[Hardaway1818]

Time: Friday
Venue: Office

The same office. The same busy scene outside my office. The same usual working day as any other day.

The only difference was me. My mind was working in overdrive. Not on my work. But on my revenge plot.

In my mind, I was recounting the whole sequence of events. How George had set me up, the invitation letter, the second reminder letter, how I fell for it, the email, the whole plot. It was all a mind game. How on earth did a high flyer like myself fell for it? Unbelievable. Irrational.

Yes, irrational was the word.

I recalled George was a Masters in Psychology. He was good with mind games. His plot played on my weakness, although I had never had the slightest intention to stray in the past. So why would he think I would fall for the trap?

I was working furiously on my laptop. I had given specific instructions to my team not to disturb me unless absolutely necessary.

After a good 2 hours of research, I had finally formed the conclusion: “Whether me or anyone else, crosses the line from flirty exchanges to infidelity, come down to what’s in our DNA. Basically, we are wired to stray.”

It would not take an expert to clue us on what’s playing out all around us. For starters, there’s the pileup of high-profile trysts that had made the deadlines – Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton, Wayne Rooney, and closer to us, Ng Boon Gay and Peter Lim. Then there’s your friend who would have gotten dangerously close to the edge. Our culture seemed almost steeped in infidelity.

No matter how much you loved your spouse, 3 things would happen over time.

Number 1 – Familiarity breeds boredom. Be it a plate of your favourite food, your favourite movie, or your favourite book, asking you to eat the same dish everyday, watch the show for the 100th time or to read the same storyline over and over again, you would not have the same interest or urge anymore. So how different would that be when it came to sex, our most basic instinct and needs.

Number 2 – Great Expectations. Human are greedy. No matter how much you love the other half, no one is perfect. There would definitely be something that you would be dissatisfied with your other half. Not as responsive on bed, the incessant nagging, not as macho as the hunk next door. There would always be the dream guy/girl that would make your heart flutter just that bit faster.

Number 3 – Prohibited Desire. This is in the nature of every human beings. The more you can’t get your hand on something, the more you will desire it. That’s the reason why you would feel your adrenalin pumping when you are about to do something that is prohibited. This would include anything, from telling a lie, to stealing $10 from the drawer, playing truant from school, to straying. In fact, that’s one of the greatest kick for people who are married. When the opportunity presents itself, and the prospect is someone that is to your liking, almost 95% of people would succumb to it.

Even a usually intelligent high-flyer like myself would fall for it. This would mean almost everyone could fall for it.

George's plot was brilliant. The only condition for it to work, the targets must be married personnel.

12.35 pm.

Lunch time. I purposely stayed back. Almost everyone had gone for lunch. Except for Peter. I must find an excuse to dispense him.

“Peter, sorry I am rushing some work. Do you have some time now? Can I trouble you to grab a sandwich and a can of Coke from the canteen?”

“Oh ok sure, I am about to grab some lunch for myself too.”

Perfect, the whole office was now empty. I casually walked over to Raymond’s desk and left an office file folder in his in-tray. In it contained the trading records from yesterday’s transactions.

That’s not the important point. What’s important was the green envelope I hid under the file folder.