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

“What do we want to do next Monday,” Mark asked after finishing half his lunch.


“Depends on what trailers we like. If they show one for a movie we absolutely have to see, we can plan on going. Otherwise, I don’t know. A museum? A long walk? Your choice.”


“Okay,” Austin replied, then grinned. “The gym.”


“I should never have mentioned it,” Mark grumbled. On the other hand, if we do, I’ll get to see a lot more of him than I have so far. He looks pretty buff, but it’s hard to tell when all he wears are sweatpants or jeans and winter shirts.


“The gym it is, then,” Austin said.


They did go to the gym the following Monday, then took a leisurely stroll through a nearby park until it began snowing, at which point they returned to Austin’s place.


“You know what we should do?” Mark asked, after he’d put down his gym bag holding his workout clothes, and hung up his coat.


“Move to Arizona, where it never snows?” Austin replied.


Chapter 24