LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 39)

“Um, Yinka, you didn’t tell me you are now running a bed-and-breakfast in your house,” Biola called out as he made his way with affected genteelness to a sofa, into which he lowered himself before looking up.

“Don’t look at me,” I said, as I walked across the room from the inner part of the house to find a seat. I had my shoes in my hand and wanted to set about polishing them. “I only just spent the night here, because Yinka said he couldn’t come pick me up at my house this morning.”

There was some traffic in the small parlour as Adebola, Eddie and Ekene filed past Paschal – who’d opened the door – into the room. They were all well-dressed, and the collective bouquet of their perfumery circumfused and hung richly in the air, a steady reminder that we all had somewhere to be this morning.

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 38)

“Or else what?!” Andre’s voice came through the speakerphone in a snarl. “What will you do? Please, Paschal, stop making threats when you and I know you can’t do more than a dead rat.”

“You bastard!” Paschal hissed at the phone from the back of Yinka’s car, as Yinka maneuvered through the traffic on Ojuelegba. “If you know what’s good for you, you will take down that Badoo account!”

“I will do no such thing! When you treated me like shit months ago, and I complained, did you listen? No! So you can go to hell! That profile will remain there, complete with your pictures and number and sexual orientation. If it gets you any hook-ups, great. If on the other hand, those who are not meant to see it should see it, well, the whole idea of doing this was to teach you a lesson.”

“You want to teach me a lesson, abi?” Paschal seethed. “Wait till I catch you, you bitch!”

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 37)

FOREWORD: This episode of Love And Sex In The City takes on an issue that has been over-flogged on Kito Diaries. My intention to tackle the issue amongst Declan and his friends isn’t to spark another debate, but to show up another facet on the individual personalities of these eight young men.

On that note, I would like to apologize profusely for the delay in the continuation of the series. The muses of creativity broke up with me for awhile, but thankfully, we have reconciled and intend to live happily ever after from now henceforth. 😀 Read and enjoy.

*

“Mmm…Yum!” Yinka murmured, allowing himself a soft moan after he spooned a small mound of ice cream into his mouth. His jaw moved rhythmically as he savoured the taste, his eyes closed to shut out all other visual stimuli. “Mmm-mmm-mmm,” he said. “This ice cream is just hitting all the right spots, I’m telling you.”

There were some chuckles from our table as Paschal said, “When ice cream starts giving you this kind of pleasure, that’s when you know it’s time to get a fuck, like really fast.”

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 36)

“You know you overreacted, right?” Dotun said.

“In hindsight, yes, I know that,” I replied, standing by the lone window in his office and looking out into the street. It was 4:30pm on Monday, and the afternoon light was slanting westward, casting the beginnings of the evening shadows in corners of the room.

“And when did you come into this hindsight?” He was teasing, and the remark drew a rueful smile from me. I’d just finished narrating the story of my fight yesterday with Bryson to him. I’d needed somebody to talk to, and he’d been a willing ear.

“I had most of yesterday, after I got home, to stew over our fight. Then I got sidetracked with family stuff and didn’t have time to dwell much on it. Then I went to bed, and by the time I woke up this morning, I found myself missing him.” I turned to face Dotun. “I believe I’m falling in love with him, and it scares me.”

“Why? Because of some flirty messages you saw a few guys send to him?”

“It’s not about the messages. It’s about the fact that he seemed to enjoy them.”

“But you said he didn’t respond in kind to them…”

“Yes,” I said. “He also didn’t let on that he was unavailable, that he has a boyfriend.”

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 35)

I woke up in a cocoon of contentment and warmth that was made especially more delicious by the chill that snaked its way around the room from the Sunday morning rain falling outside. My eyes glided lazily to the body a few centimetres away from me on the bed, and I felt a catch in my breath when my gaze fell on Bryson. He wasn’t one for cuddles, and so, lay on his back, one arm flung out, and the other placed on a chest that rose and fell with the steady rhythm of his slumberous breathing. His face was slightly tilted in my direction, and his sooty lashes lay like shadows above the fullness of his lips, which begged to be kissed.

Staring at him, I began to feel a stirring in my groin. It surprised me that after spending half the night making love to him, the mere sight of him sleeping could still arouse me.

Following the sensation of desire was a suffusion of warmth in my chest. And as I looked at him, I realized with a sinking feeling that I was beginning to fall in love with Bryson.

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 34)

“Nawa o!” Ekene exclaimed, punctuating his words with a snap of his fingers. “Adebola went too far abeg. What nonsense.”

“It’s ridiculous, really, guys who will go to any great lengths to be bad just for another guy,” Yinka said as he steered his car past the gateway of the Maison Fahrenheit Hotel.

“Straight people do much worse in their relationships,” Ekene rejoined tersely. “Drama due to jealousy is not exclusive to gay relationships.”

“I’m not saying it is,” Yinka said. “And I’m not trying to go the ‘he’s a man like you, you shouldn’t fight over him’ route. I’m simply saying that if it’s me, gay or straight, I would never stress myself over another human being.”

“Yea well, you’ve never been in love,” Ekene said. When Yinka opened his mouth to speak, he quickly added, “And don’t even wave that your ‘I’m in a relationship’ flag. What you and Dayo are doing is a joke, as far as I’m concerned.”

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 33)

The eight weeks that followed my coming out to my sister went speedily by, and I didn’t take much note of the passage, because nearly every day was full. It wasn’t long after that first day at the Pan Atlantic University, when I met Oscar, before I was done with my enrolment for the Business School course of Human Resource Management. Earlier on, Dotun had told me of a foreseeable future, when he’d climb up another rung on the corporate ladder of Fit Plus’ management, and because he’d be given the option of a recommendation, he would want me to take up his vacated position. And to be a better candidate, I needed better educational qualifications than my First Degree.

I settled into my renewed schooling with some disgruntlement. My classes were scheduled for Saturdays, and it was with some displeasure that I kissed goodbye all those extra hours I luxuriated in bed on Saturday mornings. Oscar helped some. He had more classes on different days of the week, including Saturdays, and we endeavoured to spend time together during the breaks we got from our lectures. His company was a welcome change from the tedium of my lessons. We got along very well, discovering new characteristics we shared in common; on some level, I realized he was filling a void left gaping by the distance between my friends and I. Our conflicting schedules were starting to get more frequent, and those very precious Sundays I now had left, I spent either lazing at home, or reconnecting with my boyfriend.

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 32)

“Who is gay?” Tonia asked again.

She finally settled her gaze on me. Whether she was looking to me for the answer, or she knew I was the one she was asking about, I had no idea.

However, I took a deep inhalation, mentally bracing myself for her reaction, and answered, “I am. I am gay.”

The quietness that followed after my admission appeared suspended, with emotions held up by the tentative grasp of uncertainty. I waited. Fabian waited. And Tonia stood there, staring at me, her expressive face revealing the effort she was expending mentally to process this.

Then her eyes softened, and her lips tilted upward in a small smile, before she raised a hand to my chin. “Oh DeeDee,” she murmured. “How long have you had to carry this burden all on your own?”

“Wait, Tonia…are you supporting this?” Fabian cut in heatedly.

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 31)

Uneasiness pooled at the pit of my stomach like a thick Harmattan fog as I climbed the steps toward my bedroom. A myriad of thoughts ran through my mind over the reason why my father would want to speak to us. It wasn’t that unusual, him talking to his children. There’d been a talk when Tonia started dating Eric, and he wanted to impress on us the responsibilities that came with living the adult life. There’d been another talk when I became recalcitrant to my mother’s admonishments over the issue of my church attendance. Dad doesn’t like making a fuss; his parenting is easy, laidback. Mum is the firebrand. And this makes him the parent none of us challenges. His voice calms storms, and his words commands regard. The old man always seems to know what to say.

But what will he say in this situation? the Voice queried.

I don’t know… Maybe he doesn’t know… Maybe Fabian hasn’t told him… I answered silently.

Right. And maybe, you’ll get married to a woman tomorrow. What other thing could he possibly say he wants to talk about in that grave tone?

To caution me on the number of nights I’ve been spending out lately?

With your brother and cousin as the audience?

LOVE AND SEX IN THE CITY (Episode 30)

“Kizito!” I gasped, at the same time that my heart did a small leap in my chest.

“Good morning!” he greeted in a bright voice as he came abreast of me standing close to the gateway of the workplace compound.

“Good morning…” I swallowed hard as I sized him up with a hunger I thought didn’t exist anymore. It had been a long while since I saw him, and an enquiry from those I knew who worked with him had revealed to me that he’d been on a leave of absence. I stared at him, feeling a reminiscent rush of pleasure at the sight of him. I’d seen silly words in novels that read ‘her eyes swallowed him whole’, and I’d giggled at them. The words weren’t nearly as funny now that I suddenly found my eyes devouring the man standing before me. If my eyes could inhale, that was what mine would have been doing with him, with his husky build, the warm, dark-champagne colours of his eyes and those full lips that curved, the dark upper lip over the fuller, red lower lips, into a small smile.

“This one you’re staring at me, do I have something on my face?” he said with a chuckle.