He had to win

Charles was sitting in his big office. He had books he'd written and books his friends wrote. He never read them it was just a trophy they compared like fish on a string. Oh you published there, I did that years ago, here is better now. Constantly the grass was never greener, thats on the reasons why he never stuck with his girlfriends. Always something better, always some greater. A long time ago he felt like he had to make a choice, write a book or keep a relationship, write some papers or keep maintaining intimacy with his high school sweetheart. He slowly left it sizzle and fade out. Writing more papers he worked at everything else but her. Slow accumulating silences she eventually left, and he acted like he didn't understand. But the books made up for that he thought, there was a reason he was doing all this, he had to become a director, a world class scientist, or else it wouldn't be worth it, he had to win.