BETWEEN DELLE AND DENNIS MACAULAY

Dennis is in his late thirties and works as a university professor in one of the universities in Southern Nigeria. He is married with two children, but since his family is based in the U.S, only a few people know about them as he doesn’t talk about them often. Unknown to his wife and family, Dennis is gay. He is extremely secretive with his hookups, and so, only his close friends who are also gay and mostly married know about his homosexuality.

Dennis believes that being gay is all about the sex, and that romantic relationships and marriage should only be between men and women. And because of this, he doesn’t attach any feelings or commitments to his sexual affairs.

That is, until he met Delle.

Delle had just begun taking Dennis’s course in his 300 level. He is brilliant, loves Beyoncé and keeps himself so fit, he has an enviably svelte body, slender with a pert behind that he is rather proud of. Delle is homosexual, and lives with the confidence of one who has accepted who he is.

Unbeknownst to him, he had caught the eye of his professor. There is something about his intelligence and confidence that drew Dennis to him. And something about the way his derriere bounced the first time Dennis caught an eyeful of Delle’s behind that sealed Dennis’s fate.

Both lecturer and student soon got acquainted, which wasn’t odd because Dennis is known for forming friendships with those of his students who are smart. In fact, his socializations are so sought-after that students strive to do well with his courses, just so they can get invited to the occasional lunches he throws at his place to honour his best students. Delle had been to quite a few of those lunches, before it started becoming apparent to him that his professor’s interest in him was a little bit more personal and less casual than that which he held for other students. He quickly began to suspect that the man’s interest was sexual and began to get giddy with pleasure at the thought of having sex with his lecturer. In fact, he began to give off cues that he hoped would encourage the professor to be free to let him know his true intentions.

Dennis responded to these cues, and it wasn’t very long before he opened up to Delle about his desire for him. Delle accepted his proposition, and thence began their very-secret sexual affair. They got together as often as possible, and with each hookup, Dennis found himself unable to get enough of Delle. He had never felt for any man these strong feelings that he was feeling for Delle.

As time went on, he found himself buying gifts for Delle, something he’d never done for any man. In fact, the very discrete profile he had on Grindr – which he hadn’t visited since he started hooking up with Delle – had the profile marker which read: I am not your ATM. If you are looking for a sugar daddy, don’t bother messaging me.

He began demanding that they spend more time together, talking about nothing in particular, kissing and cuddling more times than they had sex. Delle was flattered by the attention; he could recognise that Dennis was falling for him, but he refused to let himself feel the same way because he wanted a relationship with someone who he could talk to others about. He could never forget how sternly Dennis had warned him to never tell anyone, not even his friends, that the two of them were an item. He respected Dennis’s wish, but he would not be a secret in any relationship he decides to be in. so, as much as he liked having sex with his professor, he simply didn’t think of him as his lover or boyfriend.

In fact, Delle still hooked up with other guys, men and boys his own age. These dalliances never used to bother Dennis, until he started wanting more. Then he began feeling yet another something he’d never felt before: jealousy. He would hear the distinctive sound of Grindr messages pinging into Delle’s phone, or hear the gay laugh of Delle as he is on the phone with someone he just knows is a guy, or catch a glimpse of Delle in the company of his male coursemates in campus – and he would feel an unfamiliar rage consume him.

He started fighting with Delle over these other guys he was having sex with. He would accuse Delle of not taking him and what they have seriously, and Delle would counter that they were not in a relationship. Delle was very blunt during one of these fights. He told Dennis that he had the right to get on with whoever he likes, because Dennis hasn’t claimed him; and that if he happens to fall in love with any of these guys, he would stop having sex with Dennis to focus on the relationship.

Dennis was stung by this. He was mad with rage and he said some things. Delle said some things too, and the fight ended with Delle stalking out of his apartment. Minutes after Delle left, Dennis panicked. He was suddenly afraid that this meant that they’d broken up. As he grabbed his phone and typed a frantic apology to Delle, he began to realize a truth he hadn’t allowed himself to face: that he was in love with Delle.

And so, after sending the apology, he followed the message up with a call. When Delle answered, he rushed into the words he never thought he’d ever say to any man: “I love you, D. I love you, and that is why I have been acting so irrationally. I love you, and I want to be with you. Please, come back.”

Delle returned, and the two of them made up with sex and promises and hopes for the future.

That evening, Delle woke up from their sex-induced slumber with a sense of assurance in the relationship that he’d never had before. He kissed the still-sleeping Dennis lightly on the lips before getting up from the bed with a new spring to his steps. He felt like the “madam” of the house as he walked about Dennis’s apartment with a new purpose. All through the times he came here for their hookups, he had always felt like an interloper, like a visitor, however much Dennis encouraged him to feel at home.

Today, he was finally starting to feel at home.

And that feeling pushed him to explore Dennis’s home. He opened drawers and touched things. He poked through clothing and snuggled in Dennis’s robes. He looked into crannies and dusted furniture tops with his fingers.

Then he stumbled upon a picture frame that stabbed pain like he’d never known through his heart. It snatched the breath from him and stung his eyes with furious tears.

When Dennis woke up, he found himself facing a man who wasn’t looking at him with the tenderness he’d seen in his eyes as they made love just hours ago. The man who he’d made his boyfriend stared at him with both hot rage and icy detachment that filled with indescribable fear.

“What is it, babe?” he said haltingly.

“What is this” – Delle spat out – “babe?” He added a sneering stress on the last word, as he thrust the picture frame he found in Dennis’s face.

And Dennis found himself recoiling from the picture of him and his wife on their wedding day.

Written by Smog