Mr. Bailey Read online

  Upon my request, Linda met with Anne and asked about the relationship. Anne explained that she couldn’t find a tutor that was willing to work around her busy schedule, so she talked with Mr. Bailey and he offered to tutor her at his house a few nights a week. From the start, they never had any intention of a romantic relationship, but, after a month, that all changed.

  During one of their tutoring sessions, Anne was reviewing one of her assignments, while Mr. Bailey left to use the restroom. It was then that someone began banging on the front door for a minute before ramming it open. The intruder, who was described to me as a strung out, middle-aged man, then began shouting at Anne to get on the floor.

  At this point, Mr. Bailey came rushing down the hall and motioned Anne to get behind him as he confronted the intruder. A short fight broke out between the two men before the intruder fled and was later picked up by the police. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in the encounter, but that incident was the start of it all.

  Not long after the break-in, Anne and Mr. Bailey grew closer to one another and began dating in secrecy. And after only a few months, they started spending their lunch hour together, which ultimately led to their discovery.

  With a better understanding of the situation, Linda turned to me again for advice. Although she didn’t want Anne to get in trouble, she also wasn’t sure how she felt about the relationship and wanted my opinion.

  Having been told all the details, I told her, “If what Anne told you is true, it sounds like a consensual relationship. And I don’t see any reason to intervene. However, because it’s your friend and you’re the one that witnessed it, the decision is ultimately up to you.”

  After our discussion, Linda met with Anne and Mr. Bailey. She informed them she would keep their secret, but requested they stop all displays of affection at school. Anne and Mr. Bailey agreed to her terms and thanked her for the opportunity she was giving them. They then went on to date for several more months before ending the relationship around the year mark.

  Shortly after the relationship ended, I got the chance to sit down with Anne and ask her about it. After talking for a while, she told me the reason she and Mr. Bailey broke up was that they didn’t have all that much in common. More than anything, the relationship was based on infatuation and the thrill of a secret romance. And once they were found out, the thrill was gone, as well as spark they had.

  In the end, it’s hard to say whether keeping the relationship a secret was the correct choice, and the answer will vary from person to person. But no matter your beliefs on this issue or others, my reason for writing this story was to encourage open-mindedness and to grant readers an entirely new perspective on something that’s become much more commonplace.