternoon by the time they left the zoo. “We could hit up the botanical gardens,” Mark said once they were on the street.


“I’ve been outside long enough. My toes are half frozen,” Austin replied. “I opt for hot coffee and a sandwich.”


“I was thinking a coffee shop, but I’m fine with my place. I’ve got plenty of sandwich makings.”


“Sure.” Mark made the turn toward where they lived, then had a thought. “Is this keeping you from your editing?”


“Nope. The nice thing about being freelance is I can do it when the spirit moves, as long as I don’t miss deadlines. Right now, I don’t have one coming up for a couple of days.”


Chapter 21