When Schmoozing Turns Sleazy
Mrs. Hyde Speaks Up
Mr. Hyde doesn’t walk the line or cross it; he straddles it shifting his weight from one side to the other, manipulating the situation to get what he wants.
An attorney and family friend suggested I ‘schmooze’ Mr. Hyde. We still have financial issues and the divorce to settle. Being nice and getting along will make it easier for us to cooperate and get through the process. Makes sense, right? Mr. Hyde is a man of extremes so logic does not apply to him. I wanted to maintain a friendship, but he insisted as a friend, I should be willing to take care of his sexual needs. WTF?? None of my other friends request naked pictures of me!
I’ve told him ‘no’ and like a child throwing a temper tantrum, Mr. Hyde has used every emotional trick in an attempt to get dirty pictures from me. We are friends right? How come I can’t help out a friend? Don’t I ‘owe him’ something after leaving him? Don’t I care about him at all? How can I not help out a friend in need? Mr. Hyde has emailed or spoken all of these things in the last few months.
The email avalanche began again despite me asking him to send things to my personal account rather than my work account. How am I supposed to concentrate at work when I get 15 emails in a single afternoon? The first email is friendly and I fall for it. I send back a pleasant ‘have a good day’ reply. The next email is depressive; how can I sound so happy when he’s so devastated. He plays the guilt card. No matter my reply, it gets ugly. If I try to empathize, he gets angry. If I ignore him, he gets angry. If I don’t reply, he gets angry. The emails get cruel and nasty. Delete, delete, delete is all I do, but they keep coming.
