Chapter 1

Darrin Houghton leaned against the window of the subway train as it rattled along. He was on his way home after a performance of the Broadway show in which he was a dancer. He was tired. And, tired was not a good time to think about his situation with Brad.

It had been six months since the wedding of two of Darrin’s fellow dancers from the show. Brad Grabosky, at the time, a very closeted star NFL football player, had surprised Darrin by showing up at the wedding. After the ceremony the two had gone out for drinks and Brad had declared he was ready to live a more open life, saying, “I don’t want to make some big coming out announcement to the media. I want to just let it happen gradually, however that works out.”

He then compared the process of his coming out to a football game, saying that he and Darrin were close to the goal line and they had a few downs yet to play. But, when they crossed that goal line for the touchdown, it would be their wedding day.

Darrin had imagined that wouldn’t take much time. But the game seemed to have stalled, and he and Brad were in a similar situation to where they were before Brad had asked Darrin to marry him. True, the pair went out frequently now rather than staying hunkered down in Darrin’s apartment. They attended parties hosted by Darrin’s gay friends and even went to gay bars. Darrin had gone to all of the playoff games and the Super Bowl the previous year. Brad had invited him to the celebration parties following the Hounds victory. However, Brad had only introduced him as a good friend, not his fiancé, or even his boyfriend.

When Darrin questioned Brad about this, Brad reminded him that they were taking it slowly and letting folks figure it out for themselves. Brad said he didn’t want to become the poster child for gay rights in the NFL. So, despite Darrin’s disappointment in the situation, he loved Brad and had no intention of walking away from the only man he’d ever considered marrying.

However, on nights like this, after both a matinee and evening performance, Darrin’s fatigue caused his defenses to slip. His dissatisfaction that things with Brad remained stagnant got the upper hand.

And, his friend Carl, a fellow dancer, didn’t help.

“I thought you two would have been married by now. I mean that’s what he told you after Alan and Tony’s wedding waaaaay last December, if I remember correctly.”

Darrin had defended his man by saying, “Brad wants to let the news come out to the press gradually; he doesn’t want it to detract from the team or the team’s focus.”

“But that’s what you said when the Hounds were in the playoffs and the Super Bowl. That was ages ago now.”

Darrin sighed. Privately he agreed with Carl. It was June. The sports world was zeroed in on the NHL and the Stanley Cup, the NBA championships, and baseball. Football was a distant memory. To Darrin’s mind this would be the perfect time to walk down the aisle and let the world know who the real Brad Grabosky was.

Darrin’s subway stop was coming up soon. He sighed and got up.

* * * *

“Hi, Henry,” Darrin said to the security guard at the entrance to his apartment building.

“Good evening. How did the show go today?”

“It was good,” Darrin answered, not all that enthusiastically.

Henry looked at him questioningly. “Something wrong?”

“No, it was fine. I’m fine, just tired. Two performances on Sundays after five during the week take it out of you.”

Darrin didn’t want to go into the real reason he was feeling down. He admonished himself for letting Henry see that he was feeling self-pity because Brad was dragging his feet. After all, he was lucky to have Brad in his life at all, given how closeted the man had been just a year ago. Darrin just had to suck it up and be patient.

As if reading his mind, Henry said, “Mr. Grabosky just took Dolly out for a walk. Said to tell you to check on dinner.

“Thanks, Henry. Have a good night.”

Henry nodded as Darrin entered the building. Remembering he hadn’t picked up the mail the day before, Darrin stopped at the mailboxes. He opened his box and removed several letters. Most were bills. One had a rainbow symbol in the return address corner. It was from the NYC Gay Pride Center

Darrin opened it. It contained a flyer for the upcoming pride parade. Darrin perused it quickly. He knew all about the parade, as he and his fellow dancers were to perform on a float representing the Booth Theater at which his show was being staged. In fact, his day off on Monday was to be spent rehearsing for it. The parade would take place the following week.