Okay, so you’re asking if these things, these relationships that start off, you know, messy, with someone else already in the picture, if they actually go the distance. I’ve been around the block a few times, seen a fair bit from my little corner of the world.

The Initial Spark and the Fallout
I remember this one situation pretty clearly. Let’s call them Dave and Lisa. Dave was with someone else, a long-term thing, and then Lisa came along. Big fireworks, or so they said. It was all very dramatic, lots of sneaking around, whispered phone calls. My office was near Dave’s, and you could just feel the tension, even if you didn’t know all the details at first. When it all came out, it was a huge mess. Tears, shouting matches, the works. His first partner was absolutely devastated, naturally.
When Dave and Lisa finally got together “officially,” after all the drama and the breakup Dave had to go through, you’d think it would be smooth sailing. They’d fought for it, right? But it wasn’t. It was like they were always looking over their shoulders, almost like they were expecting something bad to happen. The way it started, man, it cast a long shadow.
Building on a Crumbly Foundation
Think about it. If you get together because one of you cheated, that thought is always there, isn’t it? Like a little bug in your ear. ‘If they did it with me, could they do it to me?’ I saw that with Dave and Lisa. So many arguments seemed to circle back to trust, even if they didn’t say it outright. Little things would blow up.
- There was always this underlying tension, like walking on eggshells.
- Little jealousies would spark big fights about loyalty and where someone was.
- Some of their old friends took sides, and family gatherings became super awkward. Some folks never really approved of how it began, and they made that known.
It’s like the foundation of their house was built with stolen bricks. Sooner or later, you’re gonna worry about the whole structure, especially when a storm hits. And life always has storms.
This isn’t just a one-off story I’m pulling out of thin air. Over the years, in different workplaces I’ve been in, different circles of friends I’ve had, I’ve seen similar patterns play out. It’s not always a big explosion at the end, sometimes it’s just a slow fizzle. The excitement of the forbidden, that initial rush, it wears off. Then you’re left with the day-to-day reality, and all the baggage you started with.

A Lesson from a Different Kind of Mess
It reminds me of something completely different, actually, from way back. Years ago, I was involved in this community project. We were all super enthusiastic, wanted to get things done fast. So, we cut a few corners, skipped some of the proper planning stages, you know, thinking we could just fix it as we went along. ‘Move fast and break things’ was the unofficial motto, but we mostly just broke things, including our own momentum.
Well, ‘later’ came, and all those little shortcuts, all those bits we said we’d ‘sort out down the line,’ they piled up. We ended up spending more time patching problems, arguing about who was supposed to do what, and dealing with the consequences of those early rushed decisions than actually building anything new or good. It felt like we were constantly fighting fires that we’d accidentally set ourselves because we didn’t build a solid base.
That whole project eventually fell apart. Not because people didn’t want it to succeed, not because the idea was bad. It crumbled because the way we started it, the shaky, rushed foundation, made it almost impossible for it to have a healthy, sustainable life. The initial “get it done quick no matter what” vibe totally undermined the whole thing in the long run. It taught me a lot about how beginnings really, really matter.
So, What’s the Bottom Line from My Perch?
So, back to the main question. Do these affair-relationships last? Look, I’m not gonna sit here and say ‘never’. Life’s weird, and there are probably always exceptions to every rule, I guess. People win the lottery sometimes too, but you wouldn’t bet your house on it.
But from what I’ve personally witnessed, from the Daves and Lisas I’ve known and the general vibe I’ve picked up, it’s a really, really tough road. It’s like you’re starting a marathon with a sprained ankle you got while tripping someone else. Can you finish? Maybe. But it’s gonna hurt a lot more, you’ll always be looking over your shoulder, and the odds are seriously stacked against you compared to folks who started the race fair and square.

It often seems to be less about the actual love between the two people, and more about them constantly trying to overcome the way it all began. The distrust, the guilt, the broken pieces left behind. And that’s a heavy load to carry, year in and year out. Most folks, well, they eventually find that load too heavy. That’s just what I’ve seen. It’s not a judgment, just an observation from watching things unfold over a good long time.