A Day At A Time by Nic Starr

 Sean Vargos is quiet, well respected, and dedicated to his job. But Dave Simpson sees Sean as more than a coworker. He's fought his attraction to Sean for months but can't get him out of his thoughts.

They tentatively embark on a relationship, but Sean isn’t all that he seems. He struggles to put his past behind him and overcome his fears.

Dave, with his good looks and open nature, accepts that sometimes Sean’s doubts get the better of him and he runs. Dave just wants the chance to show Sean he can be trusted and the past doesn't have to dictate their future.

This short office romance left me wondering where the story was. It started off well enough, and the writing was capable – but nothing much ever happened. Don’t get me wrong – there are two likeable main characters who overcome…I think it was adversity?...to be together, but that was about it. Considering this was a short story, I had assumed that whatever conflict or tension there would be in relation to the two main characters would begin rather soon. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Dave is a good guy at the office. An almost seemingly too good of a guy, who is not only incredibly handsome, but also willing to wait around until hell freezes over for a non-communicative man he’s been ogling at the office to decide to be with him. We’re told that the object of his affection – Sean – is also a good, kind, caring man with a sense of humor (I don’t where that came from), but we’re never shown any of this. As a matter of fact – most of what there is of this story - we’re told about rather than shown.

I think that was the main issue for me. I never felt engaged in what was going on. There was almost no tension, not very much chemistry between the characters and the ‘awful truth revealed’ was rather anti-climactic – again, we were told rather than shown what happened.

Overall, this felt like a beginning attempt at storytelling. That’s not to say that the author doesn’t have ability – it’s clearly there. But I think with more time and attention to the story and the characters (don’t forget to have your secondary characters have personalities and interact too!) without a laundry list of irrelevant activities – the spark would come alive. This was all an opportunity missed. Because I feel the author shows promise with more work and because I was rooting for Dave and Sean to get together, I give this three lizard claws.

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