Nick's first boyfriend, Leo is black, works for the council, rides a bicycle and lives in Willesden.
He's cocky, sexually promiscuous and although intelligent, not an intellectual. He comes from a one-parent, very religious background, where his homosexuality is a secret, and has been supported in the past by Pete, an antiques dealer who now has Aids.
Despite the difference between the lives they are living, Leo and Nick form a close bond. Nick is left reeling when Leo mysteriously ends their affair at its most intense point, and it's only as the years pass that he begins to piece together the truth.
Though just a few streets away, Leo's world gives us a taster of life beyond the privileged drawing rooms of the Feddens.
