Dancing to the Truth (The Brent Trilogy 3)

Chapter 1

I woke up with my entire body aching. I was definitely getting old, no matter how much I disliked it. I got out of my bed, groaning, and suddenly I had to rush to the bathroom because I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't.

As soon as I was done, I jumped in the shower. Today was the day, I thought to myself. It was the day when I was finally going to face one of my biggest fears. Even though I thought that I had made peace with it, but the way my heart was thundering in my chest was telling a completely different story. I was hoping that the shower was going to calm me down.

Even though I was still working out as consistently as I could, when I saw my reflection in the mirror, standing there naked, I couldn't believe how much weight I had lost in the past six months since I got that fateful call from Dr. Dur. I knew it was caused by stress, because I wasn't eating very well and I was the unhealthiest I have been in my life, despite the warning of Dr. Dur that now, considering the situation, I had to take care of my health, both physical and mental, more than ever before.

Easier said than done. I walked back to my room, put on some clothes, and trying not to think about my upcoming doctor's appointment, I walked downstairs in the kitchen where surprisingly, Marcus was already waiting for me, awake and with his laptop in front of him.

When Whitney found out about me, taking the kids and leaving, I didn't know what else to do or who else to call. So, I dialed the only friend that I thought I had left. Marcus. He was nice enough to let me stay on his couch, but about a month or so after my diagnosis, Marcus also quit the company where we were both working together and took another job, moving out of San Antonio, to the capital of the Lone Star State, Austin.

And knowing that Whitney didn't want anything to do with the old house we shared together, I moved back into it by myself, feeling lonelier than ever before, the echoes of the memories created there suffocating my every waking moment. I knew I was going to have to sell it eventually. Even though I got a new job and I was still making my mortgage payments on time, the house was too big just for me, and there were also other memories that didn't involve my wife and my kids that I wanted to forget, but I was constantly reminded of. I've learned how to cope, how to push these things to the back of my mind, but not wanting to deal with the issues head on is how I got in this mess to begin with.

The first few weeks after I moved in and was staying with Marcus, I thought that something would happen between us. One night, as we were drinking, we almost shared a kiss, but I pulled back right at the last moment before that happened, because I wasn't going to go ahead and kiss someone while the threat of HIV was looming over me. I felt tainted, dirty, and Marcus was one of the best people I knew in my life. I couldn't do that to him.

So, nothing happened. We simply remained friends until he moved out.

But, knowing what the day held for me today, and since he had the weekend off, Marcus drove from Austin to be here for me, as a moral support. I appreciated that more than I could've expressed it with words.

"Good morning," said Marcus. He was wearing shorts and a hoodie, and he was staring at his laptop, his thick-rimmed glasses dangling on the edge of his nose. He pushed them back when he lifted his head to look at me. His light-brown hair was disheveled and he looked at me with his crystal-clear blue eyes and a kind smile on his face. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm great, just peachy," I answered. Marcus didn't take my sarcasm to heart and he knew I wasn't snappy just for the sake of it.

"That good huh? I anticipated something like that, so I brewed the coffee extra strong, just for you."