Alligators in the Trees Read Online Free PDF

into his leather chair, running his hand down his face as his future passed before his eyes. It was a grim one, filled with an endless parade of days equal in meaninglessness to this one, though eventually he wouldn’t even have this office to hole up in. His attorney had been pressing him to sublease the floor in order to generate some much-needed cash flow. Naturally, Martin’s reasons were purely self-serving.
    Philip straightened in his chair and assessed his surroundings. The walls of his vast office were covered with awards and citations, photos of him with notables—several mayors and governors, celebrities and other distinguished folks, at awards banquets, building dedications and society galas. He had been lauded at regular intervals throughout his career, practically every year since he ventured out on his own. He had enjoyed all the hype and prestige. His long string of professional achievements had opened doors, which in turn led to greater acclaim.
    As Philip wandered about taking in the archived progress of his career, he began to assess the changes that had taken place in Marianne over the sixteen years of their marriage. In the earliest photo, she appeared shy and demure next to him and former Mayor Koch. It was almost touching to see Marianne and him standing side by side in those earlier, more innocent times. How sweet she had been in the beginning, how proud she was at having such a clever and inspired husband. What a stunning couple they had been; what sad, embittered rivals they had become.
    If Marianne had relished the status of being married to him, the same would have to be said for Philip. He could remember watching her as the limo ferried them home after a gala at the Met, her eyes fixed on an inner replay of the success the evening had been. She had been introduced to every mover and shaker, every society matron, every Wall Street wizard. There wasn’t a soul there who didn’t come away thinking what a fetching young bride Philip Glessner had found.
    He snorted a bitter laugh at the realization that he had unintentionally nurtured in Marianne a lust for heightened social standing. How naïve he’d been not to guess all the glamour and prestige would take root and become the driving force of Marianne’s existence. As if Philip needed proof of exactly where they now stood as husband and wife, his eyes guided him to one of the last pictures taken of them, ironically enough, at the dedication ceremony for the Phoenix Tower.
    There had been several functions of this sort since that event, but it was the last one Marianne could bother herself to attend. Even in that last photo, one could see her detachment from the proceedings and from Philip in general. It struck him that the collapse of the Phoenix had given Marianne the convenient out she had been looking for. Her detachment from her husband was obvious in the way she gazed at the photographer’s lens with a mixture of disdain and boredom.
    If the caissons for the Phoenix hadn’t given way, how then would their marriage have played out? Philip wondered if he would have his nose in a set of blueprints at that very moment, blissfully ignorant of the state of his marriage. He imagined it would’ve suited Marianne fine, just as long as she continued to have unfettered spending privileges.
    But when he studied the photo again, he knew she wouldn’t have endured her apathy without exacting some sort of compensation. By the cut of her suit and the price of the designer clutch tucked casually in the crook of her arm, Philip realized that a woman who spends as much time and money on looking ‘just so’ would not waste the results on her workaholic husband, too absorbed in his work to fully appreciate the effect.
    Now that he had sorted out the past enough to know it wasn’t as he once imagined, his thoughts turned cautiously to the future. He knew he still possessed a limitless talent for design, though he found it hard to believe there was anyone