Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

Maybe I should have said something. Figured out some way of giving her a clue that I knew what was going on. Some type of hint. Maybe if she knew that I wasn't clueless her fear would have woken her up again. But would that have solved anything?

The night I discovered that she was planning a lunch with Bert, I was in a quandary; unless I was willing to let Jean know that I knew about her affair, I had no real reason to object to the lunch, even if she told me about it. In Jean's eyes, the lunch with Bert was relatively innocent. If I confronted her, it would have reinforced everything that he had been telling her about my trying to destroy their friendship. It might have caused a bigger rift between us.

My other concern was keeping my access to the email account hidden. A hidden source of information only remains useful as long as it remained undiscovered. If I changed my behavior or told her I knew about the lunch, then she would have put two and two together and figured out where I was getting my information. If she changed the way that she was getting in touch with Bert, I would lose my only source of information.

So, instead of getting angry with Jean, I took it out on my co-workers. I came into the office in a foul mood and snapped at everybody. I was angry both because I could see that he was getting to her and because I couldn't figure out how to stop it without confronting Jean.

When Kay came into my office for lunch, I was at a boiling point. I shoved the copy of the emails across the desk towards her and sat there steaming while she read them. "What the fuck is wrong with her." I raged. "Can you tell me how any women with even an ounce of brains could fall for this line of bullshit?"

After my outburst, Kay sat there and stared at me until I flushed. I was an idiot. I had forgotten that Kay had married him. Any insults I hurled at Jean were, at least indirectly, comments on Kay as well. "Oh hell Kay, I'm sorry. It's just I don't understand what is that women see in him. I've told you about his bragging. How in the world can he get women like you and Jean to fall for this crock? Not just once but again and again. What is it about him? Is he some sort of superman in bed or something?"

Kay stared at me for another long moment before she snorted and took pity on me. "No, he's hardly a superman." Kay paused and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully for a moment. "Since you told me about the affair, I've spent a lot of time thinking about Bert and his behavior. I started to see how he was manipulating me. I started to remember some of the little things that I ignored before. Time and time again, I've asked myself the question, how does he get his way so often?"

Kay looked troubled. "I've got a theory, but, I'm not sure how you'll like it." At my nod to continue, she went on. "I think I can get you to understand if I ask you some questions. Until a couple of weeks ago, you never told me why you disliked Bert. You never told me he used to brag about his affairs. Why?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. I guess I didn't think it was my place to tell you. It didn't feel right for me to snitch on him or cause problems in your marriage because I thought he was just full of shit. If I knew he was telling the truth, I would have let you know."

Kay nodded as if I confirmed her thoughts. "What about Jean? Did you ever tell her why you didn't like him?"

"Not really," I responded. "I just told her that I thought he was an obnoxious prick. I didn't go into any details. I didn't think it was important."

"So, in other words, you didn't tell on Bert because it wasn't honorable?" She asked. At my surprised nod, she went on sarcastically. "Tell me, do you think that would have stopped Bert? Would it surprise you to find out that Bert told me that he dropped you as a friend? That he went into all sorts of details of rotten things you had done? He accused you of everything from cheating at golf to stiffing him for the drinks he had won. Hell he even said you had bad breath."

Kay sighed. "The reason you don't understand is that you think that Bert is playing by the same set of rules you are. That's the difference between guys like you and guys like Bert. You're a nice guy. I've seen it around the office. You're not willing to put someone else down to get ahead. Bert only cares about himself. He doesn't care who he hurts as long as he gets what he wants."

I was still not convinced. I could understand what she was saying about Bert. If fit right in with what I already thought. I had seen the line of bullshit he was giving Jean, but I still didn't see how that answered my question. "I understand he's a self centered prick." I answered testily. "But why did Jean fall for it. How can he wrap her around his finger like this?"

Kay looked at me like I was dense and answered like she was explaining to a child. "Hal, to understand, you need to remember that he plays by a different set of rules. Hell, he's not even playing the same game you are. Because he doesn't care who he hurts, he is willing to say or do anything to get what he wants. He doesn't care if Jean gets hurt because of the affair. The only reason he's been hiding the affair at all is because he knows I'll divorce him if I find out and he'll lose the nice lifestyle we can afford."

I must have still looked baffled because Kay continued with her explanation. "Bert is very good at manipulating people. When somebody has what he wants, he has a way of turning on the charm to get it. He finds a person's weakness and exploits it to his advantage. If he gets caught in a lie, he twists things around so it is someone else's fault. He's never the one to blame. When he gets talking he can twist an argument to make outrageous things seem acceptable. He can talk his way into almost anything."

I responded stubbornly. "Then why didn't it work on me. I saw through his bullshit right away."

Kay sighed tiredly at my intransigence. "That's because he never tried to manipulate you. You've never been in a position to help him get something he wanted. Because he didn't think you could help him, you weren't important. Bert divides the world into people who can help Bert and people who can't. If you aren't someone who can help him get what he wants, you don't matter."

Kay hesitated slightly as if nervous to go on. "There's something else you should know too. Do you remember that conversation we had before I got married about whether I should make Bert sign a pre-nup?"

"Sure, I told you to listen to your lawyer." I replied.

Kay grinned. "Remind me to thank you for that later. Anyway I never told you how hard Bert tried to talk me out of that. He finally signed it only because I told him that he either signed or the wedding was off."

"One thing I've discovered about Bert is that he never lets go of something he wants. Even after we got married, he kept on about that damned pre-nup. He kept trying to get me to void it." Kay snorted in derision. "It wasn't until I caught him with his secretary that he finally stopped.

Before that, however, he was always after me to explain why I thought it was necessary. He wanted to know who I talked to about it and what they had said. When he heard my lawyer suggested it, he insisted that we use a different lawyer when we changed our wills. I really didn't think much about it at the time, but now I think he was trying to pay that lawyer back for suggesting the pre-nup."

Kay's eyes were troubled as she looked at me intently. "Hal, he knows that I talked to you. He knows that you told me to get the pre-nup. What if that's the reason why he went after Jean?"

I looked at Kay incredulously. It sounded to me like she was trying to excuse Jean's actions. "Are you telling me that Jean isn't to blame here? That I should just forgive her because she got targeted by a manipulative asshole?"

"I don't know!" Kay wailed. "If he targeted her like I think he did, I don't know if she knew how to resist him. One reason I was never able to resist Bert was because of my first husband. He was just like you. I never had any experience dealing with a guy who would lie about anything just to get his own way. It took a long time to realize that Bert could look me in the eye and lie to me about something important because it never happened to me before. If Jean thinks that Bert is like you, she didn't have a chance.

"I'm not saying that she isn't wrong or doesn't need to be taught a lesson, she does, but damn it, I feel responsible too! If I hadn't told Bert about you, he probably never would have targeted Jean. Bert pulled the wool over my eyes for years and now because of me, he's doing the same thing to Jean.

"Don't you see, because of me Bert has a grudge against you. He resents you because you gave me advice that he didn't like. He's been trying to poison my friendship with you for years. It would be just like Bert to start an affair with Jean as a way of stabbing you in the back. It's a way he could feel he's beaten you without your ever knowing about it."

Kay finished her tirade and slumped back into her chair with her distress written all over her face. Her confession that Bert might be using Jean to get revenge on me came as a complete surprise. That was one explanation for the affair that I would never have thought of. I didn't blame Kay, it wasn't her fault that her husband held a grudge against me, but I could see that she blamed herself.

I didn't even think about it, I got up from my chair and moved over to kneel beside Kay and give her a hug. She was a friend and needed comfort. She collapsed into my arms and started to sob. I just knelt there awkwardly, patting her back. After a few minutes, Kay's arms slipped around me and began to return my hug. She lifted her tear streaked face from my chest and smiled up at me tremulously. She murmured a thank you and stretched over to give me a gentle peck.

The kiss stretched out and slowly changed. From a chaste kiss of friendship, it turned into more. Suddenly, she was attacking my lips with a ferocious passion and I began to respond to her insistence. Before I knew it, I was caressing her back as I returned her kiss with an interest that shocked me.

After an endless moment, Kay broke the kiss and looked over at me with a peculiar look of triumph. "Now do you understand?" She asked.

I must have looked bewildered because she suddenly looked contrite. "Hal, I was acting. I'm sorry that I had to manipulate you like that, but it was the only way I could think to make you understand. I needed you to see just how easy it can be to manipulate someone.

"I do think that Bert is trying to get revenge on you, but he's the one to blame, not me. I knew you were the type of guy that wouldn't let me blame myself like that and used that to get inside your defenses. You needed to see that it could happen to you too. I'm not defending Jean, but remember that Bert used her. Don't give up on her just yet."

I returned to my chair stunned. Kay had just given me a lot to think about, and a few things that I was having trouble forgetting. I have always been attracted to Kay but never acted on it. I was married and didn't cheat on my wife. If I had been single when we met, I would have pursued her in a heartbeat.

To be honest, Kay had starred in more than a few of my fantasies over the years. To finally hold her in my arms and kiss her so passionately had raised all sorts of possibilities as well as another prominent part of my anatomy. With an effort, I stopped thinking about how she had felt in my arms and focused my thoughts to the topic at hand.

Jean was a smart woman, but Bert had her acting like a foolish schoolgirl. I knew that Kay was right, if we let Bert have the chance to work on her in person, he was going to win. She would give in to him. He wouldn't give her the chance to think about the pain that would be caused if I caught her in an affair. Worse, she wasn't even aware of the intrinsic damage her whole relationship with Bert caused to our marriage.

"Any ideas on what we can do?" I asked Kay plaintively. She knew Bert better than I. Maybe she could give me an idea on how to stop him.

Kay was stumped too. The only idea we could come up with was for Jean to find out what Bert was like. But we didn't know how to make that happen. We needed to show her, not just tell her. Otherwise, he would twist it around and use it to drive a further wedge between Jean and me.

To buy time, we decided to prevent the lunches from happening. That first lunch they planned didn't happen; nor did the second. Kay and I had some fun coming up with seemingly innocent methods to thwart their plans. Since we knew when they planned to meet, it wasn't hard to come up with something. We just had to make them plausible and keep Bert from getting suspicious.

The day they planned to meet, I let Jean know at breakfast that I was going to be near her work for a meeting and wanted to take her to lunch. Jean didn't have a problem breaking her plans with Bert to be with me. When Bert convinced her to reschedule, it was Kay's turn. She rushed into his office a half hour before he was to leave for the lunch with a fake crisis that they needed to deal with immediately. He never even had a chance to contact Jean.

I hoped that getting stood up would cool things off between them, but Kay proved right again. He managed to divert Jean's anger at getting stood up onto Kay. It didn't take long for Bert to get back in Jean's good graces and for her to agree to reschedule the lunch again.

Of course, one of the reasons he might have gotten her to agree was the restaurant he proposed. Bert had offered to treat her to lunch at the new "Tavern on the Green" knockoff that had opened in an outdoor terrace at the edge of the public gardens downtown. It was expensive, trendy and a place Jean was dying to try.

This time, Kay and I decided to change tactics. We knew we couldn't keep on interrupting their plans at the last minute without someone getting suspicious. Rather, I was going to take advantage of the nice weather to join one of my co-workers for a walk at lunch in the public garden. I wasn't going to interrupt the lunch, but I was going to visibly notice them. Meantime, Kay was going to use the chance to get some pictures of Jean and Bert together.

The idea was that this would give me the opening that I needed to talk to Jean. I wasn't planning to go on an all out attack against Bert, but I was going to remind her that he was not my favorite person. Except this time, I was going to tell her why. I was also going to let slip some choice tidbits from Kay about Bert and his secretary and how good he was at manipulating people. I was going to warn her to be careful around him and see if it opened her eyes.

What I didn't count on was the depths of Jean's guilt. Jean was hiding her friendship with Bert from me totally. I'm sure she felt guilty about spending time with a guy that she had had an affair with. I never saw them together. Jean saw me first and disappeared. Kay told me later that afternoon that when Jean saw me entering the park, she turned white, grabbed her purse and left without a backward glance at Bert. She got some real good pictures of Bert sitting at the table alone glaring over at me.

That night, it was Jean whose behavior changed. She reverted back to the anxious to please; guilty as sin attitude she had copped before. I didn't comment on it, but filed it away to think about later. I couldn't decide if she was showing residual guilt from the affair or a subconscious acknowledgment that the lunch was something more than a simple get together between friends.

Jean's bolting from the lunch did reap some unexpected benefits. Her newest scare helped to slow Bert down somewhat. The shock of seeing me while she was with "the other man" had Jean in an absolute panic. Bert was trying to convince her that it didn't matter if I saw them together because they weren't doing anything wrong, but Jean wasn't buying it. She was convinced that I would see them together and her guilt would shine out like a scarlet letter.

The fallout from the lunch also brought us our first big break in gaining the evidence we needed. Bert never went back to his office that day. Maybe he figured that he was going to be able to convince Jean to take the afternoon off. After Jean ran off, he ended up going home. We finally were able to get his yurmail password from the snoop program. What was even better, when we tried to use that password to access the encrypted files, it worked. Like a lot of people, he used the same password for everything!

A few days later, Kay came into my office with a CD and a printout of the log file. She had accessed his email account and had found he was a packrat. She had Bert just where she wanted him. Bert had used his account to keep in touch not only with Jean and his old secretary but also two other women we knew nothing about, including the wife of one of his co-workers. Kay now had the proof she needed to send Bert packing.

Bert's email archives proved interesting. Not only did they give me a better idea of the extent of Jean's affair; they also provided some good clues about the nature of the affair and where he wanted to take it. Fortunately for my psyche, I had discovered the affair not long after the physical aspects had started. I did not think that they had had sex or any type of intimate contact more than a handful of times.

The emails spanned a far longer period than the affair. Initially, they were mailed to an account of Jeans that I knew about. The "dreamyjean" account was only created about four months before I found out about the affair. Over time Bert had convinced Jean to set up a "private" email account the two of them could share that no one else knew about.

In a morbid sense, it was fascinating to read through the emails and watch how he seduced her into the affair. The best way I can describe his methods was a combination of mental jujitsu and conditioning. Bert had taken his time to "gentle" Jean, to slowly bring her to the point where she would be susceptible to his advances. Slowly over a period of years he cultivated a friendship and level of trust; a friendship that gradually increased in intimacy until he became a close friend and confidant. Bert had taken a long-term approach to his seduction of Jean. Jean did not seek out the affair; he pursued her. This was not an affair that happened out of circumstances, it was a deliberate seduction.

By the time the "dreamyjean" account was created, he had almost succeeded in his plans. She had gotten to the point where she trusted his advice. She had begun to allow him to kiss and hug her in ways that I did not feel appropriate, but no overt sexual actions had yet occurred. She still felt uncomfortable and made efforts to pull back, but he deflected her concerns and turned her arguments against her or subtly shifted the focus to the point where I was to blame. Bert was working to drive a wedge between us.

A good example of this was the guilt Jean felt in hiding her friendship with Bert from me. This guilt was heightened when the private email account was created. Jean felt uneasy because she was hiding a part of her life from me. Bert took her guilt and placed it on my shoulders. The only reason that he wanted her to hide the friendship from me was because I didn't like him. Similarly, the private email account was to protect her in the event that I tried to invade her privacy and snoop in her email. All he was doing was trying to help her avoid an unnecessary fight that could hurt her marriage. He hid his seduction in platitudes.

Even when he moved into the active seduction phase, he took it slow. The intimacies he took with her slowly increased. From a friendly kiss and hug when they met or parted, the intimacies progressed. He got her to the point where she allowed him to caress her during the kiss and the kisses became more passionate. That was why I never noticed a sharp change in her behavior or a high level of anxiety. He let her get acclimatized to each new intimacy before he took the next step.