Broen Promises

I walked up to the table and stood there. My wife's jaw dropped and her mouth was an open gaping hole. I think it was the most unattractive I had ever seen her look. Douglas started to rise but I held up my hand and said, "No Douglas don't get up. As long as you are sitting you are safe but if you get up I will be forced to knock your teeth down your throat. So please remain seated, I would hate to make a horrible scene here.

"I am sorry that I am interrupting your intimate moment here but I have to tell you Julia, I cannot believe that you faked being sick so you could blow off a weekend with me and be with this piece of dog shit. You know there is no one in the world I hate more than Douglas "dog shit" Simon. But to come here to OUR special place, the place where we met, the place where I asked you to be my wife and the place where we had so many happy times that is really something else again. Yes, it used to be a very special place to me but it is not so special to me anymore and neither are you.

"On our wedding day you promised, 'I will never do anything to hurt you.' And 'I will never do anything to make you stop loving me.'

"As I see it that is two broken promises because one I am terribly hurt and two my love for you is melting away like an ice cube in a cup of hot coffee.

"You know me better than anyone Julia and you know how I operate, I SAIL. I See the situation, Analyze the situation, Identify what the problem is and Look for the solution.

"I see the situation is you here with Douglas, in analyzing it I conclude you want to date other men. I am your husband and I will not allow you to date other men so I am obviously the problem. My solution is to remove the problem so that is what I am going to do. You are now free to date any men you want.

"I hope this piece of dog shit is worth it Julia."

As I turned to leave I added, "Douglas, this isn't over between us however. I will be seeing you around."

I walked quickly to the exit and out onto the street. I hurried across Michigan Avenue and around the corner toward the lobby of the Drake hotel. I stood there out of view when I saw Julia rush out the door and onto the sidewalk in front of Spiaggia. She desperately looked everywhere trying to locate me but she didn't spot me. When she didn't see me anywhere her shoulders slumped and she crossed the street, hailed a taxi and headed north toward our condo a few blocks away. I was horribly upset but I took some consolation in knowing that I had at least ruined her night with Douglas and also that she seemed to care enough to leave him and head home hoping to find me there. She wouldn't.

I waited a few more minutes to see what 'Dog Shit' did. It wasn't long before he came out and hailed a taxi and left in the opposite direction.

I decided to stay at the Drake for a few days until I could figure out what to do with my life so I went in and was able to get a room.

You are probably wondering how we got to this point in time so I will lay it all out for you. My name is John Burton and of course my wife's name is Julia. When I graduated from MIT I took a job as a software engineer working for Grace Systems Solutions a software developer in Chicago. The owner of the company and my boss was Gregg Grace and I have to say he was a pretty decent boss. I was able to work my way up in the company quite quickly and was actually pretty successful at what I did. At the second company Christmas party I attended Gregg introduced me to his goddaughter Julia. She was the daughter of his best friend and he had invited them to the party. I actually think he invited them so he could set me up with Julia. I was glad he did.

Have you ever heard of love at first sight? Well I was hit with it. I thought Julia was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and she was witty, funny and everything else I could imagine I would want in a woman. Yeah, you can tell I was a smitten. It didn't take long for me to dominate her night and truthfully I think she dominated mine too. We hit it off from the start and never looked back. As you read earlier the party was at Spiaggia and it just kind of became OUR special place. Three months later while on a Saturday evening date at Spiaggia I asked her to marry me and she jumped into my arms and said yes.

We were married and our lives just kept getting better and better. My career flourished, her career flourished and we had many celebratory dinners at OUR place.

We were married in 2010 and everything seemed to be going along great until about six months ago when I started to get the feeling that the honeymoon was over. I know it isn't supposed to last forever but I really wanted it to. I was almost certain that there wasn't anything going on behind my back but of course you could never be absolutely certain. It was just a feeling that the romance had diminished.

I decided to do something about it and began planning a surprise getaway for the two of us. One of my best friends and former roommate Adam Hartley worked with his father Ben in the software industry too and in fact was a customer of Gregg's company. I frequently had to make a trip to their offices in Cleveland so I made my plans coinciding with one of the scheduled trips.

Julia and I were supposed to go to Cleveland to meet with Adam and Ben and their wives, Carolyn and Gloria respectively, for dinner on Friday night, then a brief meeting Saturday morning to discuss business and then we were going to drive to Niagra Falls for a couple of days by ourselves returning to Chicago on Monday night. My hope was that we would reconnect.

Julia clearly gave off vibes that she didn't want to make the trip with me. She didn't know about the Niagra Falls aspect because I wanted it to be a romantic surprise to jumpstart our second honeymoon. But, she kept balking at the idea and I had to push a bit to get her to agree to go.

Friday morning rolled around and when I got up Julia wasn't in our bed. I looked for her and found her in our spare bedroom sleeping. I whispered, "Julia, are you awake?"

She stirred slightly and responded, "John, I got sick in the night and slipped out of bed so I wouldn't disturb you. I am really sick and just need to sleep some more. Will you call my office and tell them that I am sick and won't be in at all today please?"

I did as she asked and left her to sleep while I went to work. Around ten o'clock I called her to see how she was feeling and she said she was still sick. I said, "Well, I guess I will have to go to Cleveland alone then." I didn't get a response to that so I hung up the phone and immediately dialed Adam to let him know that I would be coming alone and see if they wanted to change any of the plans. Adam suggested that since Julia couldn't make it perhaps they would cancel the Cleveland trip and the two couples would just come to Chicago to meet with me Friday night and then Saturday they could do some shopping on the "Magnificent Mile" and if Julia was feeling better then we could have dinner Saturday night.

I thought it was a wonderful idea so I told him that I would make reservations for them at the Drake Hotel and would meet them across the street at Spiaggia for dinner at 6:00 p.m.. I called and cancelled my flight, my hotel room in Cleveland and all of the arrangements I had made for a car and for the hotel in Niagra Falls. I was disappointed but what are you going to do.

At three in the afternoon I called Julia to see if she was feeling better and well enough that maybe she would join us for dinner but I got a busy signal and frankly I forgot to call again because I was busy getting my presentation set up for Adam and Ben. Finally at 5:30 p.m. as I was rushing out the door I called again but this time there was no answer and it went to voicemail. I left her a message telling her what the plans were and took a taxi to Spiaggia to meet with the Hartley's.

We were having a cocktail at our table before our meal when all of a sudden Adam got a funny look on his face and said, "John, I am sorry but this is going to upset you a great deal. Julia just walked into the restaurant and joined another man. They are behind you and to your left against the wall. I am so sorry John."

I slowly turned in my chair so I could see her and there she was with another man. I use that term loosely because it wasn't really a man it was Douglas "Dog Shit" Simon.

I hate him and always will. To make that long story short I will simply tell you that he was engaged to my sister Barbara and literally left her standing at the altar. He finally showed up two days later at her door to tell her he just didn't want to get married. Three weeks later we saw his marriage license to another woman in the paper and a birth announcement five months after that. Barb was crushed and even though I feel she is better off without the cheating bastard she has never quite gotten over the whole thing. So now you know why I call him "Dog Shit" and why I hate him.

Anyway, back to the present. To say I was shocked would be a gross understatement. I know I tried to say a few words but just stammered. I could see the shocked looks on everyone's faces and knew they felt sympathy for me. When I could finally speak I said, "Well isn't that something!

"Obviously I am not going to be able to continue this evening with you. I am not going to just sit here and pretend I didn't see what we all have seen. I suggest you four continue your evening and why don't we meet for breakfast tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. in your hotel coffee shop? I am quite certain I will be in better shape by then. Also, it is obvious that Julia and I will not be meeting you for dinner tomorrow night. I am really sorry, please forgive me."

I hugged the ladies and both men too, they were after all longtime friends, and walked over to the table where my wife was sitting. I am pretty sure that Adam followed a few steps behind just to make sure that everything would be alright. It wouldn't be but I appreciated his concern for me.

So we are back to the confrontation at their table and so forth and I am in my room at the Drake.

I had turned off my cell phone while I was registering and figured I better turn it back on. There were several messages from Julia but like everyone else in my situation I just deleted them without listening to them. As I deleted the last voice mail my phone rang again but I let it go to voice mail because I didn't want to hear a thing she had to say. When it beeped that there was a voice mail I just deleted it and turned off the phone again.

Saturday morning I met with Adam and Ben to talk about our business relationship. I said, "Well guys I think there are going to be some significant changes taking place in my life and I am not exactly sure what those are going to be. I would like to ask you to not sign the new contract Gregg sent to you. Can you give me a little time to see what shakes out with my marriage and my job? As you know Gregg is Julia's father's best friend and her godfather. If you can, there may be a better deal for you out there later. If not, I certainly understand but honestly I don't see any harm in you going month to month with Gregg until my future is solidified. What do you think?"

As one they replied, "John, we will do as you are asking. We are with Gregg because of you and if your situation changes we will always be with you. Let us know what we have to do and when things change. We are here for you in any way you want us to be."

I got tears in my eyes with that and again just hugged to two of them. Then the ladies walked into the restaurant and it was time for them to drag their husbands off to spend their money. Adam's wife Carolyn smiled and said, "Come on dear, your credit card is cold and I think I need to warm it up for you."

Gloria, Ben's wife said, "I hope that Ben's cards are heat resistant because we are going to slide them so many times today that they just might melt. It isn't often we get a chance to shop the "Magnificent Mile."

I had to chuckle in spite of how I was feeling because I know they were playing with their husbands and also trying to cheer me up. I loved them for it. Hugs all around and off they went.

I thought about going to the office to put some things in order but figured that Gregg might be there on a Saturday and maybe even Julia would go there expecting I might turn up there. I decided to stay away and go in on Sunday morning early to do what I figured I would need to do. I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon reading a book I picked up.

The next morning I went into the office and put a few things in order. I worked out the plan for what I would try to accomplish on Monday morning. Then, I went back to my hotel room with the Chicago Tribune and started looking at the advertisements for apartments. I knew that I couldn't stay at the Drake for the long term so I would have to do something else. When I had a few possiblities I made some calls and set up appointments for Tuesday morning. When that was all set up I settled down and decided to watch some football.

Monday morning I went to see my attorney. Roger had been my attorney since I arrived in Chicago and I asked him if he would have a problem representing me in a divorce action. He said, "God no John, you can't really expect me to believe you are divorcing Julia. You love her like nobody I have ever seen."

I replied, "Roger, the key word here is love. It is now past tense because I don't love her anymore. If you don't want to represent me fine, but all I would ask then is that you don't represent Julia either."

He agreed, "I would rather not represent either of you. I think you should try to work this out John, but if you won't or can't then you should use Jacob Easterman. I think he will do a good job for you. But please try to work it out okay?"

I thanked him for the referral but said, "No way are we going to work it out Roger I just don't love her anymore."

I met with Jacob and he assured me that he could have all of the paperwork ready to file by the end of the day on Tuesday and Julia would be served Wednesday morning.

A visit to my bank was the next order of business and I got a cashier's check for half of our savings account. I left all of the money in our checking account because there would be bills to be paid up until the time our divorce was final.

Julia and I had a specific arrangement when it came to our finances. We each contributed a set amount each month to cover the monthly operating expenses. We also put in a set amount for meals and entertainment and a certain amount to build a fund for furnishings and equipment, etc. That account had grown to a sizeable amount because we always put in more than we used. That is why I left it so it could pay bills until the divorce was final. We also each put about $500 per month into a savings account for vacations and holiday's. I did take the 50% of that account.

All of the rest of our individual earnings were our money to invest as we saw fit and use as we saw fit. My investment account and her investment account were completely separate and in fact with different brokers. I don't even know the value of her account and I suspect she doesn't know the value of mine. Likewise on our 401k plans we each had those separately. The only thing we know about the other person's finances is that amount deposited each month into checking and savings.

I took my cashier's check to a different bank locally and opened new accounts for me. The amount I deposited in checking was $25,000 and $125,000 in my new savings account.

I took care of a few additional details mainly financial like insurances etc. then figured it was time to go into the office and get things settled there.

I had barely walked in the door when the Kelly, the receptionist, told me "Gregg wants to see you in his office immediately."

I figured, "Well here we go."

When I knocked on his door he called me in, "Come in John and close the door. I got a call from Julia. What in the hell is going on?"

I told him the whole story and he asked, "What are you going to do now?" to which I replied, "I am going to divorce her, what do you think?"

Now I really like Gregg but he is a bit of an arrogant ass sometimes and it started to come out immediately. He said, "Oh no you aren't John. You are going to suck it up and work this out with your wife. There is no way you are going to divorce her and continue working here. Those are your choices, work it out with Julia or I fire your ass."

I looked stunned (really I was pretending to look stunned) and said, "Gregg are you telling me that my work isn't valuable enough for you to get around the fact that I am divorcing Julia? Haven't I done a good job for you? Have I broken any of the company rules or did I not follow company policy?" You may have guessed it by now that I had my phone recording this whole conversation.

"John, you do a great job for the company and you are as straight laced as it gets and always follow the rules. And hell, you helped write the company policy so I know you follow that but Julia is my goddaughter and I am telling you that unless you work it out with her I am firing you. Do you understand?" I know he was just trying to pressure me but I was going to turn the tables and put the pressure on him.

I didn't smile but I wanted to at that point. Instead I said in a sad voice with a sad face, "Then Gregg you are going to have to say the words because I am divorcing Julia."

He looked surprised and disappointed but he said, "John you are fired."

I asked him to have security escort me to my office so I could remove the few things that I had left there. I did take a few things out on Sunday because I suspected that this was going to happen. I had worked with Gregg a long time and knew him quite well.

When I got to my office or should I say former office there were only a few things I wanted so I packed them in a small box I had gotten from the storage room. As I was about to leave the office Gregg said to me, "John, what about this picture." It was a picture of Julia and I on our wedding day. She was beautiful in her wedding gown and I have to admit I didn't look too shabby in my tuxedo either. A sadness overtook me for a moment and I know that tears welled up in my eyes.

I said, "Oh yes, I always did love that frame." I picked up the picture, took off the back, dropped the picture into the trash bin and put the frame in my box of belongings.

When I turned to walk out the door there stood Julia. She looked shocked and there were tears streaming down her face. Obviously she had seen me discard the wedding picture and felt the ramifications of me doing that.

She asked in a very subdued voice, "Johnny, can we talk?"

I only slowed down and halted my exit slightly to respond, "There is nothing to talk about Julia, you already have cheated on me or were going to. You broke both promises you made to me on our wedding day. You hurt me so bad it broke my heart and you did something that made me stop loving you. It has been said many times before 'you can't unbreak a heart'. What is left? Do you really think I will be able to get over you cheating on me? You know how much I hate Douglas after what he did to Barb yet you were cheating on me with him? Surely you can't expect that we can still make it as husband and wife? No, Julia, there is nothing else to talk about." I continued walking out the door of my job and out the door of Julia's life.

I called Adam Hartley and told him that Julia and I were divorcing and that I had been fired from Grace System Solutions because of it. I told him that I was working on a new system security program that would be head and shoulders above what Grace was now offering but that I needed a couple of months to get it in condition to implement it. I asked again, "Would you be willing to stay on month to month with Grace until I could roll out my new program?