Lust in London - Prologue. Prologue

Chapter 1

The weather outside was perfect for the mood Alex was in. Sleet tapped its incessant melody onto the newly patched roof. The windows were fogging up, creating a glowing white vignette on each pane. The room was warm, aided by the newly-added wood fireplace. The only sounds were the pelting of the sleet, the crackling of the fire, and the pounding of Alex’s heart.

He was all alone this night. His mom wanted to drop by, but he turned her down. Alex wanted to be alone. It gave him time to rest and recount what thoughts tortured his mind. He sat up slowly in the burgundy wingback chair, adjusting the fleece blanket he’d placed over his exposed legs. A chill fell over the room as the wind suddenly gusted outside. Alex rubbed his arms and huffed warm air into his hands. The thin blue sweater he wore was not enough. His coffee brown eyes glanced at the clock above the fireplace. Alex sighed. It was only 8 PM, the evenings kept growing longer and longer.

He ran his fingers through his tuft of brown, spiked hair. All of the week’s events caught up in his mind, needling at him incessantly. It had been very lonely ever since that fateful day, or as he called it ‘the end of days’. It had been the day that he and Mason ended their six-month-old relationship. He tried to look on the bright side and think objectively.

Alex was only 22 years old, but was already ahead of most of his life goals. He’d graduated early from high school and had been on the dean’s list every semester at college. His upcoming graduation was a full six months ahead of his classmates. His dream of going to law school had finally become reality the day the acceptance letter arrived in his mailbox. He couldn’t wait to attend in the fall, after taking some time off. He’d just landed a job as a law clerk and could now pay for his own rental house.

But now, all the goals, all the dreams, all the careful planning he and his parents had orchestrated together, meant little to him. Alex rested his head on his right hand, and stared into the fire. His life felt meaningless and empty without Mason to share it with. The breakup had been very one-sided. The last six months had been full of every emotion the young man could’ve mustered. He’d felt love, hate, passion, jealousy, absolute joy, pain. The breakup was very sudden, and very emotional.

Alex felt his young, beardless face flush, and there was the sudden refreshing coolness of tears rushing down his skin. He brushed the tears away violently. He tried valiantly to stop the onslaught of memories, of all their dates, games they played, and nights they’d spent together. He’d battled this round of tears, but as an unrelenting foe, they came back, and in greater numbers. Alex surrendered to them at last and fell asleep after crying for a half-an-hour. He dreamt of when he and Mason first met.