"I know Mark. You're sweet to me even though I always put my career first and I'm not...you know...a normal girlfriend type. I'm happy with our arrangement."

The next week I found out I was getting promoted. It was over a year after Shannon had got promoted to the same level, but I was still proud, and excited to tell her. That Friday, she arrived late as usual, almost 9pm. She was generally exhausted Friday nights, but she seemed in good spirits. After I poured her a wine and started to give her a foot rub and told her I had exciting news. I told her I was getting promoted...