When Smart Women Make Shady Choices

When Smart Women

Make Shady Choices

by CoCo Diong

April 1, 2019

Ginger had been earning a six-figure income since she was thirty-two years old.  She was a corporate lawyer, and a shining example of what hard work, determination, and a sense of focus could achieve.  She was well-known in her field, with all the right credentials from an ivy-league college, who climbed the ladder of success so quickly, that she broke many of the “rules” on the way up.  On the outside, she was known for her quick smile, sharp tongue and exotic eyes, as she walked through the jungles of corporate hallways with the confidence of a lion.  She was highly respected for her know how and openly admired for her beauty.

From the outside, all appeared enviable.  She drove the right car, lived on the right street and wore the right clothes.  However, from the inside, she walked daily with a terrible dread of going home alone to a luxurious apartment that sported all the amenities of a corporate star.  Yet, she hid it well.  She would beam broadly at a passing neighbor, as she walked briskly through a marbled lobby, throwing a brief nod to the doorman and then immediately slide down to the floor in tears after opening and closing the door to her luxury dwelling.

Though she was a brilliant attorney, she flubbed her way through meaningless encounters all her adult life, without a clue of what she was doing wrong.  For Ginger, being “in love” was the main inspiration for breathing and she tried everything to achieve that goal.  She was known for going overboard to insure a man’s permanency in her life…from co-signing indiscriminately for cars, boats and planes… to financing “business projects” for handsome under-financed lovers.

Though her keen advice was often sought by legal minds across the country, she couldn’t began to fathom what it really took to keep a man’s attention after a steamy month of hot sex, tearful demands and exorbitant gifts.  Therefore, she suffered in and out of relationships, and comforted herself by going on huge and expensive shopping sprees at super high-end stores all over the country.  She was the only woman I knew, who didn’t believe in buying anything on sale.  Full price was her middle name, and dressing to find “the one” was an ongoing game.

Yet, he couldn’t just be any man.  She had a certain profile he had to fit in order to be considered.  He had to speak impeccable English, walk like Denzel, and look like he just stepped off of the cover of GQ.  Therefore, when Samuel entered her life at a fancy party on a hot summer’s eve two years ago, with all the required credentials in place, she flipped.  In her mind, love had found her…at last, and she became overly excited.

Though it was obvious to her friends he was a seasoned player, she didn’t see it.  We all watched in horror, as he swooped down on her as if he had been sitting on a perch watching her from afar and making notes on her weaknesses.  He claimed love at first sight and proposed marriage right away.  (Two months to be exact)  He insisted on a honeymoon in Monte Carlo (but only if he could bear the entire expense) and promised to buy her condo from her, so he “could feel comfortable living in her home.”

Ginger had never been married or engaged, and was delighted by all the attention he gave her.  Her sharp tongue was immediately replaced by a bubbling spirit that enveloped those around her.  She was thirty nine years old, and convinced that Fate had finally smiled on her, because she feared turning 40, without ever being married.   So, the marriage took place and off they went, with a planned European itinerary that included a tour of Paris, and the South of France.  But it was not to be.  After three days of honeymooning on the French Riviera, Samuel suddenly disappeared without a trace, and left a note behind saying he had made a mistake.

He also left her to pay all the hotel expenses.  Too ashamed to return home without him, she flew on to Paris, checked into a fabulous suite, and threw herself off a seventh floor balcony, on a dark rainy night.  Ironically, she was saved by firemen standing directly beneath her balcony. They happened to be holding a trampoline circle, waiting to catch another male hotel guest who was threatening to jump four stories above her.

However, that incident changed her life and transformed her into a new woman. She immediately regretted the suicide attempt and was grateful for another chance at life.

When she returned home, she had a renewed sense of self, a new direction to achieving personal happiness and a new commitment to God.  She now believes she was saved for a reason, and now has a new focus, a new purpose, and a new love…herself.