Luke was walking down the street with Jim, his editor for the past 5 years. They met at a bar and became friends. He ended up getting Luke’s book published 4 years earlier and was now trying to get him to write the second book faster.

“You should know by now that preassure will get you nowhere, Jim”

“You should know by now that I never give up”

Luke laughed at that. Jim was a good friend and a good editor. He knew he owed his success to him.

They were both going to a restaurant to go over some details of the book. They both lived in NY and met once in a while so Jim could bother Luke till no end. Never got him anywhere, but he always tried.

Suddenly Luke stopped walking and stayed still looking straight ahead of them

“What? What is it? Are you okay?”

“Shit…”

Jim couldn’t see anything ahead of them, just some people walking by

“Luke, you are scaring me, man”

Luke just turned around and started walking

“Hey!”

Jim followed him until Luke turned around the corner and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed

“If you don’t tell me what the hell is going on I am taking you to a shrink right now”

“It’s him…”

“Him? Who?”

“Shit, Jim, the tall guy”

Jim tried to go back around the corner to take another look but Luke pulled him back

“Don’t look”

“How the hell do you want me to know who you are talking about? I am straight, remember? I don’t walk down the street checking the guys, I check the girls”

Luke smiled at Jim’s words

“He was with a blond woman”

“Curvy? In a red dress?”

“I think so, yeah”

“I noticed her, can’t say the same about the guy, though, sorry”

Luke looked at him

“It’s him…”

“Who?”

“Noah…”

“Who the hell is Noah?”

Luke closed his eyes and laid his head back against the wall remembering

“What kind of idiot turns off his cell phone on his first day of work?”

“This kind of idiot, hi… Noah Mayer”

“Noah Mayer…”

“Who?”

Luke tried to push the memories away

“Luke?”

“I used to love him…”

Jim looked at him

“When?”

Luke smiled sadly

“A lifetime ago”

“Do you just not like me?

“No, I like you Noah”

“Then why do you keep pushing me away?”

“Because...I like you Noah”

Noah looking at him, understanding what Luke was really telling him…

“Yeah, like that”

“Hey, are you okay?”

Luke shook his head and looked at him

“Do you mind if we do this another time?”

“What’s going on, Luke? I’ve known you for years and you’ve never talked about this guy, not once, and yet look at you…”

“I used to love him, Jim”