When I surprised my husband at work with his favorite dinner, I discovered he hadn’t been employed there for months. Little did I know, this revelation would unravel the fabric of our 20-year marriage and set me on a path I never could have imagined.
I packed Jonathan’s favorite dinner — lasagna, garlic bread, and tiramisu. He’d been working late for weeks, and I figured he could use a pick-me-up. The security guard at his office building looked at me funny when I asked for Jonathan.
A lasagne dish in preparation | Source: Pexels
“Ma’am, Jonathan hasn’t worked here in over three months,” he said.
My stomach dropped. “What? That can’t be right. He’s here every day.”
The guard shook his head. “Sorry, but he was laid off. You might want to talk to him about it.”
I left, my cheeks burning. What the hell was going on?
The next morning, I watched Jonathan get ready for “work” as usual, but before he left, he sat down on the sofa to attend to a message on his phone.
“How’s that potential promotion coming along?” I asked casually.
A man and woman having a distracted conversation in a living room | Source: Midjourney
He barely looked up from his phone. “Oh, you know. Still working on it. Lots to do.”
I waited until his car pulled out of the driveway, then called a taxi. “Follow that blue sedan,” I told the driver. He gave me a weird look but didn’t argue.
We tailed Jonathan to a run-down part of town. He parked in a sketchy lot and walked to a small café. Through the window, I saw him sit down with an older woman.
A taxi in motion | Source: Pexels
“Wait here,” I told the driver. I crept closer, snapping photos with my phone.
A younger woman joined them, then another. Soon there were six women at the table with Jonathan. What was he up to?
As they left, I approached one of the women. “Excuse me, how do you know Jonathan?”
She scowled. “That jerk? He doesn’t appreciate real talent. Good luck to him.”
Before I could ask more, she stomped off.
***
That night, I confronted Jonathan with the photos. “Care to explain?”
A man and woman having a heated discussion in a living room | Source: Pexels
His face went pale. “You followed me? Rebecca, how could you?”
“How could I? How could you lie to me for months? What’s going on?”
Jonathan sighed and sank into a chair. “I quit my job to follow my dream. I’m directing a play.”
I stared at him. “A play? What about our mortgage? The kids’ college funds? How can you afford to finance a play when you don’t have a job?”
“I used some of our savings,” he admitted. “About $50,000.”
“Fifty thousand dollars?” I shrieked. “Are you insane?”
“It’s an investment,” Jonathan insisted. “This play will be my big break. I know it.”
A man sitting on a sofa, in conversation | Source: Midjourney
I took a deep breath. “Either you cancel this play and return the money, or we’re getting divorced.”
Jonathan looked at me for a long moment. “I can’t give up on my dream, Becca. I’m sorry.”
I felt like I’d been slapped. “You’re sorry? That’s all you have to say?”
Jonathan stood up, his hands clenched. “What do you want me to say? That I’ll go back to a soul-crushing job just to make you happy?”
“I want you to be responsible!” I shouted. “We have kids, Jonathan. Bills. A future to plan for!”
A woman talking angrily, seated in a living room | Source: Midjourney
“And what about my future?” he shot back. “My dreams? Don’t those matter?”
I laughed bitterly. “Not when they cost us everything we’ve worked for!”
Jonathan paced the room. “You don’t understand. This play… it’s my chance to make something of myself.”
“You already had something,” I said, my voice breaking. “A family. A life. Was that not enough?”
He turned away. “It’s not about that. I need to do this for me.”
A man standing disconsolately in a living room | Source: Midjourney
“For you,” I repeated. “Not for us. Not for our children.”
“They’ll understand when I’m successful,” Jonathan insisted.
I shook my head. “And if you’re not? What then?”
“I will be,” he said firmly. “You’ll see.”
“No,” I said, feeling a strange calm settle over me. “I won’t. I can’t watch you throw everything away on a pipe dream.”
Jonathan’s face hardened. “Then I guess we’re done here.”
As he stormed out, I sank onto the couch, the weight of our shattered life pressing down on me. How had we come to this?
A downcast woman sitting on a sofa | Source: Midjourney
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