I visited a forum discussion recently where the topic was “affairs in the work-place, are they a good or bad thing”?

I have invited Jaya Wardene one of the forum members to share with us his unique contribution to this topic. Here is Jaya’s Take:

I feel that your article will find resonance with many people. Do not be surprised to hear of positive examples of work-place romance. It can lead to a healthy and happy long-term relationship. I met my third wife in extremely strange circumstances.

The life of a policeman has its ups and downs but it was the only job for me. My dad was a cop and so was his father before him. As a member of an elite drug-busting team I spent many nights called away to work. My wife, Anastasia tried hard to cope with these frequent call outs. She was well aware of the dangers that we faced and she would stay up all night praying for my safe return. In the end she sought and found comfort in the arms of another cop. He was our neighbour, single and would wait until I had left the house before calling on her “to see if she was alright”.

Their affair went on for months. With my mind on my work and my work on my mind I just did not notice a thing. One afternoon I got a “number with-held” call on my mobile. The caller just whispered, ” Jaya, please watch your back” and rung off. The caller never came back and I assumed it was some disgruntled crook that I had shut down way back. Months later I lay dying at the Community General hospital. The doctors suspected poisoning but they could not work out what it was or how to counter it. Time was running out and I resigned myself to a slow and painful death. Just when they thought that I was finished a trainee doctor from the University suggested that they test me for Vesiliconemyocoapiea ingestion. VCP was a new drug that had proved highly effective in the treatment of constipation in race horses. Few doctors had come across it in their work. The trainee’s diagnosis was correct. Within a few days I was well enough to leave the hospital.

As I came down the stairs into the bright sunshine a young lady asked if she could speak with me for a minute. We walked back to the cafeteria and ordered some coffee. Her name was Gwendoline. She worked for our In house investigations department monitoring employee communications. It came as no surprise that there was a section of our force that spied on its own members. The drug-squad maintained zero tolerance even for the opportunities for corrupt practices. Gwendolene and her colleagues had listened-in on cosy conversations between Anastasia and lover-boy. They heard my cheating wife and Romeo plotting to kill me so that they could be together. It was devastating.

When Angus, the lover was confronted with the evidence he did not put up a defence. There was CCTV footage of him breaking into the Veterinary labs near Banbury Racecourse. At his Bicester home police found dozens of vials of the deadly medicine. It was said that my wife had administered the drug quite easily into my open mouth using an eye dropper whilst I slept. In court it took just half an hour to find them both guilty. They were each sentenced to a dozen years in jail.

Next month, I will be celebrating 8 years of wonderful marriage to delightful Gwendoline.