Part One:
Having moved to the major city on the west coast from the biggest city on the east coast, I found myself in a spot of bother one Saturday. I had bought a new home a month earlier and moved in two weeks before. The power kept on tripping and I had to have it seen to. After asking around, I was told that the man to use was Paul and was given his number. I phoned Paul and a voice announcing himself as Paulo answered. Believing I might have the wrong number, Paulo explained that everyone referred to him as Paul, but his name was actually Paulo. He said he would pop by some time after twelve o’clock that day.
To digress, let me give you the following background information. I had recently completed a degree in finance and had accepted a job on the west coast. My dad wasn’t very happy but understood that I needed some space after twenty-one years of living with my folks. My dad owned two large businesses, which sold hardware and building supplies. I had a very privileged upbringing and was able to buy my first home from money that I had in a trust fund. I was also able to fully furnish my home without incurring any additional debt. Added to that, my parents gave me a vehicle as a twenty-first birthday gift.
My older brother Callum and sister Siobhan worked for my dad. Callum was seven years older than me and Siobhan five years older. My dad’s name was Liam and my mom’s name, Mary. Neither of my siblings had attended college as both were not academically inclined. I supposed that is why my dad really wanted me in his business. I promised my dad that I would review my away decision after two years. Being an extremely hard worker at school and college, my social life had been nonexistent. Having realized I was gay early on, my new existence was very important to me. I simply had to get away from my former life and discover myself.
At around noon, on Saturday, I made a salad with chicken pieces for lunch. As I was about to sit down to my meal the doorbell rang. Upon opening the door a magnificent creature asked me if I was Conor. After formally introducing himself, I invited Paulo in. Paulo had a dark Mediterranean complexion with the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen. His hair was jet-black and he stood six-feet-two tall. He had no facial hair, other than sideburns which reached to the bottom of his ears. His features were masculine and he had the sexiest smile I have ever seen on a man. He was sturdy rather than stocky and appeared to be fairly fit. Before long, my electrical problem was fixed.
I invited him to join me lunch thereafter, which he gladly accepted. He had a beer and I had a glass of white wine with the meal. We spoke effortlessly while enjoying our food. His grandparents on both sides of his family were Italian, but both his parents had been born locally. He had three siblings, two brothers, and a sister. His dad was in the building trade and his mom was a housewife. Paulo was twenty-eight-years-old and divorced. At the age of twenty-five, he had gotten married, but the marriage ended eighteen months later. According to him, it had been a mistake due to peer pressure. Fortunately, he had not sired any kids during this period so the breakup had been uncomplicated. All three his siblings were married and each had two children.
After lunch, we decided to have a swim in my very small plunge pool. He did not have a swimming costume and asked if he could do so naked. As my pool was very secluded it wasn’t a problem at all. When he took his clothes off my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Paulo was definitely in the top one percent of well-endowed men. Goodness knows what his dark uncut appendage looked like when hard. Soft, it was at least eight inches long and extremely thick. I was caught betwixt and between but not wanting to appear prissy, I stripped and jumped into the pool with him. As we hung off the side of the pool we continued chatting for the next hour.
He lived fairly nearby and attended the gym around the corner, four times a week. During our chat, we arranged to meet there on specific evenings and to jog together three mornings a week. We were really hitting it off very well and I almost felt like he was taking me under his wing. When he left at around six p.m., I was both elated and somewhat deflated. Much as I had enjoyed his company, I had befriended a straight guy. How on earth was I going to get out of the closet with my new, straight best friend?
Over the next eight weeks, we saw a great deal of one another. We would often have dinner together after gym, and lunch on Saturday afternoons.
Paulo had a standing arrangement with his folks on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. His entire family always got together at his parents’ home on these two days. I was invited to lunch one Sunday, early on in our friendship and met the clan. His dad Mario, mom Theresa, his sister Giovanna and brother’s Francis (Frankie) and Vincent were delightful people. The in-laws and kids were also splendid and they were a raucous bunch and fantastic company.
After my initial ten weeks of employment, I was asked to spend the week at one of our branches in a neighboring city, and I asked Paulo if he would keep an eye on my place while I was gone. He also insisted on dropping me at the airport on the Monday morning of my departure.
The week was hectic and I was elated to be returning home on Friday. Paulo picked me up from the airport as arranged. As we drove home there was an eerie silence, which was unusual for him. I wondered if he had a trying week, hoping like hell that picking me up from the busy airport hadn’t annoyed him. When we got to my place he had prearranged our dinner, which he swiftly warmed up before we sat down to eat. The silence continued for a while and I finally asked if everything was alright, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
The next bit of conversation totally flawed me. “Are you gay, Conor?” Paulo asked me outright.
After a short moment or two, I replied, “I don’t know. I think I may be, but I as I have never had sex with anyone, I’m not sure.”
I then embarked on a litany about how I respected that he was straight before he suddenly interrupted me.
“I’ve been turned on by you from the minute we met. When I shook your hand at the front door that first day, a spark tingled through my entire body. I don’t understand why and in addition, I kept getting a hard-on in the pool as we clung off the side. I believed that I may just have been very horny that day and put the incident behind me. Subsequently, however, this phenomenon has continued to occur every time that I’m in your company. I’ve also begun regularly dreaming of having sex with you.”
I was totally flabbergasted by his revelation and my mind was spinning. He then said that he wanted to go to bed with me, to satisfy this urge that was driving him crazy. I was totally reluctant and told him so. As flattered as I was and as attractive as I found him, I was not willing to fuck-up our friendship over some itch that needed to be scratched. Paulo left soon after, with both of us somewhat uncomfortable. Paulo was straight and this situation could only end up disastrously.
We did not see each other that Saturday, and the following week we were awkward in one other’s company at the gym. By Friday, things had started to normalize and he told me that he was looking forward to our usual Saturday lunch if still invited. I presumed that we had put the glitch of the previous Friday behind us.
When he arrived at twelve on Saturday we appeared to have resumed our former comfortable rapport. I had also hired a DVD and as we watched the movie later that afternoon, I dozed off. When I awoke Paulo had his arm around me, with his head leaning on mine. I was frozen stiff as he gently lifted my face and started kissing me. With the movie still playing, he lifted me off the couch and carried me to the bedroom. My five-foot-eight, one-hundred-and-forty-pound body presented no challenge to him. He placed me on the bed and leaning in, continued kissing me.
With a feeling of hopelessness, I begged him not to continue to which he replied, “I simply have no choice.” He did not penetrate me on that first evening. We fondled and rubbed up against one another, before finally ejaculating. After repeating this performance for the second time, we finally fell asleep. We had an early breakfast on Sunday before he left for his folks at around ten. At five o’clock he arrived back at my house. Oddly, we were more comfortable in each other’s company than I had feared we might be. Paulo informed me that he wanted to penetrate me. Next, I spent twenty minutes in the bathroom preparing myself. That evening, I was anally penetrated for the first time. It was very intense, but Paulo was exceptionally gentle. His penis was very large but he masterfully deployed it. Having sex with him was the most extraordinary experience of my life. We made love a further two times that night. At work the following day I was reminded of the previous evening constantly, as I shifted uncomfortably from cheek to cheek.
The following week was wonderful. Paulo was practically living in my home. With the introduction of sex into our relationship, we got on even better than before. Our relationship seemed to deepen over the following weeks, and Paulo was incredibly affectionate and masterful lover. I had booked plane tickets, to visit my folks out west. My boss had agreed to let me off work early on Friday, and as Tuesday was a public holiday, I had taken a day’s leave on Monday. Paulo again insisted on dropping me off at the airport. En route he asked me if I would be ‘coming out’ to my parents. We had spoken about this in the preceding weeks, and I had mentioned that I wanted to do so, sooner rather than later. I shrugged, and replied, that if the opportunity arose, I would do so. After a three hour flight, my mom met me at the airport.
A full weekend of activity had been planned, but that evening I would dine alone with my mom and dad. After one of my mom’s spectacular meals, the three of us moved through to the lounge. We chatted for a while, and I suddenly felt that the burden I had carried for so long had to be lifted, off my shoulders. When they asked about my new life, I spilled the beans. I told them that I had always suspected I might be gay, and now knew. My mom became tearful, and my dad became very silent. I told them I had met someone and was extremely happy. My mom asked if this person was Paulo, whom I had mentioned so often during our telephonic conversations. I simply nodded yes. We all retired to bed soon after. Although I was very troubled about the distress I had caused, I also felt enormously relieved.
The following day, my dad and I left for the golf course very early. He was an avid golfer and played twice a week. I was fairly proficient at the game and had played with dad often while living at home. After reaching the ninth, of our eighteen holes, he put his arm around me and told me that he loved me very much, no matter how I chose to live my life. This meant more to me than I could possibly explain. My mom joined us for lunch in the clubhouse and seemed far more cheery than she had been the previous evening. We had a very light meal, as we would be frequenting a favorite restaurant of mine that evening. On Sunday, it was a full family affair. My siblings and their entire brood arrived for lunch. My mom asked me before their arrival, to allow her and dad to break the news after my visit, to which I willingly agreed.
It was a fun, but exhausting day. On Monday, I spent the morning at dad’s business, after which I shopped with my mom in the afternoon. We had a late brunch on Tuesday, as I would be leaving at three that afternoon. After a hectic few days, Paulo collected me from the airport at six p.m. Our trip back from the airport was fairly quiet. He asked me if I had told my parents about him and me. I replied that I had and that they had taken the news rather well. The rest of the journey was traveled in silence. When we got home, he warmed our food, and we ate in silence. After a while, he told me that I was very lucky and that things were not so simple for him. He said that there was absolutely no way, he could ever tell his parents, that he was in a relationship with a man.
The next words that I spoke were the ones I had dreaded uttering, from the minute we started having a physical relationship. I told him that at some point, he would have to face the reality of the situation. Comfortable as it was, his dual existence would start to oppress him more and more, as time continued, causing him great distress in future. I said that he would have to make up his mind, and decide what he wanted from life. I feared to speak those words but knew they had to be said. On the plane earlier, I had rationalized this predicament in my mind. Paulo looked at me intently for a minute or two, then got up, and apologizing, told me that he had made a terrible mistake. He simply would not be able to shatter his parent’s lives.
He left soon after, and I felt like my entire world had been crushed. I wanted to fucking hit him, as he left. I sat stunned for about an hour, before getting into bed deflated, and more depressed than I had ever been. The following few days were a blur. I did not hear from him, during that time. On Friday that week, a miracle occurred, when I was asked to return to the neighboring city for two weeks, on a special assignment. The boss of that branch had been very impressed with me earlier and had asked for my participation in a very important project that had to be completed within two weeks. I would leave on Sunday afternoon and only return two weeks later. We would literally be working fourteen solid days. I welcomed this distraction with open arms. The project was hectic, and we worked our backsides off.
On Thursday of the following week, I got an SMS from Paulo, asking how I was doing. My reply was a simple, ‘Fine.’ The project was completed by the following Sunday, as planned, and I was able to return home late that afternoon. I had hoped that I may frequent a gay bar during my stay, but the work had been so intense, that I collapsed exhausted on my bed upon arrival at the hotel, each evening. Thankfully, I got the Monday off after my return and was able to attend to all my household chores. On that Monday I also received another SMS from Paulo asking where I was. I would later learn that he had twice visited my home while I was away. I simply replied, ‘Away on business.’
I returned to work on Tuesday and was informed that my pay would be adjusted substantially, at the end of that month. The company was very pleased with my performance. I also started going to gym early mornings, rather than late afternoon, to avoid Paulo. On Friday, I got a surprise call from Paulo. He asked me out on a date. I was about to refuse, but he frantically pleaded with me to join him for dinner. Apprehensively, I awaited his arrival at seven. When he arrived, he was very cheerful and rather upbeat. I was very calm and slightly aloof. The dinner simply made no sense to me at all. I could not get my head around being buddies with him, after the trauma that he had caused in my life. We left for Luigi’s at seven-thirty.
We ordered our food and drank white wine as we waited. Paulo told me that he had spent the previous evening alone with his mom at her request, as she wanted to have a serious talk with him. I remembered that his dad always visited pals on Thursdays, to play cards. He related their meeting as follows; His mom told him that he had always been her happiest child. Up until his marriage, Paulo was the madcap of the family, and joy always surrounded him. Shortly after marrying, however, he had become withdrawn and miserable.
His melancholy persisted up until a few months ago, when the old Paulo cheerful returned, around the time that he met me. According to her, it was like a light had been switched back on. He was his old happy self again. Strangely, as she informed him, in the last few weeks, the sad Paulo was back again.
She asked, “What is your relationship with Conor, and why it had ended.”
He said he could not answer her. He just sat dumbfounded and stared at his mother. After a while, she asked, “Were you lovers?”
Apparently, he started blubbering and then divulged our entire story. Gently, his mother told him that he needed to embrace happiness. Having finally found who he had been looking for, he needed to grab the opportunity with both hands, even if it meant that it was with another man. She added that she hoped his stupidity hadn’t screwed things up with me, for good. She told him to get on his knees and beg my forgiveness when he saw me again. She also said that he should not attend Sunday lunch, as she would deal with the family on that occasion.
She also advised him to take me out for dinner on Friday and fix this mess. As he left, Theresa apparently added, that she hoped I would give him another chance.
I was dumbstruck! As the waiter served our food I was in tears. Paulo mumbled something about sad family news that I had just received and as I started laughing. The poor waiter looked totally perplexed as we giggled like two school kids.
When we finished eating, Paulo paid the bill.
As we walked back to my home, I finally broke down and started crying. He hugged me and said that he was sorry, adding that he would never hurt me, ever again. We didn’t have sex that night. We just hugged and cuddled throughout the night. I had never been so relieved in my life.
The next morning he sent his mom an SMS simply stating that ‘Stupid has been given another chance.’ I had the best weekend of my life.
Paulo’s mom advised him to also give Wednesday dinner a miss that week, and Sunday would be his inauguration as a gay family member.
He was fairly nervous when he left my home that Sunday morning, and I really felt for him as he drove off.
Later that day, when he arrived home he looked like a person who had been found not guilty on a murder charge and was completely at ease. The day had gone very well and he was treated no different to the way he had always been treated in his parent’s home. In fact, his dad told him that they expected to see me in future on Wednesday and Sunday family gatherings. I was the one now shitting myself.
My first Wednesday went very well, despite my enormous apprehension. I was hugged and kissed by one and all. Coming from a Catholic upbringing was also a feather in my cap. I didn’t mention that my family practically never attended church and that I had become an atheist. Theresa was particularly attentive towards me. She couldn’t stop thanking me for giving her son another chance after his screw-up. They were a wonderful family. I really liked them.
Two months later Paulo finally got to meet my family. We took week’s leave to visit my part of the world. Paulo had never been there, and was quite nervous, despite my best assurances. My mom collected us from the airport. When we drove up to the Georgian mansion that I had grown up in, Paulo’s jaw hit the floor. I don’t think he fully realized what a privileged upbringing, I had had. I was amused to find that my old room had been totally renovated, and furnished with a king-sized bed. It was very strange for me, to make love to Paulo in the room I had grown up in, during that week.
My parents were smitten with Paulo. They got on famously from the get-go. Paulo was also told that he would definitely be introduced to the game of golf during his visit. We had a fantastic dinner that evening and Paulo settled in seamlessly. My mother thought that Paulo was totally gorgeous.
On Saturday my dad and I played golf, after which Paulo and my mom joined us in the clubhouse for lunch. That evening Paulo was taken to our favourite family restaurant for dinner. Being a top class Italian restaurant he was totally blown away. He confessed that he had never eaten food like that, in his entire life.
On Sunday our entire family got together for lunch. My brother and sister took to Paulo immediately. Paulo was a total hit with the clan, including all the kids. I had come to realize that Paulo absolutely loved children and they took to him, like moths to a flame.
On Monday, Paulo spent the morning with the golf pro at the club for lessons. When we collected him at lunchtime he had really enjoyed himself. The golf pro told us that he had never seen such a powerful swing in his life.
After lunch in the club we headed off to one of my dad’s businesses. Paulo’s jaw again hit the deck when he entered. Being the smaller of the two branches, I could only imagine what his reaction to the larger branch would be, the following day.
The next morning we visited the original larger branch and Paulo was in seventh heaven, as my brother Callum showed us around. After lunch at the clubhouse again that afternoon, Paulo received his second golf lesson.
That evening, we had dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. The following day Paulo and I spent on our own. I showed him all the sights that I believed he would enjoy, before spending the afternoon relaxing at the beach.
The rest of the week went by in the wink of an eye. On our second Saturday, Paulo finally got to play a round of golf and did really well. As it would be our last evening, we had a full-on family gathering again and my mom pulled out all the stops.
We had a late brunch on Sunday and took-off from the airport at three. Paulo could not stop raving. He could not understand why I had left to live on the east coast. My answer shut him up when I told him, “It was so I could meet you!”
Four months later Paulo asked me to marry him. We had a simple ceremony and my folks flew east to join in the celebration. Our parents, Mario, Theresa, Liam and Mary, got along splendidly, and we had a lovely meal at Luigi’s. We also decided to put our honeymoon on hold for the time being.
A month earlier Paulo and I had bought a property where we wanted to build our new home. Plans for the house were drawn up by an architectural friend I had been to college with. The property had quite a pronounced slope and was therefore fairly tricky. Paulo had sold his home months earlier, and I still had a fair amount in my trust fund. Naturally, Mario would build our home.