Back when this woman was 22, she worked on a political campaign and ended up dating her current boss’s boss. The guy she hooked up with was 24 or 25 at the time, and their relationship was extremely intense.
It ended in quite an ugly way, especially since she wanted commitment and he wanted a fling. After about three or four months of seeing him, she realized that he was telling her whatever she wanted in order to get her to keep on sleeping with him.
As soon as she pieced that together, she dumped him, and he did not take that well at all, because he’s a jerk. Several weeks later, the campaign came to an end, and she thought that would be the last of him.
“He ended up going to law school and staying in politics. He’s now an elected official and has been reelected a couple [of] times,” she explained.
“He’s gone viral a couple of times and gets really positive media coverage. I remember from our dating days that he has big political aspirations. And he’s built up quite the network, so I think he can go far.”
“Welp, I kind of figured this would eventually happen, but recently a member of his team reached out asking me to sign an NDA. It makes sense because I certainly have memories of him admitting things to me – as well as my own direct experiences – that aren’t flattering.”
She says the campaigns are no walk in the park and can easily demand 100 hours of work in a week, and you don’t get to have days off, so people do insane things in order to get the winning advantage.
Recalling how her ex acted years ago, he was anxious and shocked that he was so open and honest with her about personal matters.
Meanwhile, to her, these were meaningful chats with a man she genuinely had feelings for. Eventually, she saw that he didn’t care about her at all.
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“I don’t really blame him for how he was back then. He was an arrogant young man, and I was an inexperienced, naive young woman, and we were both under insane pressure,” she said.
“I certainly learned a LOT about myself and humanity from the 8 months I worked alongside him. I moved on and don’t hold anything against him today. That was a long time ago.”
“At the same time, I really don’t want to sign an NDA. It doesn’t seem fair or necessary. And who knows, there might be a day someday where he says or does something relevant that makes me want to share something. I think free speech and accountability are important, and I have no idea what the future holds.”
She wasn’t planning on telling her side of the story where her ex is concerned, so she can see how not signing his NDA will create a good deal of stress for him.
And, he did love accusing her of being problematic, and her failure to sign can be seen as reinforcing his perspective on her.
A curious thing I want to add here: her ex’s employee didn’t agree to give her any money in exchange for signing the NDA. The NDA itself has some threatening language in it.
She does understand that she could reasonably ask for cash, but to her, that’s immoral.
Do you think it makes her a jerk for not wanting to sign the NDA her ex’s employee sent her?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
