A few years ago, when I was still married, I was given the task of retraining a guy from our offices. He was new to the company, just two years younger than me, and seemed like a genuinely nice person. From the moment we started working together, there was an easy rapport between us. We shared a few laughs, making the training sessions more enjoyable than I had expected.

As we spent more time together, our conversations naturally extended beyond work. We talked about our interests, our lives outside the office, and the things that made us who we were. It was harmless, or so I thought. We exchanged phone numbers to stay in touch about work-related matters, a routine gesture that didn’t raise any alarms for me at the time.

That very first evening, as I was unwinding after a long day, my phone buzzed with a message. It was from him. I remember feeling a small thrill, thinking it was nice to have made a new friend at work. But as I opened the message, that feeling quickly shifted to something else entirely.

The message was straight to the point—far more direct than anything we had discussed during the day. My heart skipped a beat as I read his words. He wasn’t asking about work, or even making small talk. Instead, he had sent a bold, suggestive message, asking if I would stroke him off. I was taken aback, shocked at the audacity of his request, especially after what had felt like a friendly, professional day.

For a moment, I didn’t know how to react. My thoughts raced, a mix of confusion, curiosity, and disbelief. How had things escalated so quickly? I was still processing what this meant, for both of us and for my marriage. Part of me was tempted to ignore it, to brush it off as a misguided attempt at flirting. But another part of me couldn’t deny the thrill of the unexpected proposition.