Betrayed Chapter 3

"I'm not sure," I replied. "A few months, at least; perhaps longer. I had my suspicions, but found out for certain ten days ago."

"Before you met me," Dianna emphasized.

"Before I met you," I concurred.

"But you left her after we were together."

"Yes."

"Did you leave her because of me?"

"I left her because of her. You were the catalyst."

"Explain."

"For eight years, my sun rose and set on my wife. She was my world; I never considered another woman. When I found out what she was doing behind my back, I was crushed. I had to just get out, get away. I had heard about Ringers through a third party. I can't explain why I showed up Friday night; I just did. I can't explain where I found the nerve to approach you; I just did. No one was more surprised than me we ended up back at your place. I honestly did not intend to have sex with you or anyone else that night.

"When I left your apartment, I felt hurt, humiliated, used, just as Susan had done. I didn't go home at all last weekend. I couldn't face anyone. But the damnedest thing happened. I could not get you out of my mind. You haunted my dreams and my waking thoughts. I know; it's crazy. I don't want to come across as some kind of obsessed stalker, either. The best way I can put it is this: you liberated me from my emotional dependency on Susan. You made me realize I didn't have to stay in an abusive relationship, that I could have feelings for someone else – and she could have feelings for me."

"You could have feelings – for someone you perceived to have abused you," she rebutted. "Isn't that what they call Masochism?"

"My perception was based on the values of the culture in which I live. Dianna, I don't want to sound facetious, but you are unlike any woman I have ever known before. Expressing my desire for you in a physical sense, and accepting yours for me, requires an adjustment for me.