Our Story

Chapter 1: How It All Began

Present Day

Long, delicate fingers ghosted along the albums lined within the old wooden bookshelf in the den. Never before had Anna Taylor even gave the bookshelf a second thought for as long as she had been coming to her grandfather's house, which was all of her life, a whole 18 years. Now she had time to spare as her grandfather prepared tea in the next room. As she drifted around the room, waiting for him to emerge with the tea, she found herself looking around and that's when her attention focused on the shelf that held albums full of precious memories.

There were albums that were labeled appropriately, with the names of her aunts and uncles even her father's name which all contained various things from pictures and papers of each child growing up. Some albums were labeled with years spanning from the '60s. One particular book caught Anna's interest. It was a small, leather-strapped album that Anna couldn't ever recall seeing. It didn't even have a date on it and it was partially hidden. Perhaps it was just filled with random memories that weren't dated or had a place. Surely her grandfather wouldn't mind if she had a look.

Carefully, Anna wiggled the book out of it's tightly wedged spot beside the other albums. Her blue eyes looked it over before she popped up the straps of the album and peeped inside. Of course, she was right, the album was nothing more than an assortment of candid photos of her grandfather and his friends. Anna was not prepared for the sight of one of the next pictures in the album. She flipped to it near the end and was slightly puzzled. It was a photo of her grandfather as a young man with that wild hair that was oh so popular in the '70s. But that's not what confused her. The sight of him kissing up to another nameless man is what confused her. Anna flipped to the next photo and sure enough, it had the same strange man from the previous picture. This time though, the man was behind her grandfather, hugging around his slender waist as they smiled into the camera. The next few pictures were the same case, pictures of her grandfather and that man, clearly happily in love. Since when had her grandfather ever been attracted to men? He was always presumed to be a ladies man. She couldn't ever remember her grandfather telling her stories about this man, she was certain he wasn't Brian or John. No, he was someone entirely different.

"Sorry for the wait." Her grandfather came from the kitchen with a tray in his hands, two steaming porcelain cups resting on it. "You know, I never was as good as your grandmother when it came to making tea." There was a lighthearted laugh in his voice.

"Grandpa," Anna began, still flipping through the small album, "Who is this man?"

Anna looked to him and turned the album for him to see a picture of his younger self cuddled up with the man in question. Any trace of a smile faltered from Roger's face. He set down the tray and reached out for the album. Once it was in his hands, he closed up the album, doing up the leather straps.

"It doesn't matter Anna." Roger said softly, "Now let's have that tea before it gets cold, you aren't visiting for long."

"I wouldn't mind hearing about that man while we have tea," Anna said honestly, at this point their identical eyes were looking into each other. "Grandpa you can't say it didn't matter, not when I've just seen those pictures. That did not look like nothing."

There was a long silence between them before Roger looked down at the still closed album in his hands. The situation had caught him completely off guard. He assumed the small album could be easily overlooked on the shelf, something no one would bother to even take a second look at. Only he and his two mates knew about the album and its contents. Roger only ever put the album up on the shelf after his wife had passed away. Never would he have imagined that his granddaughter would flip through it and ask about... Him.

Roger contemplated whether or not he should tell Anna, even though she was a gentle and understanding young lady. The only people who knew of the situation were John and Brian. It was something that Roger hadn't even told his wife during her lifetime, he never planned on telling her. But it was too late to turn back now. Anna had seen the album and he knew she would be persistent to know. Roger's breath was shaky but he nodded. He would tell her the story of his greatest love.