No BTB or reconsiliation. It's just a sad story of two people who love each other, but let personal ambition and goals become a stumbling block in their relationship.
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Looking across the room, I sat dejectedly, nursing my coffee. The large party that occupied the private party room in the restaurant had my attention. They weren't unruly. They were well-dressed, elegant in some cases, and quite dignified. Some of them were known to me or, rather, I had known them at one time. It was a crowd with which I no longer socialized. My social life mirrored my evening in the restaurant. Sitting alone, eating alone, and going home alone to my two-bedroom condo near the University Campus epitomized my life. I guess I should go back to the beginning if you really want to understand this situation.
My name is Bradley Orenstein. I am 52 years old. According to my friends, I am distinguished looking. I am in good shape, work out regularly, watch my diet, and try to keep myself fit. As the Dean of the Business School at the local state university, I have some influence. The school is a tier one university and our business school ranks in the top ten in the US. Having achieved most of the goals I set for myself many years go, there is one failure in that plan. The lack of a loving wife with whom I could share my success and my retirement was that glaring failure.
I am successful by any measure or definition. As the Dean of the business school at a prestigious university, owner of a successful consulting company, widely respected by my peers, published, and sought after by both corporate and governmental clients for my expertise, I could easily retire now and do all the things on my bucket list. But, with no one to share them with, it hardly seems worthwhile. I was content to continue as I have been for the past 10 years. Funny, it doesn't seem that long since the realization happened, and I made the decision that changed my life.
You see, I found myself a cuckold. Not the traditional kind that you might think of, reading all those erotic tales on the internet. There was no other cock involved in my cuckolding. When you hear the rest of the tale, it should be easy to understand.
I met my wife while we were both in graduate school. Her name is Rachel Preston. She was pursuing an MBA in Finance, while I was working toward my MBA in Management with a focus on Organizational Design. My graduate plan was a dual degree program. If I hacked the pressure, I would graduate with both an MBA and a JD. My plan was to pass the bar and then apply somewhere for a PhD program in business. I loved academia and wanted to make it my career. I also wanted all the luxuries that money could afford. This was where my consulting plan came into effect.
My future wife also had a plan. I knew about her focus from the very beginning. When we weren't studying or writing, we talked about the future. I wanted a tenured position with a major university and a consulting business on the side. She was headed for corporate America. She saw herself heading a Fortune 500 company, if not something even more prestigious.
We graduated at the same time. We were living together as poor graduate students whose focus was on our education and our plans. Looking back, it was a happy time. What we lacked in material wealth we made up with our common interests in education, business, and sex.
After graduation, she took a position with a large international corporation at one of their local branch locations. She had interned with the company several summers during college. As she began her climb up the corporate ladder, her excitement grew. Meanwhile, I began prepping for the Bar exam. I passed it on my first attempt and got many job offers. I turned them all down to send applications to various schools to get into a PhD program. It took almost a year before making the breakthrough, and I found myself with a letter from Harvard. I was ecstatic.
The problem was, Rachel and I had gotten very serious in our relationship. However, as I well knew, her focus was primarily on her job. I should have taken notice of that, but it didn't seem to be all that big a problem. Boston and the PhD program at Harvard beckoned. The tension level in the apartment we occupied went up a notch as it dealt with the immediate future. Rachel had no desire to give up her job and start over. I had no intention of giving up the chance of a lifetime to complete a PhD from Harvard. We seemed to be at an impasse.
Two months before my first meeting with my PhD committee, Rachel came in from work and I could tell she had big news. She was excited and danced through the door of the apartment, almost a foot above the floor. She found me in the kitchen putting together a big salad for dinner and wrapped her arms around me from behind.
"We should start making plans to find a place in Boston to live."
I tossed the rest of the salad into the bowl and then turned around to look at her.
"You didn't quit, did you?"
"Of course not. But, a few days ago, I found that there was a position open with the corporation in their Boston office. I applied and learned today that I got it! I talked to HR and told them our situation, and they are working out the details with the Boston office. We are moving to Boston!"
Picking her up and hugging her tightly, we were soon in our bedroom, where the celebration continued. The next few weeks were a whirlwind of packing, travel, and finding a place to live in Boston we could afford. We needed a place convenient to Harvard and her place of work. We eventually ended up renting an apartment that would allow me to use public transportation to get to the campus, and she could use our trusty Toyota to commute to her office.
The next three years went by blindingly fast. I was head down and focused on graduate school. Not only was I busy with classes, I had a teaching schedule and, almost immediately, I began working on the research for my dissertation. Rachel's new position was one with some managerial responsibility. She was in heaven. It was during this time that we tied the knot and got down to building a committed life together. The ceremony was small, with a few friends and our parents.
We spent hours talking about what we wanted to do. Her career was her priority. Had I been thinking, that should have raised a red flag with me? It was that commitment that caused our first disagreement. I had always envisioned a life with a family. I wanted a couple of kids. She foresaw no children in her future. She feared that trying to split her attention between children and her job would cause one or the other to suffer.
I was about three months away from my dissertation being heard and accepted when Rachel informed me her company was offering her a promotion. The promotion was as a middle manager with the company for which she worked, but it was in Atlanta at a different facility. She would need to report in two weeks to start her new position. The company would move us, at their expense, and she needed to go to Atlanta to find a suitable place to live. Since I was so close to finishing my PhD, I had to stay in Boston.
I moved in with a friend who was also a PhD candidate for my last two months in Boston. Less than a week after Rachel had announced her promotion, she had packed what she needed and was on a flight to Atlanta. We often talked on the phone and used digital messaging to keep in touch. It worked well for the first two weeks, and then the messages became infrequent. I knew she was working hard at her new position, so I didn't think too much about it. Anyway, my focus was on getting my dissertation polished and ready.
My dissertation presentation went as well as I could hope. The panel was brutal, but my preparation was good and I got my PhD. A noted peer - review journal accepted the publication of my dissertation. All was in place, and I was on my way. I had looked around the Atlanta area for job opportunities. One of my advising professors told me about a research project in business that fit my background and interests. Clarke University even had a partnership with Harvard. The professor put me in touch with his colleague in Atlanta.
With the prospect of a position, I stated making plans to move to Atlanta to join Rachel. My plan was to call her that evening and give her the good news. I had already cleaned out my office at campus and about half of the stuff was ready to go. I called Rachel that evening and heard her voicemail pickup. Not that unusual, so I left a message asking her to call me ASAP.
I continued packing, anticipating my move and reuniting with Rachel. It was nearly midnight when I finished getting everything ready. I had not stopped to eat, and I had not heard from Rachel. There was an all-night deli close to the apartment, so I headed down to get a sandwich and a cold drink. I was almost to the deli when my phone rang. It was Rachel. My excitement to deliver my news to Rachel faltered as I answered the phone. All I could hear was music and loud voices. Finally, I heard Rachel.
"Brad! You'll never guess what happened today! I got assigned to a merger team. We are acquiring one of our rivals and corporate wants me on the team to manage the merger! It's an enormous opportunity."
I tried to comprehend what I was hearing.
