Temporary Absentee

by Laney Cairo

Mark and Logan meet in the hustle and bustle of an Italian square, and it's lust at first sight, or at least it is for Mark. Recovering from a recent break-up, photographer Mark is drawn to Logan's youth and beauty, and the two of them embark on an adventure that leads them across Europe. Mark thinks he could find happiness with Logan, but what he actually finds might just be more important, and more lasting.

Genres: Gay, M M Romance

18 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Laney lives in a queer commune with three of her favourite people and two of her favourite dogs. When not writing, she teaches university students about apostrophes, scientific methodology and visual culture. In her spare time she photographs fjords and works on being kinder.

In her previous professional incarnations she has been a masseuse, owned a genre bookshop and dipped her toes in the civil service. In her long distant past Laney has undertaken nude modelling, been a fairy-for-hire, run murder mystery nights and been a breastfeeding educator; but not all at the same time.

Laney likes to tell stories about people who could be real, imagined into the future or an alternate reality.

Laney would rather curl up with a pot of tea and her laptop than speak to a group of people. Laney’s favourite word is ‘utterly’ and her long-suffering editor often has the task of restricting her to one per story. If you find an extra one she’d be utterly, utterly delighted to hear from you at laney [at] laneycairo [dot] com.

Reviews

[Tam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mark is just out of a 10 year relationship and decides to bum around Europe for a bit. He's in Italy and sees a great looking guy by the fountain and asks to take his picture. Logan says sure in exchange or lunch. So they go out for lunch and seems they are both on the night train to Paris. Logan switches tickets and ends up in the same car as Mark and they spend the night on their little bunk together, just cuddling but Mark agrees to head to Amsterdam with Logan. They get there and Logan shaves Mark (pertinent in light of my post at Wave's) all over. They go out for dinner, get high and end up back at the hotel. The next morning it seems they shaved their heads too after they got back and Logan says he has to leave. He hooks up with guys with money who will buy him cigarettes and food so he can keep bumming around Europe but he did like Mark more than most. Mark is upset he's leaving but realizes that he has to take risks if he's going to be happy. A bit odd, I assumed the shaved head thing since he talks about stubble but it's never said explicitly, but there was hair the day before.