Hell hath no fury like a (potential) lover scorned

IT’S a feature of nature, for survival of the species, that males and females in the animal kingdom will seek to mate, with one or the other often having to employ ingenious tactics to weed out the competition and win the other’s interest. As such, it is expected that flirting, dating and wooing will flourish in any situation or organisation where there’s a mix of males and females. And many times there are clear winners, goals are scored, and relationships are formed. At other times, it’s a losing battle, and the object of affection isn’t won over.

Often, the losers in this game of life will slink away, brush themselves off and try again with someone else, taking lessons from their defeat. But sometimes there are anomalies, and the loser hangs on, refuses to acknowledge defeat, and makes the other person’s life hell.

What happens when a person’s advances are not welcomed, yet the pursuer won’t accept defeat? For some people we spoke with, what happened is the stuff Lifetime movies are made of.

Marie H, cashier:

I was working at a wholesale and the boss wanted a relationship, but I told him no because he was married. Then he started finding fault with everything I did, and eventually he fired me.

Sanjay K, mechanic:

Where I was working before now, the boss’s daughter was also working there. Sometimes when she would go on the road she would buy lunch for me. I never knew she was doing it because she liked me. But one day she backed me up in a corner and I had to push her off. From that happened, I got a lot of attitude and so much extra work that I quit.

Sashay P, student:

I was doing my internship at a company and my supervisor immediately started the dirtiest sort of flirting — even though he is a big, grey back man and I’m just 18. I told him numerous times that I wasn’t interested, yet he persisted with saying the grossest things to me, and inviting me to spend time with him at guest houses. I reported him to HR and that’s when my problems started. They believed him when he said that I was making up stories because I wasn’t making my quota at work, and they even called his wife in, who proceeded to stalk my social media and call my phone to harass me at all hours. She was convinced that I was looking for a sugar daddy in her husband, and warned me off. I spent another three weeks there after that finishing up my internship, and would you know it, the man wrote me a negative report to take back to my university, which meant I had to later do another internship with another company before I could graduate.

Lucas W, sales associate:

The manager at the company I worked for is notorious for getting inappropriate with male workers when she goes abroad on business with them. We have all heard the stories — how she only books one room, chooses the hottest sales guy to travel with her, then gets drunk and propositions them. When it was my turn I made sure to check with Finance to confirm that I would get my own room, and when we were in the States, I kept it strictly professional because I have a girlfriend. All went well until the night before we left, when I was catching up on some sleep and woke up to someone sucking my toes. By the time I became fully conscious to realise what was happening, she was near my groin area. I kicked her off, she landed on the floor, and I escorted her out of my room. It looks like she had requested a second key for my room without informing me. The plane ride back to Jamaica was quiet, and even up to a week later she didn’t say anything. But about three weeks after we returned she called me into a meeting with the other managers, where I was advised that they had evidence that I was stealing from the company, and it was best that I quit, or they would embarrass me by posting my photo in the newspapers. It was all lies, but I left anyway, because I suspect that Cruella would find other ways to make my life hell for rejecting her.

Teddy S, driver:

I went to a small island to work based off an advertisement I saw for a company which wanted trained truck drivers. When I arrived it was quite the opposite of what the ad said — in fact, it was a woman business owner who owned several apartments and was looking for men to do construction work. I had already resigned and sold much of my belongings in Jamaica so by the time I realised what was happening it was too late to go back home, so I decided to try to make it work. About five of us Jamaicans were on the trip I went on, and when we got there she confiscated our passports and put us to work. Well, you know Jamaicans can do anything, so I got to work as a labourer and the money was OK, to the point where I could see myself staying for more than the year I initially planned. Then things got weird. She would come to the site with binoculars and would sit in her car and watch us. Then she started paying particular attention to me, and would make comments about my body, how shiny my sweat was, and how masculine I smelt. Of course I was uncomfortable because I’m a Christian who has a woman and kids. It got worse, when she would come to the apartment where the workers lived and make comments about me in front of them. Eventually she told me that I HAD to come to her house one weekend as she was tired of just looking, and wanted to touch. I told her straight up that I wasn’t interested, and the woman laughed and reminded me that she had my work permit and my future in her hands. Let’s just say I had to go to the police and to court to get my documents back, and I was stuck there for months until the case was resolved, not earning a salary because she refused to pay me, and had to rely on my fiancée to send me money to survive. I finally got my passport back, but I was also ushered out of the country like a dog who had done something wrong.

Saul, 43, landscaper:

I do landscaping for many of the properties in my development, and when the newest owner moved in, I went to the couple and told them about my services. Turns out it was a woman and her brother, and she took my information even though her brother said they could do the lawn themselves. Fast forward four weeks later and she and I were getting along well — her yard was looking nice and everyone was happy. One day she invited me inside for some lemonade, and one thing led to another and we ended up in bed. I don’t know if that made her think we were an item, but she was obviously telling everyone about us because the whisperings started around the neighbourhood. I went to her and told her to quit it, that we were not together, and that it could affect my job prospects. She seemed to take it well, even though she terminated my services and got another landscaper. Well a few months later another couple moved in and I went to the lady and was telling her about my services, when the first lady came up, gave me a swift kick and walked away. I was so embarrassed and worse, the new owners didn’t hire me.