Sharon (not her real name), 44, is a widow with two kids. Her husband died three months before their second child was born.
When we met, Sharon had been dating Brian for about 6-7 years. Sharon’s kids were in middle school. Brian had been planning a three-day weekend with his buddies to spend in Savannah — about a three hour drive.
On his way out of town Thursday night, Brian swung by Sharon’s and told her he’d stop by her place Sunday evening when they returned. And he did.
While Brian, Sharon and her kids ate dinner, he told them all about the drive down, the flat tire, the hotels, where and what they ate, and all their activities. As she told me, he talked for almost 90 minutes, right through dinner and dessert.
It got late, so he helped put the kids to bed, and a while later, he left. Just as Sharon was turning out all the lights, she spotted Brian’s camera. When he came in that evening, he said he had just a few empty frames on the roll, so he wanted to use them by taking photos of the kids.
In the morning, Sharon went ahead and photographed the kids for him, and brought the film down the the one-hour photo store so he’d have his prints when he came back after work.
That afternoon, when Sharon picked up the prints, she realized how someone usually discovers that they’ve been friends with a sociopath … by accident. None of the photos were taken in Savannah. None were of Brian and his buddies. All the photos were taken in Boston, with Brian and another woman all over each other.
He confessed, but he dealt with the exposure by manipulating Sharon, primarily with sex. Even after he married the other woman, he continued an affair with Sharon. Sharon made some very poor decisions.
When Sharon spoke of Brian and his wife, it was the wife she hated, not Brian.
NOTE: I met Sharon maybe a year or two before the above incident. Once, while talking about the affair, she stated, “I guess I should feel guilty about, but I don’t at all.”
After that admission, I felt compelled to end our friendship.
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