I knew T's hours were probably going to get 5 times worse....but this time I was more prepared and you know why? I started accepting T's lifestyle..... it became a part of me....I am a banker's girlfriend as a banker's girlfriend you begin to understand how they function and you learn to get on with your life too.
During the week that T was doing final rounds for his interview at this bank...it was also my birthday and T had a set of testing rounds and case studies, was already piled with deal flow at the boutique he was in....and just didn't know if he was going to be able to make my birthday - again, this is a common occurrence.
I had planned a night out of dinner and drinks with a few close friends....and I wanted T to be there badly.... T worked endlessly on his case study and the morning of my birthday I got a text from T saying he stayed up all night to do his work so that he could come.....this is why I love T....and this is why our relationship works and to top it off - T sneakily took care of the bill....not just for me...but for all 7 or 8 of us at the dinner....
I think it may have been in April/May this year that I really realised the brutality of this career. I think it was also the time that T really realised how brutal this job was....it wasn't just a job...it was a dedication...a lifestyle...his life now.
T was on a transaction with some really difficult clients...and when I mean difficult, I mean he was getting calls at 2am from them getting yelled at for mistakes he had made in his model....after what? getting close to 3 hours of sleep a day? I don't know how T did it....I don't know how T does it....he pulled nights and nights running on 3 hours of sleep and 20 hour days....I barely saw T at this time...if I was lucky maybe for an hour during the week on a friday night for dinner...and he had to back into work of course...
T was stressed, stress eating, tired, exhausted, frazzled....One night T got some time off on a Friday - his colleagues and bosses pushed him to get out of the office....T had just completed 36 hours of work straight... and any more...he possibly would have been hospitalised..... When I saw T he wasn't himself....he was exhausted, eyes sunken....barely able to put words together...tired.....he told me his nose had started bleeding and he felt sick and stressed constantly and just wanted to get in a cab and go home.....I was worried for T....he passed out on my shoulder in the cab ride.....
T decided he would spend a bit of time with me and get a bite to eat so we had some froyo ...he was looking a lot cheerier now.... he told me he missed me and doesn't know if he wants to do this anymore...he said he's over the banking lifestyle and over the money and prestige...he just wants his life back again.... I agreed that T should focus on his health and wellbeing and forget this superficial life but I said i'd support him no matter what.....
Even in his state...T dropped me all the way home (I love him for that)...
Since then a lot has happened....T and I have met each others parents and gotten along great...we've grown closer and his hours have become slightly (and I mean slightly) better.....hes getting a pinkness back in his face as opposed to that ghostly white....but he keeps telling me his time here is done and he wants to move onto something less stressful and brutal - will he? Can a banker ever really stop being a banker?
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