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Patrick stood, pacing the room. “So, you’re not happy? You’re not happy? Don’t you realize what this means for my career? What this could mean for us! That’s it? You want to pick apart and argue over how long I’ve known?”
Addie pushed her food away. “What do you want me to say? It’s a bad idea, Patrick.”
“Well, you’re going to have to say a little more than that. They need an answer within forty-eight hours.”
Addie rubbed her temples, thinking before she spoke. “What is there to discuss? It sounds as though you’ve already made up your mind. The only thing left to do was to ‘run it by me.’”
Patrick moved closer, putting his hand on her leg. “Addison, come on. You know that is not what I meant. You mean the world to me; your opinion means the world to me. Look, I know this is a lot to take in all at once. But it’s only for a year, and I know we can make it work. You and the kids can visit, and I’ll fly home as often as I can.”
“It’s fucking China, Patrick, not California. You can’t just hop on a plane and be home in a few hours. You do realize this, right?”
“Of course, baby. It’s just that opportunities like this only come up once in a lifetime. It’s what I’ve been working so hard for. So many of my colleagues would kill for this opportunity, but they asked me. Don’t you see what this means, Addie? It means that I’m closer than ever to making partner. It’s what we’ve always dreamed about.”
Addie wanted to tell him he was wrong. That it was what he’d always dreamed about. Instead she said, “I don’t want you to go, Patrick. I need you here. The boys need you here.”
“Don’t do this, Addie. It’s just a year.”
The nurse came in and began taking Addie’s vital signs and charting information. Addie and Patrick stared at each other, saying nothing until Addie broke the uncomfortable silence.
“I guess you’ve made your mind up, then.”
Patrick stood, running his fingers through his hair. “I need some air.”
“Wait. I didn’t get to tell you my good news.”
Patrick raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“I got the job.”
Patrick’s jaw set as he turned and walked out, his silence saying everything.
Addie lay there, staring at their cold, uneaten food, listening to the machines beep, and thought about how this morning, when the alarm had gone off, it had been, for the most part, a normal day. And now here she was lying in a hospital bed after betraying her husband in the worst way. To make matters worse, he told her that he was leaving their family for a year and he’d known it for weeks now. All of a sudden, Addie wasn’t sure who had betrayed whom. She knew she could tell him not to go. In many ways, she already had. But Patrick had already made up his mind, and it seemed the only option she had left was to issue an ultimatum. But she wouldn’t. Addie was smart enough to know that doing so would only lead to a life of regret and what ifs. She did not want to become that to Patrick. She witnessed
it too many times before, growing up. So she knew exactly what she had to do. What she hadn’t expected was just how much it would hurt.
Patrick didn’t come back that night. Addie hadn’t expected that he would. The next morning he showed up with a bagel and orange juice, which she understood was his way of making amends.
“So I hear you’re coming home today.”
“Yep, I’ve been given the all clear. They’re finishing my discharge paperwork now.”
On the ride home, they mostly talked logistics, matter of factly. Both of them steered clear of any and all emotion.
“So . . . Tell me about your new job. I assume you’ve decided to take it.”
Addie relayed the details of the job, the ones she knew anyway. Patrick explained that he’d be leaving for China in about two weeks and would do whatever he needed to do to make her transition back to work go smoothly for everyone even though he didn’t quite understand why she insisted on working, since he made more than enough money for her to stay at home, and he didn’t get why she wasn’t happy just being a mom.
Addie ignored his last comment and stared out the window instead. There was no point in beating a dead horse, she figured. Patrick dropped her off at home, explaining that he had to get back to the office and that his mother would be dropping the kids off in a few hours.
As Patrick bent to kiss her goodbye, she decided that today was a good as day as any to start letting go. When he went to kiss her lips, she turned her head and gave him her cheek. Unfortunately for her, he was in such a hurry that he didn’t even seem to notice.
The following few days went by in a blur. The news spread fast. Addie found herself answering phone calls from friends and family who were curious to find out if the news was true. After a handful or so, she stopped picking up the phone. She was living silently in her very own version of hell. Her marriage was in shambles, so very far from where she’d ever imagined it as she’d said “I do” underneath the willows. The last thing she wanted or needed was to have to comfort others or explain to them that everything was going to be fine. So she lied. She told them that, while they knew that the upcoming year would be hard, military families did it all the time and they were excited for what the opportunity meant for Patrick’s career.
Perhaps, she told herself, if she repeated this enough, she might even begin to believe it too.
William Hartman was not a patient man. He’d never had to be. An only child, his father had bailed while he was still too young to know any different. Luckily, for him, his mother had married well—all five times. She married one Wall Street banker after another, each of them having a range of feelings towards William, ranging from disdain to indifference. He would tell you, of all of them, indifference was the worst.
William attended the best private schools that money could buy and eventually the best boarding school in the country. While he was still at home, he studied his mother’s husbands, listening to their conversations and learning all things business. He understood that to get ahead you had to wall yourself off, show no emotion, and beat them at their own game. Second best did not a winner make. So that’s what he did. After graduating from Harvard, he started his business, Hartman Enterprises, and began buying up businesses that were on the verge of failing. He bought low and sold high, dabbling in real estate as well. He was a natural at knowing what to do, what to say in order to get what he wanted. Soon, he was well-known for having one of the best real estate and business portfolios in the United States. By age thirty, he made the Forbes list as one of the world’s youngest billionaires. Sure, his personal life was nearly non-existent. He had very few close friends, and, while there was no shortage of women in his life, he rarely dated any of them twice. William had a philosophy about mixing business with pleasure, and, since his world revolved around business, he found this fairly easy to manage.
