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| (William Randolph Hearst Castle: photo by Matthew Hodges) |
"Alright sounds good," Mark said as he gave his wife a kiss goodbye.
Mark and Julie have been happily married and lived a somewhat comfortable life for the past twenty years. Julie was a secretary at a company down the road and Mark worked at a small industry the next town over. They made just enough money each month to keep up with their rent and buy groceries. Although Julie tried her best to be content with her lifestyle, she couldn't help but always be jealous of her best friend, Marie's, life.
Marie's husband was the CEO of his industry, so they lived the life of endless luxury with gourmet dinners each night and frequent trips to the country club.
This was Julie's first time going to a fancy country club and what she experienced finally made the envy she held concerning her friend's life surface.
When Julie got home that evening she confronted Mark and said,"darling, you know that I love you, but I cannot live this way anymore. This may seem harsh, but I cannot stay with a man who is unwilling or incapable of climbing up the work ladder and securing a more respectable position with a much larger paycheck. If you cannot obtain this than I'll have no choice but to leave you."
Mark was heartbroken. He had never missed a day of work and has always been the employee his boss could count on. He had no idea how to climb up the work ladder, but he had to try. He loved his beautiful wife and had no intentions on letting her go. Mark needed some time to think, so he walked to the local coffee shop to sip on a cortada.
As Mark was sitting at the table becoming more and more depressed as nothing was coming to mind on how to appease his wife, Mark's best friend, Jeff walked into the coffee shop.
Upon seeing Mark unsettled, Jeff questioned him as to why he was in despair. Mark told Jeff what had occurred between Julie and himself.
"Man...I'm so sorry! That is an awful predicament to be in, but hey I tell you what. I know Marie and her husband, and maybe I can talk her into giving you some pointers," Jeff said soothingly.
The next day, Marie called with a list of instructions for Mark to do at work that would insure his promotion. Within the next two months, Mark was working as the industry's floor manager. Six months after that, Mark was the supervisor and was finally making enough money to apply for a membership for he and Julie at the country club.
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| (Rooftop Pool: photo by Charlie Anzman) |
Author's Note: I based this story off of The Soothsayer from the Turkish Fairy Tales. In the story, a nameless married woman falls prey to envy when she visits the bath and discovers a soothsayer's wife is there being gazed upon by all of the other women. The married woman returns home and threatens to leave her husband if he too does not become a soothsayer. I decided to make this story more modern and have the bath be a country club and the desired job be a high position at an industry. I made the rich bath woman be the rich country club woman, Marie, and the poor envious woman a low paid secretary, Julie.Luckily for the poor husband (Mark in my story) ends up succeeding at obtaining the higher paid job and keeping his now happy wife.
Bibliography: "The Soothsayer" from Turkish Fairy tales by Ignacz Kunos. Web Source: Un-Textbook
Nice retelling, Jordan! I liked that you took your story and made it more realistic and relatable to today’s society! As sad as it is, I feel like jealousy is often times a large part of many people’s daily lives, and unfortunately it usually is not resolved as easily as it was in your story! However, I always love a happy ending! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your modernization of this story. I definitely would have not understood what you were talking about if you kept with the soothsayer occupation. I felt kinda bad for Mark. Something like your occupation should not make or break your relationship with your spouse. I guess I am a believer in true love conquers all. Definitely a hopeless romantic.
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