Comments for Post #C27689

Reliving a Childhood Crush Through a Dangerous Office Affair

I'm in a situation that's been eating me up lately, and I really need honest opinions. There's a woman in my life who's a little over two years older than me. Ironically, at work I'm her team lead because I'm from a technical background while she's from a non-technical one. The story actually goes back to our school days. I had a huge crush on her since childhood. In 12th standard, I indirectly tried to tell her how I felt, but she rejected me. Later she dated someone else, and that's the man she's now been married to for almost 10 years. Before her marriage, she had been in a few other relationships as well, and her husband is aware of those. Back then I even asked if she'd consider marrying me, but I was just starting my career with a very low salary, so I think she assumed I wasn't serious. Fast forward about seven years—we unexpectedly ended up working in the same office. We started talking again. I would flirt with her, and she responded positively. Eventually, it turned into a secret office affair. During afternoon snack breaks, we'd leave the office separately. She'd take her scooty, while I'd walk out and take an auto. We'd even book separate rooms at a nearby OYO hotel so no one would suspect anything. We'd spend around an hour or so together and then return to work as if nothing had happened. all this during lunch break. and its almost daily. Recently, though, some colleagues have started noticing that we're gone for unusually long breaks. A few have indirectly hinted about it. We've been making excuses, saying we were walking around the parking area or just taking a long break. The bigger concern is that her husband works in a nearby office building. As far as I know, he has no idea about any of this. But I constantly worry about what would happen if he ever found out. A part of me wants to end this before it gets worse, but another part finds it difficult to walk away after everything that's happened. Has anyone here been in a situation where you knew something had to end but couldn't bring yourself to do it? How do you end something like this without making things even messier?