Chicago ophthalmologist Patrick Holt wants to move to the suburbs, but his partner, marketing manager Clayton Teal, doesn’t. The two men, who share a condo together in the city, are having a hard time coming to an agreement about their future living arrangements. An argument ensues and Clay storms out of their home and heads to the gym to burn off steam.<br><br>While he’s running on the treadmill, he listens to a playlist Patrick recently made for him. The playlist contains nine songs and each one reminds Clay of times, both happy and sad, that he and Patrick shared over the years. Is this all that’s left of their relationships? Or can they work things out?

The Playlist

The sixth song was “Another Star” by Stevie Wonder. Aside from being glad I had something upbeat to run to (Patrick’s playlist wasn’t exactly made for the treadmill), I was happy to hear Stevie’s voice because it always perked me up. I’ve been a Stevie Wonder fan for a long time and I’d managed to convert Patrick, who wasn’t really familiar with a lot of Stevie’s work. Of course he knew the hits like “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and “Ribbon in the Sky,” but he wasn’t familiar with a lot of his music from the ‘70’s when, I think, he truly flourished as an artist. Songs like “Too High” and “Golden Lady” showed such a progression in his music. I’d preached to Patrick many times about the genius of Stevie Wonder and he’d, thankfully, agreed with me. If he hadn’t, I would have had to re-evaluate our relationship. A man who doesn’t appreciate the genius of Stevie Wonder is not the man for me.


Chapter 4