I apologize in advance for the length.
So my friend’s sister met this guy 6 weeks ago. She had two jobs, one at a coffee house and the other as a black jack dealer. She met this guy when he came into the coffee house. They hit it off, and she told him she worked nights at the Casino. So he came in a couple of nights and she kicked his butt at the tables.
The rest is history.
She told my friend that she’s known the guy for 3 months, which was a lie.
First red flag.
She’s married, with three kids aged 14, 11 and 5. She called my friend last weekend and told her she’s leaving her husband for this guy, gave her husband until Tuesday to get his stuff out of their house and in the meantime was staying at this fleabag motel with the kids and the new guy.
My friend works at a really nice hotel and agreed to set them all up there. This is how I met the guy.
Apparently, the guy is a millionaire. How do I know this? Immediately upon meeting my friend he asked if he could see her outside (we were at the hotel. We had to meet up with them there because the guy tried to pay for the room with a check, which the hotel doesn’t take, so my friend’s boss called her and asked her to come in and pay for the room.)
So the guy takes her outside and immediately goes into (from the re-telling of the story by my friend) a rehearsed speech about how he knows she’s suspicious, what his name is, the fact that he knows her husband (my friends husband) is about to enter the police academy and to give him a couple of weeks and feel free to do a background check on him.
Second red flag.
The guy moved here from Washington approximately 6 weeks ago, when he immediately met friend’s sister and fell in love. I looked at the check he gave the hotel clerk and noticed there was no imprinted name or address. Is the account new? No. He comes downstairs, yanks the check out of friend’s hand and says dismissively, “I don’t put my name on checks.”
So why did he try to pay for the room with a check? He doesn’t have credit cards. He doesn’t trust anyone, he says. The man is a millionaire and doesn’t have a single credit card. He lives in a trailer. Not a mobile home, a trailer. He did actually have a credit card my friend saw, but it didn’t have a name on it. In fact, this guy doesn’t even use ATM’s. No, he keeps the bulk of his money in a safe in his trailer.
Third red flag.
The 14 year old daughter doesn’t like this guy. Doesn’t want to be alone with him. I don’t blame her. IMHO, he was a bit on the skeevy side. Actually, my exact words to my friend were “my spidy senses are a tinglin’!” Something just wasn’t right about this guy. We forgot something at the hotel and had to return later and found Mr. Wonderful outside talking to the 11 year old. I noticed at some point within the group being all together, Mr. Wonderful has had each family member alone and engaged in a serious “talk.”
Fourth red flag.
So the five year old comes into the hotel (we had the girls with us for most of the day and were dropping them off) sees this guy and yells “hi daddy!”
At first I didn’t think I heard her right. Then my friend confirmed. Yes, she called him “daddy”. Did he look at all concerned? Nope. Did sister look at all concerned (she was within earshot), no. Does 5 year old have a daddy at home packing his bags that very moment? Yes. 5 year old met this guy 3 days prior. And she’s calling him “daddy”.
Fifth red flag.
So my friend calls me last night and informs me that Mr. Wonderful has just bought her sister a 1.5 million dollar home. In a day. In sisters name. A woman he’s known for 6 weeks. He paid cash. Sister immediately quit both her jobs. Sister is now staying with the guy and her 3 kids in the flea bag motel until she can move into the house in 2 weeks. Mr. Wonderful immediately deposited $50,000 in sister’s bank account.
Sixth red flag.
At this point, sister’s husband is calling my friend asking where his family is. They were supposed to return Tuesday. He’s got no clue what’s going on. He has no idea Mr. Wonderful exists. Yes, he’s supposed to be gone, he knows they’re leaving him, but he’s worried about the whereabouts of his kids.
Seventh red flag.
So, do I have cause to be concerned on behalf of my friend? If it was just sister getting involved in this, I wouldn’t care, she’s a grown woman, if she wants to be stupid, that’s her trip. I’m worried about the kids. The 14 year old is really uneasy about this, understandably so. She doesn’t want to be left alone with this guy. Also, understandably so. The five year old is calling him “daddy” after knowing him for 3 days and no one seems to care. I haven’t talked to the 11 year old about it, so I don’t know what his take on it is.
The guy just doesn’t feel right. Something about him is REALLY sending my spidey senses into tingly overdrive.
Anyone have a take on this? I appreciate all input.