The Start

It's easy to detach from someone, what's hard is if you don't want to be detached.

November 2010

A black Nissan Sentra car stopped in front of me. I recognized the driver of the car as the one who had sent me his photo from an earlier chat. It was Sean. He smiled at me and signaled that I should hop in already. And so I did.

I am Empire. He was Sean. We were 24 that time. We shared a couple of beers until dawn before we parted ways that night. We had fun. And I was expecting that this is only a one night affair. The usual set up you'll have with the online world. Well, expectations failed me. Just before I get out of Sean's car to go back home, he gestured for me to come near his face. And just like a kid excited for what will happen next, I followed, and he kissed me lightly. A gentle kiss.

"You're different" Sean said.

I smiled. And went out of his car.

And this is where it all began.