So, here it was, only her fifth week in the new company, and it appeared that Jane was about to embark on a flirtation with one of her colleagues. She could certainly feel Yen’s romantic interest in her, and momentarily, she was reminded of her friend Jonathon’s warning that it was imprudent and foolhardy to get involved at work. Still, Jane was fairly confident that if she did get romantically involved with a co-worker, she could easily cope and handle the situation, whatever might happen. She knew that with Yen, she would not have any sort of serious involvement whatsoever since she wasn’t at all sexually attracted to him. It was only his sparkling sense of humor that temporarily amused her. If anything, a relationship with him would be quite casual, transient, and easily extinguishable.

Even though Yen appeared to have romantic designs on her, Jane remained cool and almost unresponsive. Perhaps he saw this and so cleverly took his time in the pursuit. Several times a day, he came to her office to casually chat, and often, he took her to lunch or walked her to the subway after work. Gradually, however, he inched into her life and got under her skin. One evening, he insisted on going with her to a very popular single’s bar. At lunch, Jane had casually mentioned that, after work, she was going to “prowl around for men” at a very in-place called Rumms. Immediately, Yen asked if he could join her.

“Sure … you can come if you want,” she quipped, “but I’ll be looking around to meet someone. I take it, you’ll be doing the same?”

“No, certainly not,” smiled Yen. “I’m married … been married many years and … hate to admit it but … my marriage is sort of dead. We never sleep together anymore. Anyway … my wife doesn’t care about sex … never did. She’s a medical doctor very engrossed in her career. She goes her way, I go mine, and it all works well. We’re friends. But … I don’t go out looking to replace her. Yet, if someone were to come along, I certainly wouldn’t turn it down!”

He talked blithely with little concern for his situation. Jane was astounded by the fact that he was married; she had never suspected.

“You don’t know the Chinese philosophy, Jane. We believe in resignation,” he told her. “We resign ourselves to whatever fate brings.”

Both felt it was an ingenious idea and a way they could remain together until Brad met someone else. It certainly was an easy plan to implement and was immediately set into action. They decided to meet on Sundays—it would be their day—and for the remainder of the week, Brad could do as he wished—meet other women, date them, and hope to find a suitable woman, at which time, he and Jane would go their separate ways.  

Although Jane had suggested the plan they now put into action, she really had no idea, nor could she have imagined, what lay ahead for her. At the time she suggested the arrangement, it seemed like a way for the two of them to be together and still allow Brad his freedom to see other women. Jane clearly perceived that the two of them, in the long run, were not compatible. She also understood the rules of the scheme she had proposed and was quite amenable to allowing Brad his freedom to seek another woman. So she thought!

Now, with the plan in effect, every day, she sat with Brad in their office and began to take an inordinate interest in things and events concerning him that had never held her attention before. Each morning, when he arrived, she carefully observed his attire and noticed that, some days, he came in splendidly dressed—new slacks and a beautifully colored turtleneck shirt, with his goatee nicely trimmed—while, on other days, he wore his usual shabby and somewhat worn, ordinary work clothes. In her mind, she related his dress to what he might be doing directly after work or at lunch. She began making the assumption that on the days he came quite well dressed in his best turtleneck sweaters and tight jeans or new slacks, that he had a date after work or was meeting some woman at lunch.

“You look terrific today, Brad,” she complimented him one morning. “Going out after work?”

“Yes … I hope these new pants look good … I’ve never worn them before … had them in the closet. I’ve got a blind date after work. I’m really meeting lots of terrific women.”

Ah! So Jane was right! On his “dressed-up” days, Brad was definitely meeting women. And, being Brad, he was completely insensitive to her feelings and had innocently admitted to her that he was busy meeting many women—one of them to eventually replace her. How was he to know that this would emotionally torment her? After all, he was now eager to meet someone else, and she was equally as eager to hold on to him for as long as possible.