This is a true story of a wild hookup I had when I was a young professor with a student who was, unbeknownst to me until we were in the midst of it, a Japanese porn star. This was also my first affair. Names have been changed.
***
I can still remember the first time I saw Alex. I was scrolling through Facebook during Thanksgiving break and spotted him in a picture with some other students I'd worked with years prior. He was astonishingly beautiful, an Asian man with an amazing body. His devotion to lifting was obvious even through clothes. He had an infectious smile that made my stomach quiver. I clicked on his profile, surprised to see that while he wasn't in my area at the University, he was in a closely related one. It was unusual that we hadn't met given this, and I knew instantly that I had to change that, if I could. I had a gut feeling that we were meant to connect.
β
In February, I received an email to be a last minute substitute at a professional event close by for a colleague whose travel was cancelled due to weather. On a break during the event, I bumped into Melissa. I'd known her as a student and we'd continued occasional work together in her early career, but hadn't seen her in a while. In passing we agreed to get a drink when we got back in town later that evening. I didn't think much about it, but a few hours later my phone buzzed with an invite.
"Hey, Matt! Headed out with some friends. Wanna join?" she texted.
"I think I'm just staying in," I replied. I'd really been strict on my diet since the New Year and was trying to avoid going out. This was made easier by the fact that my partner of many years, and soon to be husband, had been away on business for a couple months. He'd be home in a few more weeks, and I'd been pretty cooped up. Well... maybe...
"Actually, who are you with?" I texted again.
"My friend Alex. Join us!" came her reply.
Wowβ this was it! A chance to meet him. I had to accept. "K, 30 min." I replied. I showered and changed into one of my cutest outfits. When I got to the restaurant, they were just getting served food. I ordered a drink.
I wish I could say that the evening was amazing, but I found Alex to be quiet and standoffish. He dropped the conversation anytime I tried to include him and rarely held eye contact with me. After a couple drinks, I excused myself and they went elsewhere to keep the party going. I felt disappointed when I sat down in my car to head home. This had not gone well. All looks, no personality. I mentally wrote off Alex.
Much to my surprise, a week later, a friend request popped up from him. Then a few days after that, a Facebook message asking if I'd be willing to help him with a project. I believe in second chances, so I agreed.
When we met, I chatted him up trying to be very personable. Finally after a few minutes of awkward conversation, I flat out asked him, "Are you going to relax and open up or is this just how you are?"
"It takes me time," Alex replied. So we focused on our work.
The layout of the room where we were working kept us a distance apart from each other, but at one point I needed to look at something with him and we stood together. When I moved close, I could feel my dick tingling in my pants. At that moment I knew something would happen between us.
"I like your cologne," I said, as I stood beside him.
"Is it too much?" he asked. "Sorry, I think my sense of smell is diminished."
"Come on," I said chuckling, "I didn't notice it until just now. Take the compliment. Alright, how about this," I proposed, "because I'm helping you, buy me a drink one day after working so we can get to know each other better. It'll help the project go more smoothly, don't you think?"
Alex agreed and we set the date. However, because of our crazy schedules and the work running long on the project, this ended up being a get together late on St. Patrick's Day. When we finally left the campus around 10 pm, he suggested heading to a place that'd be closing in an hour.
"Are we having just one drink?" I asked. "I know it's a Tuesday, but I want to enjoy this night and get to know you, not rush." I had no idea at this point how the night was going to go, but I wanted as much time with him as I could get.
After a quick Google search, he suggested a new bar I'd heard of, but not been to. It was a speakeasy, underground and dark, no windows, in retrospect a perfect venue for an affair. (I still think about this night whenever I go there now.) I volunteered to drive to maximize time together. As we drove, I remember flirting hard with him, touching his leg briefly once to emphasize a point I'd made. I was wondering if he was into me, what he was thinking and feeling. I assumed based on check-ins I'd seen on his Facebook that he was gay, but I didn't know his sexuality for certain yet.
After a couple of drinks, Alex opened up, a lot, and fast. We talked for hours about our pasts and our future dreams, which being in related fields, were nicely interconnected and gave us relatable common ground. He also came out to me.
"So what'd you do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day earlier, Alex?" I asked off-handedly, close to midnight. "Green beer?"
"Actually I did have a green beer after class, then went to the campus glory hole," he replied.
"Wait, what?!" I stuttered, spilling a bit of my martini.
"Do you know the website, Squirt? You can find places to cruise," he explained.