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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Husband and our (f) best friend on holiday

1000 replies

OfMyDog · 06/08/2023 14:10

Sanity check please. Just back from 10 days in Santorini where it was me, DH our DS and also my best friend and her DS of same age. She is on a lower income so we offered for her and her son to join us and we paid for everything. She’s married too but she and her husband aren’t close so he stayed home, so just took her and her son.

She’s mainly my best friend and we’re super close and I trust her implicitly, but my husband also counts her as his best friend. They used to work together years ago. At home they go out alone together all the time, play sport together, meet for coffee and if one is WFH, they meet up at our house or hers for lunch without me. Our sons are in same class at school and it’s all one merged family. Her husband doesn’t seem to care what she does.

In the first week of the holiday they were spending loads of time together and I felt a bit like a spare part sometimes, he chats to her more than me, they joke together, they went to watch the sunset together on the beach alone etc. If we go somewhere, he sits in the middle of us with one of us either side but then he talks to her and ignores me, and if I bring this up he just makes out that it’s his right and that I’m boring him by even mentioning it.

I love her to bits and believe she is fully on my side, but I hate seeing him laughing and joking with her. I trust her and I’ve no physical evidence to doubt that he is doing anything, though he’s alwsys on his phone late at night :/ My family says that I’m being too trusting and that it’s not right. When I’ve tried speaking to him about it and how I feel, he shuts it down and says I’m being ridiculous and turns it into an argument about how it’s my fault and I’m being silly.

One thing that really stood out was a night on holiday where both our DS had fallen asleep in ‘our’ hotel room, so I stayed with them, and DH who’d been texting her all eve went to her hotel room and was gone for ages. When I went over and knocked, they were just sat on sofa and she was in her PJs, I have no reason to think anything happened then or any other time, but maybe I’m also being naiive!?!?

I don’t know what I’m asking other than AINBU to think that they’re just friends and it’s fine? I trust her, and I’ve never seen any evidence of him cheating. It’s just a bit uncomfortable with it sometimes and any of my other friends who hear about it think im a mug. I also hate how he just shuts me down and says I’m being too clingy for even mentioning it. Now we’re back in the UK they’re literally finding every opportunity to go for walks together and again I feel like the spare part, argh!

Please tell me I’m not being ridiculous!

xx

OP posts:
Rayaandthedragon · 07/08/2023 18:43

“Her husband is checked out”.

So she is trying to be validated by others 🤔

Farahpascalmoges · 07/08/2023 18:43

You are in thrall to this woman - why? Does she have some kind of magnetism? How much of a best friend is she that you don't know anything about her family life other than you guess her husband has "checked out" - what does that even mean? You are blinded by her charisma or the attention she shows you and you cannot see that she is bad Nothing is good about her and what she has done to you on that holiday and beforehand - she is a cynical manipulator and has no respect for you - even less respect for you that your husband does.

You are so involved you can't see the reality, but you will. I hope you fall out of love with your DH as a defence mechanism to protect you and your boy from this abusive man. As for the Svengali "friend" - FUCK THAT BITCH.

suzysnowball · 07/08/2023 18:45

They've just had a moonlit shagathon whilst you babysit his love child. You're going to make the kids lives very very uncomfortable when this affair comes to light, if you allow this to continue.

SamW98 · 07/08/2023 18:45

OP pleased listen to what everyone on the thread is saying and stop defending this woman.

SHE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

Yes your H is a prick but so is she. She knows EXACTLY what she’s doing please wake up cut her out of your life and deal with your husband away from her shadow

midnightrecovery · 07/08/2023 18:46

Rayaandthedragon · 07/08/2023 18:43

“Her husband is checked out”.

So she is trying to be validated by others 🤔

Op’s husband is also checked out by the sounds of it

MrReflection · 07/08/2023 18:46

FarEast · 07/08/2023 18:34

Good luck @OfMyDog Flowers

It's a lot to realise - and you risk losing a husband and a best friend. That's a lot to lose.

If it is still "only" an emotional affair, does your husband realise he's on the brink of losing you? Sometimes men just don't see it (either don't want to, or they're emotionally dense).

FarEast - sometimes women don't see it either. I have first hand experience of an emotionally dense wife. It's not just about men. The world is full of pricks of all genders.

I wish you the best OP. It's a horrible situation to be emotionally cheated on, but be strong for yourself and your son. He shouldn't be part of this charade.

BreadInCaptivity · 07/08/2023 18:48

OfMyDog · 07/08/2023 18:20

This is definitely it. It’s been an issue for a year or more, it’s come to a head since holidays but it’s not a situation that I’m going to resolve overnight x

Why the reluctance to act?

Speak to your "friend" and tell her in no uncertain terms her behaviour on holiday and subsequently is totally inappropriate.

That it's impacting your marriage and you need space to see if it can be repaired.

A friend would step right back. I'll bet she won't.

Voila you have your answer. She's not a friend regardless or not of whether she is sharing spit with him.

If she does back off by some miracle and your DH kicks off about it then you also know he values his relationship with her more than his marriage to you (though personally I think this is already self evident).

Or you can keep pretending that your husband is a just a bit of a prick you just have to put up with and that this woman is your friend whom you'll likely be acting as nanny to on your family holiday next year, whilst in the meantime they spend more time with each other on "walks" and "lunch breaks" than with their own spouses and children (whilst also texting each other more than first time teen lovers even when they are with their families).

Elle2018 · 07/08/2023 18:49

My now ex husband and now ex best friend are moving in together next month.

Tell them both separately how it makes you feel and if it continues then you have your answer. There may not be anything going on right now but if neither of them put you first you’ve already lost.

BajaBaja · 07/08/2023 18:50

A best girlfriend would not behave like that. Sorry to say it’s very off to me.

BreadInCaptivity · 07/08/2023 18:53

Elle2018 · 07/08/2023 18:49

My now ex husband and now ex best friend are moving in together next month.

Tell them both separately how it makes you feel and if it continues then you have your answer. There may not be anything going on right now but if neither of them put you first you’ve already lost.

She already has....Confused yet she's still in utter denial - especially about her "friend".

JenniferBooth · 07/08/2023 18:53

I had two friends in a similar situ C and N. Last time i saw them was 2010. When we went to Cs wedding. N wanted me to go up North with her even though i kept saying i couldnt afford it. Im in Essex. N came to pick me up. We got there and she IMMEDIATELY contacted a male friend of Cs and we went to lunch with him. he was a photographer C and him had had a BIG falling out (i never found out why) N spent the entire afternoon flirting with him, getting him to take pics of her and bitching about C behind her back. It was really uncomfortable to watch And N was Cs chief bridesmaid. Because of all this we were late getting to Cs flat to do last min stuff for the wedding and late back to the b&b that night which N blamed C for calling her a bridezilla. On the day of the wedding the groom kept referring to N as the sister wife! This is when i first heard the term. I got moaned at and shouted at all the way back to Essex the day after the wedding by N because she was pissed at C for some reason. I was spoken to like shit. C (a bit like you @OfMyDog) refuses to see what N is like. I did stay in contact via fb with C. Until Nov 2019 when C messaged me saying N would like to speak to me. I declined and sadly had to end my friendship with C because i just didnt/dont want to be involved and C stiil refused to see what N is like. Pissed me off cos i actually really like C But will not entertain it while she and N practically come as a pair C thinks the sun shines out of Ns arse Which is why i decided not to bother saying anything. Would have been pointless and i would have been the bad guy.

Radiohat · 07/08/2023 18:54

Time to move on.
Your husband sounds like he prefers the company of the OW.

An acquaintance of mine had an affair with her best friends husband they also went on family holidays together. The wife was broken when it all came out.

The OW knows it is wrong , a decent friend would not be sniffing around your husband and looking at the sunset together.

Blubbafish · 07/08/2023 18:55

I'm glad you're seeing the light. Being the third wheel in your marriage is not what you deserve.
I hope you're okay as can be. Please don't let others make you feel this is your fault. It's theirs. They did this.
Have you been slow to react? Yes, but relationships are complicated, especially with kids involved.

JenWillsiam · 07/08/2023 18:55

Crikey please enough with the friend. She is not a friend.

Dalriada35 · 07/08/2023 18:56

I agree.

Winter2020 · 07/08/2023 18:59

Hi OP,
Are you the higher earner in your relationship? I'm wondering how this feeds into the dynamic. Particularly how decisions are made to pay for your "friend".

Moreorlessmentallystable · 07/08/2023 18:59

Maybe it's time you get friendly with your friends husband then 😂, the cheek of them 2 is ridiculous. I am actually struggling to believe this is real, surely this escalated o we a looking time for them to behave like this without you pushing back?

T1Dmama · 07/08/2023 18:59

Absolutely no fkn way!!! I wouldn’t tolerate a ‘friendship’ like this…. I’d have taken her son on holiday but not her! You paid for her?? WTF!!!… sounds like your husband couldn’t bare to go without her!

I’d have to leave him .. I couldn’t cope with this situation, it would make me SO insecure I’d feel like I was going crazy!! I couldn’t live like this!

I’ve got friends whose husband ran off with their best friend (& husband and BF weren’t even friends in that scenario!)

sounds like they don’t respect you enough to stop this behaviour!… he has his cake and eats it! He sits between you FFS!!…. A woman on each arm!

He’s a bastard!

Dalriada35 · 07/08/2023 19:00

If e cared about your feelings, he wouldn’t dismiss them so readily. He would listen to your concerns. Seems he enjoys your friend’s company more than yours. Are you brave enough to tackle them both? Others have noted that your ‘friend’ would step back if she had any integrity, I agree with that.

Doggate1 · 07/08/2023 19:02

I’ve decided you are utterly bonkers! Hiding in plain sight they are and you see the hood in people so don’t want to see it.

BreadInCaptivity · 07/08/2023 19:08

Doggate1 · 07/08/2023 19:02

I’ve decided you are utterly bonkers! Hiding in plain sight they are and you see the hood in people so don’t want to see it.

I think she's be so gaslight by the pair of them she's lost her own perspective on how badly they are treating her.

I'll bet her "friend" is super nice to her and spends time alone with her - because it feeds the narrative of "nothing to see here - you're just being silly".

Janella · 07/08/2023 19:11

Somewhere along the way you've turned into three friends - equal weighting - when it should be your marriage has a higher weighting to you and your DH. Then as happens sometimes with friendships of three, at times two will gel more than the third. This pairing is supposed to be you and friend though, not your friend and your husband.

Very uncomfortable stuff, time to reassert boundaries. If you want to save your marriage then the friendship has to be kicked into the long grass. If you want to ditch your husband, I'd still suggest distancing from the friend. You'll need some support that doesn't involve either of them.

Good luck OP, come back and tell us how it goes

Sennelier1 · 07/08/2023 19:11

YANBU I'm married 41 years and trust DH completely but I wouldn't accept this behaviour. And your "friend" is not your friend, she's poaching the attention she doesn't get from her own man from yours. It's called cheating.

SamW98 · 07/08/2023 19:15

BreadInCaptivity · 07/08/2023 19:08

I think she's be so gaslight by the pair of them she's lost her own perspective on how badly they are treating her.

I'll bet her "friend" is super nice to her and spends time alone with her - because it feeds the narrative of "nothing to see here - you're just being silly".

Absolutely. Yes he’s 💯 a fucking arsehole who needs kicking to the kerb but this ‘friend’ is a manipulative POS who’s pretending to be such a super lovely bestie and probably reporting back to the cheating prick as pillow talk.

I never ever condone violence but the pair of them really need punching in the face - vile people who probably deserve each other

Cherry2010 · 07/08/2023 19:17

Why don’t you just set a trap? Leave your phone recording in a room when they are “just hanging out as mates” , follow them during their moonlit walks… then you’ll know

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