John wonders why anyone should be unfaithful. He is of the old school where a handshake is his word; yet has always felt that in a man–woman relationship it is important to see that faithfulness is the primary requisite. He likes to preach this especially when Mary is with him.
He’ll come out with “here’s Mary, she knows that I don’t cheat on her. Why would I? She always knows where I am since she also works in my office. Of course she always knows where I am in the evening. Even when we aren’t together she knows where I’ve gone and she has no reason to worry about me. She knows that I am faithful to her.” His friends and associates hear this and either silently agree or disagree. They look at their wives or girlfriends and silently compare themselves to John.
Sometimes it can be boring listening to John for an entire evening. With a few drinks under his belt he has been known to give a play by play of the physical part of their relationship. And that can be very boring. Mary sits there and blushes while gauging the reactions of the women present.
Mary will tolerate quite a bit since her ex-husband was a runner who drank and occasionally slugged her. This doesn’t happen with John, now she doesn’t fear any of this with him. She knows he is faithful to her because she always knows where he is. And there is no hint of him going off their reservation. He is faithful to her yes, but he is unfaithful to his wife. Mary is his girlfriend. It’s the wife that never knows.
One thing Mary knows, no matter what happens she will never marry John. She marries him and just like that, he’ll find someone else to be faithful to. As far as she is concerned being faithful a-la-John?
No way… no way.
