Sean Carlyle and Carol Tripodi graduated together from Washington University in St. Louis, just as they had from kindergarten through every school since, including elementary school, middle school, and high school. Their families lived blocks from each other on the Upper East Side and socialized frequently. Sean and Carol were best friends until two years ago when they became intimate, which led to plans for a future together.
At spring break during their senior year, Sean decided to break off their intimacy and wanted each of them to find a separate way from each other, despite acknowledging that they would always be friends. Carol was shocked, disappointed, and sad. Most of all, she was confused. Sean dropped this revelation during one of their long walks in Central Park. Sean refused to tell her the real reason. He had become bothered by a vision impairment that had afflicted Carol since the age of five. Sean was disturbed by his own superficiality as much as Carol was by his dramatic about-face, leaving no room for Carol to discover the real reason.
Simultaneously, both Sean and Carol planned to take new jobs, Carol in finance at Chase while Sean hoped to leverage an editor's job at McGraw-Hill into a literary career, as one of his idols, William Styron, had done. As this new employment remained on track for both, the professional pursuit of success was radically undercut by the change in personal lifestyles and circumstances. The consequential tension and turmoil roiled both Sean and Carol but affected Carol more.
Sean and Carol, despite their separate ways, remained friends but that friendship was tested by Sean's involvement with other women, and even with Carol's own mother, Jane. Fortunately, they met new people, who became abiding friends, and they progressed professionally in ways that surprised each of them.