"Trisha, the Bank of America has called several times for you this past week. It wasn't a robot and the woman said she needed to speak with you directly. Something about your credit card. Probably a scam, I know, but I wanted to pass it along," Greg said while getting dressed in their bedroom for work in the morning.
"OK, thanks. I'll call them back today," Trisha responded, cool as a cucumber.
In her head, of course, things were not so cool. That credit card is the one that she had used to purchase two steamy nights with world-renowned sex coach and "sexiest man alive," James Hamilton. Was there a problem with these purchases?
Oh dear, she thought, there's at least one problem, which is the fact that she's now regularly spending thousands of dollars of money that she does not have so that she can cheat on her husband with a professional. Hmm, she thought, this is not something that she's going to be able to sustain...
Trisha concluded that she'd call back the bank, see what the problem was, and go from there.
After Greg had left for work and the kids had left for school, Trisha called back the number for the bank. A friendly Asian-sounding woman answered, letting her know that this call may be monitored and/or recorded for quality-assurance purposes.
"Good morning, Trisha. How are you today? I am Marcia and I am here to help you," said the friendly woman from Asia, who was most likely not really named Marcia...
"I'm fine," Trisha reported. "What is going on?"
"There are two charges on your credit card that have been flagged as possible fraud. They were posted in the past four weeks. Each was for $1,000 Canadian dollars. They were for a company called 'Toronto Sexual Healing.' I am not sure why, but this business has had some problems in the past and all charges to this business are flagged for potential fraud."
Trisha's heart sank. The fact that this call was potentially going to be recorded didn't help. This conversation put a real face to what all Trisha was doing, and it didn't feel good. She'd spent about $1,400 US dollars, charged to her credit card, no less, for sex. And not only that, but these charges were being tracked, recorded, and investigated, with phone calls pertaining to them coming back to her residence. Trisha shook with nerves upon this realization.
"It's OK," Trisha said nervously. "Those charges are correct. Is there anything else I can help you with, Marcia?"
Marcia gave what was clearly a canned response. "OK, thanks for this information. If you have any additional questions, or are interested in hearing about our rates for a line of credit, please stay on the line. Otherwise, have a good day."
It was 9:45 and Trisha was still in her nightgown in her bedroom. She looked in the full-length mirror, seeing herself looking generally unkempt. And full of guilt and angst. What the hell was she doing?
***
Trisha jumped into the hot shower. The shower always provided a place for her to sort her thoughts out. While scrubbing away with a bar of Dove, she got thinking.
Her main realization was this: She couldn't continue to pay for James' services. Doing so would be fiscally irresponsible of her. She and Greg were comfortable, but not much better than that. And their kids were on the verge of starting college in the next few years. Dropping thousands of dollars a year on sex with James just didn't feel right in this context.
Also, the phone call from Bank of America made one thing abundantly clear: This information is tracked. While her credit card account is in her name only, the fact that her husband was receiving and relaying phone calls from the bank to her specifically pertaining to the charges to Toronto Sexual Healing was simply frightening. While her husband wasn't given the full details regarding the bank's concern, these phone calls put James Hamilton on the radar within her household. This was simply too risky.
Trisha grabbed the shampoo, wet her long brown hair, and began to lather. And think some more.
She could simply end things with James. Their relationship, after all, was of a business nature in a sense. And there was no expectation that she would continue as a client. Trisha sat with this thought for a moment, with a head full of white bubbles.
She shook her head. For better or worse, she was madly and uncontrollably in love with James. Cutting things off clean was, in her mind, not a possibility. James had her feeling like she hadn't felt in years and years. Beautiful, vibrant, and fully, madly, head-over-heels in love. Plus, the sex was amazing. Absolutely amazing. She knew that she could not end things even if she tried.
Suddenly, she had a thought. She would put in a request to talk with James. If anyone had an idea on how to solve this existential crisis of Trisha's, it had to be him.
As soon as she was dressed for work, Trisha ran to her laptop, opened up James Hamilton's site, and started typing in the "Contact me" section. This situation, she decided, was nuanced enough that it required an actual conversation. She put that in the message, along with her cell phone number, and then she figured she'd wait.
Trisha looked in the mirror, happy to see the bright, curvy, vivacious version of herself looking back. She smiled, thinking "what a pickle!" And she headed toward the garage to go to work.
***
"Hello Beautiful," came the text at 4:00 that day. Trisha was alone in her office plowing through emails and she fully appreciated the distraction. She recognized the 416 Toronto area code. This must be James!
Trisha quickly added James' number to her contact list. She didn't want to lose this one! She then replied back.
"James?"
"Yes," he quickly wrote back. "Can you speak now?"
Trisha was relieved. She really needed this situation to be resolved sooner rather than later. She got up from her desk, closed the door, and returned to her seat. She quickly checked her makeup, jewelry, and hair and then she then called James via FaceTime. She simply had to see his glorious face. In two seconds, there he was. Absolutely scrumptious. And, conveniently, right in her little iPhone.
"You look wonderful, Trisha. It is a pleasure to see you." James' voice was strong and genuine, as always. And his rich, dark face was as handsome as ever.
"As do you, James. It is so good to see you. Thanks for taking my call," Trisha replied.
"How can I be of service to you, my beautiful woman?" Trisha melted a splash upon hearing this. James had such a way with words.
Trisha summarized the whole money thing. She explained that, essentially, she was looking to see what options existed for someone in her situation. Basically, she expressed that she could no longer pay for his services. Yet she could, on the other hand, not imagine living without his services.
For the first time in their relationship history, she got a strange vibe from James. It was slight, but it was there. He was not happy with this call.
"Trisha, you do realize that this is how I make my living, right? I am not sure if you are aware, but I have four children at home who are fully dependent on my income. Now would it be fair to them if I reduced my monthly income dramatically so as to accommodate a client who was not willing to fairly pay for my services? Do you understand what I am saying? I am surprised, Trisha. Deeply surprised at this request."
