I can't say I was happy. I was frustrated with what was happening between Jason and I at that point. I felt stuck. Dating Jason was a decision I was constantly questioning because he was my first serious boyfriend. Prior to dating him, I had never been in a monogamous relationship. I hated the idea of being locked down by anyone or anything. I'm an adventurous woman: I love to travel, I live to explore, I'm fascinated by other people, I study cultures from all over the world, etc. Monogamy seemed so limiting and, frankly, boring to me. But, somehow, Jason convinced me to try it.
Jason and I met a work. He was cute enough and we got along well. He was fairly ambitious and was trying to work his way up the ladder in his own profession. I was dating a few other people casually when we first met, so when he asked me out I said, yes. I started to like him after a few dates, but after a month he explained to me that he wanted to date me exclusively. He didn't like the idea of either of us sleeping with other people and wanted to be 100% monogamous. Thinking about it now, it felt manipulative. But I didn't want to break up with him, so I reluctantly agreed to it. He was so happy when I did.
It was difficult in the beginning to not sleep with other people. I was meeting so many amazing people at the time. I started working in another department at work, which was personally and professionally much more fulfilling and my new group of co-workers were all fantastic. It was there that I met a guy named Hector.
Hector came in late on my first day in this new department, so everyone's attention went to him when he walked in. He apologized to our boss and she told him it was no problem. He had been working with her for a few years, so they had a familiarity with each other. My eyes must have widened and my jaw had to have dropped at least slightly because I was immediately attracted to him: he was taller than me, fit, not excessively muscular but still impressive, he had dark olive skin, a beautiful smile, lovely brown eyes, short curly black hair, and he carried a lot of confidence. I know this will sound bad, but I've always had a particular thing for Latin men and women. I don't know why, but just believe me when I say it's true. And, yes, I'm white.
Hector and I got to know each other well. He was so charming, super intelligent, very funny, extremely talented, and he loved to flirt. So did I. He got more attractive by the day. We were paired a lot together at work and I started becoming very comfortable with him in general. It was way too easy talking to him and being around him just felt really nice. Hector was older than me, which was a little different. But, admittedly, I liked that a lot because Jason was two years younger than me and it sometimes showed. Jason and I were both still in our mid-twenties and he still had some maturing to do. Arguably, a lot of maturing to do.
Hector was a man.
About two weeks into working with Hector, I asked him out. I didn't usually have to do that when it came to dates, since men and women were constantly asking me out, but I got the impression he wouldn't do it unless I made the first move. While he was flirtatious, I think he was being respectful because I had mentioned Jason to him (this was early on in the relationship), but to my delight he said he would love to take me out. We never got a chance to go out on a date though because, a few days later, it was then when Jason sat down with me and told me he wanted to be exclusive. I told Hector about this and he was very understanding about it. He told me not to worry about it. While Hector and I stopped texting so much, we did keep up our flirtatious behavior with one another at work.
My relationship with Jason was pushing a year when one night my phone went off. I reached over to the nightstand to grab it and saw that I had a text message. It was from Hector. I was in bed with Jason and looked over at him. He was already asleep; nevertheless, I still hid my phone from him to read what Hector had sent me. I was lying naked next to Jason when I read the text. It said, "Hey! You busy tomorrow night?"