Choices Make the Man

You are at your office, it’s been a long day, at the end of a long week and you have been working on a giant project all week and know that you can finish it up tonight, and get it out before the Monday deadline. This is likely the project that will get you the promotion you have been wanting. Both you and your wife have been struggling to climb the ladder at work and struggling at home to get started on the child front. Your wife has been off of birth control for 8 months now and you have been actively trying for 6. It’s gotten to the point where sex for you has become more of a thing to add to the honey-do list than actually enjoyable. She has her tracking apps and tells you when you must have sex and when you can’t. She’s even tried to control when you jack off, telling you that you need to save up to make a baby. That hasn’t been a concern this week because you have been working long hours and haven’t had much time to sleep, never mind time to get frisky or even just take care of your own needs.

You know that once you finish this up, you will finally be able to go home, however, you also know that it will likely take you till late that night to finish up. As most of the rest of the office starts packing up to start the weekend, you look down at your cell to check the time, 4:59. The clock ticks over to 5pm and the stampede starts.

As you are looking at it, your phone starts to ring with a call from, Katy, your wife. You answer it, finding out she’s calling asking you when you plan on being home. “I have that giant project to work on and I don’t want to have to come back in to work on it over the weekend, so I will be at work late,” you answer.

“Ok,” she replies, surprisingly not mad about the late Friday at work. “I’ll be in bed when you get here, try not to wake me, I’ll be pretty exhausted.”

“No worries honey, I’ll pretend I’m a burglar, and sneak in,” you quip back.

“Ugh,” she groans, “really? You're not a dad yet. Well, get back to work and earn that promotion!” she jokes, laughing.

“Yes Ma’am,” you reply, “I love you too.”

When you hang up, you notice a number of text messages on your phone: one of your buddies is inviting you to stop by the camp ground as he’s there with his wife and the friends who were supposed to show up bailed, so, there’s a bunch of free booze and a tent; your college roommate needs a wingman and has apparently reached the bottom of his list, as he is inviting you out; lastly, there’s a text from a colleague at another firm asking if you have time for dinner.

As the heard of sheeple peters off, you notice that Rebecca (just across and down the hall from you) just turned her light on, it looks like she’s putting in the extra hours as well. She’s your main competition for the promotion that will be announced in another 6 months or so, but you still have a decent working relationship with her. While you don’t have much of a personal relationship with her, you remember that she was recently engaged, though the rumor mill said that he broke it off with her for some reason.

Shaking your head to clear it of all the distractions, you get back to work. After what seems like hours, you finally put the finishing touches on the project. First leaning back in your chair, then getting up to stretch, you notice that Rebecca’s light is still on as well. You check the time: