Allow me to tell you the story of what I shall refer to as my awakening. It all happened one evening a long time ago, back in the Indian summer of 1987.
I had just finished school a couple of months earlier and was in the market for my first employment back then, and to enhance my chances on a better job, I had decided to register for a night course "informatics", as it was called in those days... today we would call it ict.
I had grown up in one of the prettiest towns in the world, one of those medieval continental European towns that existed for so long even historians are not sure when the first settlers had arrived. A town where time seemed to have stopped, a town the sexual revolution from a decade earlier seemed to have missed out. A town where sex was something that happened between husband and wife in the privacy of their bedroom... or so I was brought up to believe.
Yes, that's how naive I was, even back then, while most of my former school friends had already had sex, I had only played with myself. But the gears that would change my sexual life were already set in motion.
The institute I was going to attend the lessons at only had a very limited parking lot. You might think that's strange for an institute, but again, I am talking about a town a medieval inhabitant would still find his way in if he came back. In addition, the population of Bruges more than doubles during the touristic season. Finding a spot for my car would have been daunting if the institute hadn't been within short walking distance of the old ramparts that separate the old town from the more modern suburbs and industrial zones that have more than enough parking lots. So it was only a short walk from the parking lot through a park to the institute and back.
After a couple of evenings, I became aware that while the days were shortening, the number of gentlemen strolling in the park was growing.
On that specific evening, I was really getting late for class and while, as usual, I was going through the park I noticed two gentlemen entering the shadows between the bushes together.
The understanding hit me like a bolt of lightning and an unfamiliar yet pleasant feeling came over me. I almost laughed when I realized how blind and naive I had been all that time. Even though I was late for class I slowed down my pace and started to look around me with the new understanding that I had just received. And yes, for some reason, I never noticed it before, but besides the tourists there were mostly men strolling in the park, I estimated their average age somewhere between fifty and sixty.
While I was scanning the park, ironically called Lovelake Park I noticed an older gentleman in a tan coat eying me up. I felt my heart pounding and I'm sure a blush was appearing on my face since I was still a virgin, I never had had any luck with girls and I was shy as could be. Not exactly knowing what to do, unfamiliar with the rules of the game I simply smiled and turned away.
I felt his gaze on my back and though I had never felt attracted to men I just couldn't walk away without looking over my shoulder... yes, he was still eying me.