//...he wonders how things would have been different had the vote went the other way,//
As already mentioned, if the vote had gone the other way he would have appeared on the steps of Downing Street to announce that "the people have spoken", "the matter has been put to bed for a generation", "the decision is irrevocable", etc. etc. And that would have been that.
Despite the assertions of some on here, there would have been no compromise, no accommodation for the 16m who voted to leave, no talk of second vote and the decision would have been implemented immediately. What annoys me more than most things about the current situation is that it is being disingenuously touted around that there must be some accomodation made for the losers. There mustn't. No such accommodation would have been made for the leavers if it had been 52:48 to remain. There would certainly be no debate under the camouflage of "what form does remaining take" and certainly none that included leaving as an option.