A Scandalous Story of Love: Secret Lovers

Duff and I decided without a doubt we wanted to be together. I gradually became convinced that everyone would see the big picture. We were all adults. We wouldn’t be in college forever. We wouldn’t be bound to this group of friends for much longer. If Duff and I were destined to be a couple and live “happily ever after” it was worth the short term awkwardness. I figured we would give everyone a little time to digest the news of the recent break up before going public with our status.

We began with the best of intentions. We would limit our time together. We would play it cool for a while and hang out with friends. Get absorbed in our school work.

Yet I knew Duff’s schedule and where I could “bump” into him. I new exactly when he would be leaving one building to cut across campus for his next class or where he usually ate lunch on Wednesdays. So we found ourselves meeting up for lunch, running into each other at the library, and hanging out at the computer lab. These secret rendezvous became more frequent and we discovered people were beginning to track our whereabouts, follow us places, and ultimately question our integrity.

Mike became angered, saddened, and bothered by the entire thing. He moved out of the quad he had shared with Duff and two other guys with only two months remaining in the spring semester. Mike confronted Duff late one night with a group of intoxicated friends wanting to fight and a restraining order was set in place. Friends wondered, “How can you do this to Mike?” Rifts formed, people took sides, and I hoped that one day everyone would come to an understanding.

To escape the scrutiny, the planning for our encounters grew more involved. It was March now, Duff’s birthday weekend, and we devised a scheme to be together. We each had a friend off campus cover for us and we met a few stops away from college at the T- station . We traveled the remainder of the way into Boston together where we playfully wandered about shopping and eating, fully enjoying the freedom to be in each others company. We ate dinner at Legal Seafoods that night where we dined on creamy chowder and buttery seafood dishes accompanied by full-bodied red wine. There we sat completely absorbed by one another, the world around us fading into a blur. Fulfilled entirely by the person sitting across the table.

Do you remember the Atlantic Starr hit from the 80′s, “Secret Lovers“?

Here we are, the two of us together

Takin’ this crazy chance to be all alone

We both know that we should not be together

‘Cause if we’re found out, it could mess up

Both our happy home

Secret lovers, yeah, that’s what we are

We should not be together

But we can’t let go, no, no

‘Cause we love each other so

This became our theme song. Anywhere we could go, to be alone together as a couple, attracted our attention. We took off for the North End of Boston to share Italian food one night and met on campus the next. My birthday approached in April and Duff went shopping for a special gift. He chose a delicate gold necklace with a pearl and diamond pendant. He presented it to me on my birthday, took me in his arms, and shared that he was done masquerading. From this day forward he would introduce me to the world as his girlfriend.