I had it all. I’d strived for it. The loving wife, the two beautiful children, a senior position at my father-in-law’s advertising firm. I had played everything well; I was charming and dutiful, that was my gift. I made everyone fall in love with me, man or woman. It was easy for me.
I went through life in a breeze, and when my wife, Julia, wanted to return to work, the natural course of things was to hire a nanny for the children. Joel and Cassie, they were 3 and 5, and were the only real things I loved in the world. I loved Julia, in my way, but she had been my entry into the world of comfort and luxury. I could not divorce her from that. I loved the ease of our existence, and so I loved Julia – she was the reason for it all, and she adored me. I told her she was beautiful and championed her art, and when she wanted to go back to work, at an art gallery in the city, I supported that as well.
But we needed a nanny.