How Much Do You Trust Your Partner?

“He didn’t have a passcode. I felt that was his way of saying, I trust you, but I told him that was stupid, especially given the number of my nudes on the phone.”

Gemma is a dark-haired marketing executive at a large studio in the Valley. Sitting in a café on Ventura Blvd., Gemma stirs her fourth coffee as we move into a trauma-dump about her ex-live-in partner of five years. He earned her trust, he cheated, and he is now cheating on his new partner.

“He always made me feel like I was the most important woman on the planet. He looked me in the eyes and asked me to have faith in him. He was transparent with all his relationships outside of ours with his male and female friends. He was always affectionate with his friends. It felt joyful to be with a man like that.”

Gemma coos at a Pomeranian being pushed in a baby stroller and then turns back to me, on a fourth-coffee verbal tear…