Taste of Reality Read Online Free Page B

the right to deny you a promotion that you clearly do deserve.”
    “Oh, he knows better, but just doesn’t care. They think I’m overstepping my boundary by trying to get into management. I’m good enough to work with factory employees, but not corporate managers or executives. And I’m telling you, Monica, I’m so sick of it I don’t know what to do.”
    “I know and rightfully so.”
    “It’s all so disturbing, and, girl, I actually lost sleep over this last night. Not to mention my issues with David.”
    “So I take it things still aren’t better with him either?” Monica asked, because I’d been telling her about our marital problems for quite a few months now. She always looked at the bright side of most everything and kept insisting that things would eventually get better between us.
    I wasn’t so sure about any of that.
    “No, they’re not better at all, and when I got home from work yesterday, we ended up arguing like enemies. He just doesn’t think my work issues are a big deal, and he made it pretty clear that he wants me to quit work, become the wife of some boring executive and have a baby.”
    Monica laughed quietly. “So you did tell him that you’re never going to do that, right?
    I couldn’t help but laugh with her.
    “No, and I don’t think I will for a while, because not only does he want me to have a baby, but two years ago I heard him telling his brother that it’s a wife’s duty to have a child. He’s so old school when it comes to marriage. But I’m not the type who could ever be happy sitting at home watching the housekeeper clean the house and wash our clothing every other day while he’s gone, and then spend the rest of my day watching soap operas, talk shows or playing a game of bridge with the type of women he thinks I should mingle with. That’s just not me, and there’s no sense in me trying to pretend like it is.”
    “I hear what you’re saying, but I think you need to be honest with him.”
    “I always have until this getting-pregnant business came up again. And really, having a baby wouldn’t be that bad if we were still happily married the way we used to be. But all I keep thinking is how I’ll give up my career, have a child or two, and then shortly thereafter he’ll decide that he doesn’t want to be with me any longer. Monthly child support payments just ain’t somethin’ Icould learn to live with, and I think all children deserve much more than a part-time relationship with their father.”
    “But look at Tamia. She sees her father all the time, and Marc treats her like she’s his own daughter.”
    “I know and that’s wonderful. But you and I both know that Xavier and Marc are not the norm. They’re like best friends, and that’s why Tamia is such a happy child. She doesn’t ever have to feel like she’s without any of you. So if somebody could guarantee me that David would be there all the time for our children even if we divorced and would get along with my new husband, then that would be different.”
    “First of all, you shouldn’t even be thinking about getting a divorce. You should look at your marriage as something permanent. Everybody has problems in their relationships, but nothing is too hard to work out.”
    Monica did this all the time. She saw everything as a fairy tale, and I always made it my business to point out why she was wrong in her thinking. This of course was one of my worst personality traits, proving people wrong, and the one thing she didn’t like about me on most days. But nobody was without fault, and what mattered was that she still loved me like a sister, anyway.
    Still, I couldn’t resist making my next comment.
    “Then why did you divorce Xavier, if marriage is supposed to be so permanent?” I asked, smiling.
    “Whatever, Anise,” she said, dismissing me.
    “That’s what I thought.”
    We both laughed until she spoke again.
    “But seriously, you and David can work this out if you want to. It’s not