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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be upset that partner texts female friend continually

194 replies

thetenthofaugust · 04/02/2019 13:36

My partner of 9 months spends his free time texting his close friend.I cannot see anything sexual to be concerned about but their texts are filled with mutual declarations of respect, appreciation and love.They are very close and confide in eachother. He does not really message her when he is with me, only now and again.They work together every day so I cannot understand the need to be sharing memes and chats, deep and light chats, funny videos in the evenings and at weekends and during holidays. She is much older than him and is married so I am trying to figure out what is going on . He says its entirely platonic.Opinions ?Do any of you have any experience of this please?

OP posts:
Travisandthemonkey · 07/02/2019 16:22

So she’s married. That explains it all.

thetenthofaugust · 07/02/2019 16:52

What do you mean wan travis? Is it that he would try to hook up with her if she wasn’t ? Thanks for your opinions. They make for sober reading . He just seems so excited about me lately but yes this woman is forever in his mind I think even though he has stopped texting her now

OP posts:
Travisandthemonkey · 07/02/2019 16:54

I mean that he clearly wants to be with her, but can’t because she’s married. And he’s got himself a back up girlfriend because perhaps he feels he should. But if even if he wanted to be with her and couldn’t. He should walk away from that friendship entirely, to at least give himself the ability to move on.
But he doesn’t want to move on. He wants a girlfriend who won’t mind that he can’t let go of her. And you should have more self respect to put up with that.

Travisandthemonkey · 07/02/2019 16:55

And yes. I think if she wasn’t married he would try and be with her.

thetenthofaugust · 07/02/2019 17:11

Ok I hear what you’ve said . Thanks. Do you think that he has made it clear to her that he is interested in her. I would be disgusted if he was fawning over her at work and not talking about me when everyone talks about their other halves . He tells me that he talks about me in the office . Does he discuss me with her in a positive way I wonder . Has she any idea that he has feelings for her I wonder . Or would he hide that. It’s so heartbreaking

OP posts:
Travisandthemonkey · 07/02/2019 17:22

Who knows what he’s thinking. But this is about you and what you want and how you feel.

Hanab · 07/02/2019 17:27

Maybe OP you should have a chat with this lady ( maybe have your partner and perhaps her hubby all together) & hash things out.
We all ( well, quite a few) see red flags popping up but you keep questioning us .
We can only comment on what you put down on this forum. If you 2 or all of you discuss what is going on & have all points of view , you can make a decision wethere to stay or not.
In the end only your partner & this lady truly knows what is going on.

Parthenope · 07/02/2019 18:42

OP, you are focusing on stuff that is irrelevant and outside your control. Fundamentally it doesn’t matter whether he talks about you in the workplace or not — honestly, who spends significant periods at work talking about their partners anyway? — and his work friend, who appears to have done nothing wrong, doesn’t owe you any explanations. Depending on how long they’ve been friends, she may have seen several girlfriends come and go, and not got invested in any, or choose to stay neutral until it becomes serious. You aren’t happy, though, and that’s enough.

TheOtherMrsDeWinter · 07/02/2019 19:39

Without knowing the ins and outs of this guys personality it’s difficult to gauge. Having friends of the opposite sex can be healthy and normal but perhaps him thinking about this person during trips out with you and actually stopping to message them suggests to me that there might be something going on in the subtext here.
The other thing to bear in mind here is that sometimes people use their relationships with others as a either a weapon to keep their partner “on their toes” (that’s code for emotional abuse by the way) or they are using their friendships to maintain distance between themselves and their partner because they don’t want the commitment.
Do you think he’s emotionally manipulative or is he distant and keeping you at arms length?
I would also gauge his reaction when you bring this up as point for discussion. If he’s reactive or turns it around to be about what you’re apparently doing wrong then that would be a red flag for manipulative behaviour.

thetenthofaugust · 07/02/2019 20:00

I am
Guilty of being intense and full on. I’ve lived with men since I’ve been 18 when I left a horrible home situation. I have been treated like shit by one twat after another . I allowed my boundaries to be crossed over and over by men who did not care about me, in essence . I have emblem at the hands on f drug/ alcohol: sex abuse by men . I’ve allowed myself and my self worth to drop to levels I could never have imagined as a child. I met this new man. He is sweet, intelligent, funny, kind, educated, wealthy and has a huge circle of loving family and friends. Everything I ever wanted but never had . We saw eachother sporadically for the first six months... often weeks between meeting up . Always him organising and always at his time and date preference . I stuck with it as we had incredible fun when we met. Sex life is non existent . I prefer sex to him but he is affectionate and This woman is his closest friend. She has been by his side through all his relationships and friendships and family and work problems . So he has shown me what stability and normal relationship is . What it is to have a normal
Family and friends . What it is to have money and a full life. That is why I am sad to let it go

OP posts:
Travisandthemonkey · 07/02/2019 20:03

Do you really think you have a full life?

Just because you’re no longer with a grade A bastard doesn’t mean a grade D bastard is something you should accept.

I would go to therapy ASAP and work on everything that’s happened in your life. You need to be able to see your own self worth.

Delatron · 07/02/2019 20:20

Sorry just to clarify your sex life is non-existent? The whole 9 months?

whatamidoingwithmylife · 07/02/2019 20:31

I have a similar issue with my partner but yours sounds much worse to be honest and I don't think I could put up with what you are going through.

It sounds like he's convincing himself her marriage is in trouble and he definitely still has the hots for her. I'd be worried about this affecting any future you may have together. He has no reason to spend all his spare time contacting her when they also work together - it's plain weird. Maybe she likes the contact and attention even if she doesn't fancy him in return.

My partner of 10mths sends inappropriate messages (or so they seem to me anyway) to a girl he's in a band with. There's photos online of them with their arms around each other and I saw messages flash up from her saying she missed him. So I snooped - found out he messages her but not to the extent your partner messages his friend. He sends kissy face emojis and the one blowing the heart, he calls her all the pet names he calls me and it HURTS to see it, so I can only imagine what you're going through with the extent your partner goes to to contact this woman.

thetenthofaugust · 07/02/2019 20:48

I’ve been to therapy but I met him a short amount of time after finishing a very long term disastrous relationship so I gave up. I found it too painful. Sex is limited, fast and I know he isn’t really enjoying it so I dont try to initiate it anymore . He is more sensual than sexual and loves that part of the relationship.i have often wondered if he is gay or bi . Yes to the love hearts, love heart eyes emojis and x’s in his texts to her . also. What I see are texts and messages that appear caring and loving and filled with concern but I know from them that they are only a cover for his obsession with her but on a good note, he has stopped messaging her for the last number of days .

OP posts:
thetenthofaugust · 07/02/2019 20:49

And yes to the pet names too... to her

OP posts:
iloveruby · 07/02/2019 20:49

I'm sorry OP - but he hasn't shown you what a normal stable relationship is.

For your sake, end it with him and then work on being happy by yourself before looking for another relationship.

Notsurprisedatall · 07/02/2019 20:53

Does he have mummy issues?

anotherwearytraveller · 07/02/2019 20:58

OP have you ever had any therapy?

Or looked into The Freedom Project?

You sound far too invested in this relationship and it’s possibilities when it actually sounds really dysfunctional.

Minimal contact;dates; time together
Rubbish sex life
Openly close to another woman who he has poor boundaries with
Doesn’t prioritise you or spending time with you

A relationship shouldn’t be this hard and most especially not early on

At 9 months in I would expect someone to
Be really committed to you and wanting to spend a lot of time in your company, discovering places together and having fun.

He is holding you at arms length for some reason and that reason may include an unrequited infatuation with this other woman.

The poor or ?no sex life is a concern to.

If he has stepped up his interest after you called him out on his feelings to her he may be masking them

I’d really consider leaving this one and seeking to work on your own self worth and self esteem before you embark on another relationship

thetenthofaugust · 07/02/2019 21:06

I’ve had therapy. I found it too painful. What are mummy issues? Why is he keeping me at arms length? He flatly denies anything but genuine love and care for his friend . So many plans for us but yet , I will meet him for valentines dinner next Thursday evening / no overnight and then he wants his own space and time until perhaps Saturday night.. again for a few hours . I’m free all of that time and so is he .. in two separate houses minutes away from eachother !!!

OP posts:
anotherwearytraveller · 07/02/2019 21:11

Regardless of his reasons to put it simply he isnt what you want in terms of commitment or interest or sex or sharing time

That in itself is enough for you to say ok it’s not for me and move on
You don’t have to sell yourself short

You have had some awful relationships by the sounds of it so are settling for something less than ideal simply as it’s not as bad as you think it could be.

Consider the freedom project OP.

Walnutwhipster · 07/02/2019 21:13

You could be talking about me, although I don't work with my closest friend. We are platonic and always will be. I wouldn't want him as a partner so have no advice to give other than I am no threat but if you created a big deal of our 20+ year friendship it would only affect your relationship with him, not mine.

whatamidoingwithmylife · 07/02/2019 21:14

She really should be discouraging it as he's clearly crossing a line. Does her husband not care that his wife is always texting another man?

I'm glad for you that he's stopped messaging her for the past few days. Maybe he's realising he's being unreasonable?

I can't confront my partner about his messages because I snooped on his phone so would give myself away if I mentioned it.

PlayerRed · 07/02/2019 21:28

Whether he is obsessed or just friends isn't the only issue though. You have a Non existent sex life. He never stays over. He spends more time "having space" than he does with you. All that should be enough to end it, never mind the texting. You deserve better. Good luck.

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 07/02/2019 21:34

Oh OP, this thread makes me sadder for you the more updates you post. I'm sorry you have such a traumatic history of abusive relationships with men, and I'm sorry, too, that the stark if well-meaning advice on this thread is clearly painful for you to read. But the more you post, the more a forest of red flags is springing up around what you type. The stuff about sex being limited and fast is another indicator that this is a man who doesn't remotely care about your needs. And deep down I suspect you're aware his treatment of you is all kinds of wrong, which is why you're posting here for advice.

Of course you don't want to hear what seems to others to be patently obvious. The situation you're describing would be painful in any circumstances, but you sound as if your history has understandably left your self-esteem in tatters. Now you've found a partner who is less abusive than the others, you'll naturally think that this is what normal, stable, loving relationships and families should really look like. I'm sorry, but it isn't. It's really not. It's far off the scale of what a truly loving relationship should be and it's not healthy. Not for any of the parties concerned.

There's an old saying: 'when you're wearing rose-coloured spectacles, red flags just look like flags'. From my own objective standpoint, your posts are peppered with them. The reason they seem less evident to you is because of the issues you yourself have outlined in your updates.

The kindest thing you can do for yourself, OP, is look honestly at your situation and try to get yourself some proper, structured, tailored and targeted trauma-therapy (just counselling on its own won't cut it). Ask your GP for a psychological evaluation, and tell your evaluator exactly what you've told us in the post above about your abusive relationship history and its effects on you. I suspect you need to work on your self esteem as a priority above all else, as until you've done so, you're likely to continue to struggle in your relationships.

No one deserves this OP. Offering you big hugs, if you'd like them, from someone who's come out on the other side of trauma therapy, and who knows life doesn't have to be like this. X

Aeroflotgirl · 07/02/2019 22:12

Op you deserve more than this. It seems your past experiences with men have really knocked yiu, and your self esteem is so low and your self worth. Walk away and work on yiurself, maybe counselling.

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