My boss wants me to keep dating a prime client

I am married and working as a marketing executive in charge of premium clients. The company has had a difficult period the last three years and now we only have a few client accounts left. Principally we are now dependent on this one client whose director I have been having an affair with. It started off casually with business meetings and now it is almost a relationship. I feel that I am being used here and it is not fair to my husband. My boss knows about this affair and he keeps asking me to do whatever it takes to keep that client. I want to end the affair but I think that will have consequences on me first as I might lose my job and for sure the company will close down thus putting six other people out of a job. Please advice on what I should do. I want to end the affair but I also want to keep this client. I just don't know how. Please advise... {Evelyn}

Your Take:

Listen to your instincts and follow them. You will not go wrong with them. Kindly watch Tyler Perry’s Temptation (2013), and you will see a story that is similar to yours and watch how it ends. Hope it helps you make the right decision rather than scare you.

{Nelly}

Evelyn it is high time you prioritize your actions. You need to make a decision to either destroy your family and reputation at the expense of pleasing your boss or saving him and his company. You can always find another job but you may never find another husband or family if this one broke.

{Ojou Robert}

I am certain that if your boss were to find his wife doing the same thing for whatever reason, he would hit the roof. You must stop this relationship immediately and take whatever this action brings, with a smile. What you boss is telling you to do is not part of the company business development strategy, or is it?

{Tasma Charles}

Respect yourself, your husband and the commitment you made to each other. Whatever this may cost you, do not stay in a situation that puts you into temptation. You need your husband and family more than your boss and workmates. You are being exploited and your rights are being infringed upon.

{Andrew Didy Chaplin}

You are not being fair to your husband. Wake up from slumber and know that the job security of 8 people should not be based on your body. You may also ask the other ladies in the company to do the same if they think it is okay. Work to get back your dignity then strive to maintain it. This must stop otherwise you are on the highway of getting divorced.

{Ouma Ragumo}

The choice you have to make here is between your family and your job. As difficult as it may be, choosing family may have better returns in future.

{Aseri Dickson}

I think selling your body to maintain a client is fornication and in your case adultery. Do you even know his HIV status? Imagine if your husband found out about this relationship, you will lose much more. Stop degrading yourself to benefit others.

{Onyango Outha}

Counselor’s Take:

In business, sexual relationships really get in the way of things. When you choose to get business by providing sexual favors, then you must be prepared to go all the way for as long as you will want to keep the business. However, there is a caveat to this.

 Sometimes, it is the client who loses interest in the favors you are providing and moves on, even with his business. In some instances, the relationship may turn sour. The understanding usually is that you give into the client’s demands to keep their business. Do not be surprised, therefore, if the business goes right to your competitor – if there is a lady on the other side who is willing to go that way, maybe further and deeper. This is therefore never a sustainable way to do business.

This is one of those situations where you are ruined if you do and ruined if you don’t. In such a situation, you need to weigh the risks against the opportunities and make an informed decision. If you stop the affair with that man, there is a possibility that he might not take the business anywhere else (maybe he liked the service and other things about your company – the sex could have been a bonus for him).

There is a chance that you might keep the account. However, if your husband found out about that little arrangement, you can be sure that he will either ask you to resign (if he is very understanding and kind to you) or leave you all together which is the most likely action. I think you stand to lose much more if you lost your family than if you list one client at work. I think the option is quite clear here.

You have a big heart Evelyn, but you ought to know that those people you are struggling so hard to protect don’t care at all what happens to you or your marriage as long as that account conveniently remains in the company.

If anything, to them, you are just as good as the account. Forget about them and make a decision with your best interest and the interests of people you care about (your family) at heart. In this life, it is every man for himself and God for us all. Make a sober decision – you are putting too much at stake here; your life, your family and many other things. You really don’t want to be branded as the lady who gives it to all and sundry in the name of getting business. {Taurus}