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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Woman from America staying at my boyfriends place

649 replies

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 10:01

Me and my boyfriend have been together two years. I am 23 and he is 27. I am currently at uni in Leeds but I go to his at the weekends in Manchester.

He is a bit of an artsy type, he is a graphic designer and a freelance photographer. He writes poetry and has an Instagram account where he uploads all of his poems and short videos of spoken word. It's a bit of a community and he speaks to lots of people on the platform. He has been speaking to this woman now for a while. I didn't really have a problem with it because she lives in America and is married with 5 children. Plus I trust my boyfriend and try to be rational about things.

She told him she was taking a trip to the UK alone and he asked me if I would mind if she stayed with him so that she could save on accommodation and also have someone there who she knows and trusts. I said it was ok. I don't know why I said this.. I honestly felt ok about it at the time.

All the plans were made and he picked her up from the airport on a Sunday evening and I went back to uni. On Monday I was sat in my uni room alone studying and I text him to ask what he was up to. He said he had taken 'Claire' to the park and they were lay around on the grass. I immediately felt a rush of emotion imagining him strolling through the park with this woman. I couldn't control it I got very upset. I think it was because I was just sat there alone and he was with another woman. I trusted that he wouldn't do anything bad or disrespectful but I suddenly just felt very uncomfortable and like I was a bit of a mug. I tried not to tell him how I felt because what's done is done, she's here now. Nothing I can do. I just didn't realise that he would be out doing things with her. I thought he was just providing her a spare room to stay.

I did end up telling him how upset I was and he said "I did worry that this would happen". We ended up having an argument and I know that I am the one being unreasonable here. I said something was ok and then changed my mind once it happened. That's not his fault. I said I'd prefer it if he let her get on with things on her own. He was saying that it's unfair as she is in an unfamiliar country on her own and doesn't want to abandon her, and his mum agrees. Anyway she ended up staying in a hotel the next night.

It came to the weekend and I went to his. At this point she was in a hotel. I said I wanted to spend the weekend doing nice things together after our argument and just try to sort it out. I got to his to find an ovulation stick in his bathroom bin. Is it just me or is that weird? I don't know what is happening in her life. She may be struggling with conceiving and is being very strict with tracking. She already has 5 children though but that's none of my business. I just find it a bit rude to take an ovulation test and put it in the bin that's wide open. I would've wrapped it up and chucked it in the outside bin if I was in someone else's house. The bin doesn't have a lid. It's one of those bins you'd have in your bedroom but in the bathroom (he's a guy so never really had anything to put in it). I was a bit annoyed about it because I felt like she was taking the piss. But I tried to move past it and have a nice weekend. However he was just on his phone constantly replying to her texts while we were out. We had another argument and I have gone home to my mum's and we haven't spoken since.

I don't know where to go from here. I know this is my fault. But I really need some outside perspective on this. How would you feel? Do I even have a right to be upset? Do we just wait for her to go back home and then try and move past it or is it the end of the relationship? I'm trying to think logically and rationally without heightened feelings of jealousy in the way. But it's hard.

OP posts:
Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 17:58

@LadyOfTheCanyon everything you just said hit the nail on the head. You're completely right about him and you don't even know him.. can't believe it's that much of a cliche. It really is always about him. We spend most weekends going places to take pictures or shoot videos for his hobby. Then we go home and I'll watch TV while he spends ages at his computer editing or working on his novel that he's been working on for 10 years. He is a very good boyfriend though and we have a good relationship. That's why it's hard with people saying to dump him. I have two years of good and happy times with him and it's hard to just end it with someone when you love them and are emotionally invested

OP posts:
Mbop · 17/08/2023 18:02

Contact her husband and tell him where she is and who she is staying with. There's more to this than meets the eye.

SallyWD · 17/08/2023 18:04

I wouldn't be surprised if she'd fallen for him and flown over to see him specifically. That's what it seems like. Perhaps he feels the same way or perhaps he was completely oblivious and just sees her as a mate.
It's all a bit weird. The ovulation thing is also odd (if she obsessed with him that she wants his baby? Maybe I'm getting carried away here)...

Alstro · 17/08/2023 18:04

Elleviss · 17/08/2023 16:16

OP, you are going to drive yourself mad going round in circles in your head.
I don't want to sound patronising but, at 23yrs of age this could be your first experience of gaslighting. See that as a positive experience as you will definitely see all the telltale signs in future.
I'm afraid to say they have probably been having sex as she wouldn't be doing an ovulation test otherwise.

He is making you feel awful because his own behaviour is awful. He's projecting it on you. I would seriously quit calling him now and see this relationship as over. He has fooled you and doesn't really seem to care does he!

OP, v wise words above. Ones I wish had been given age 23. End it, you - we all - deserve better.

ThanksItHasPockets · 17/08/2023 18:05

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 17:58

@LadyOfTheCanyon everything you just said hit the nail on the head. You're completely right about him and you don't even know him.. can't believe it's that much of a cliche. It really is always about him. We spend most weekends going places to take pictures or shoot videos for his hobby. Then we go home and I'll watch TV while he spends ages at his computer editing or working on his novel that he's been working on for 10 years. He is a very good boyfriend though and we have a good relationship. That's why it's hard with people saying to dump him. I have two years of good and happy times with him and it's hard to just end it with someone when you love them and are emotionally invested

My lovely, do you not see the contradiction in the two halves of your post here?

You have Stockholm syndrome.

ZorbaTheHoarder · 17/08/2023 18:05

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 17:58

@LadyOfTheCanyon everything you just said hit the nail on the head. You're completely right about him and you don't even know him.. can't believe it's that much of a cliche. It really is always about him. We spend most weekends going places to take pictures or shoot videos for his hobby. Then we go home and I'll watch TV while he spends ages at his computer editing or working on his novel that he's been working on for 10 years. He is a very good boyfriend though and we have a good relationship. That's why it's hard with people saying to dump him. I have two years of good and happy times with him and it's hard to just end it with someone when you love them and are emotionally invested

In what way is he a "very good boyfriend", OP?

Budikka · 17/08/2023 18:08

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 10:42

Also, yes this woman is a bit "kooky" tbh. I know she does have 5 kids because I've seen them on her Instagram. She often tells my boyfriend through long deep conversations in the night that she is in an unhappy marriage and wishes she could fly free and travel. Clearly Manchester was top of her bucket list

I am an historian and researcher. I am sorry but "because I've seen them on her Instagram" means zilch. I always say: unless it is down in official documents, it did not happen! If you have certified copies of their birth certificates, then that it the only way you can know that "she does have 5 kids" (and even these can be forged!).

OP, YANBU

Fluffyruffytuffs · 17/08/2023 18:11

If you think the vibe is weird - it is.

My fiancé would kick off if I said I was going across the world to stay with another man - weird af.

To flip it, he’d also have kicked off if when we were boyfriend and girlfriend I’d have had a strange man to stay and doing romantic stuff with him whilst excluding him! 🤣

It’s so hard to break up with someone but you know those stories of wives who have horrendous husbands who do the maddest shit where you struggle fro beleieve they’d even dare to? This is how it starts.

Do yourself a favour - leave him and pave the pay for meeting your future life partner - the one who won’t pull shit like this.

Wish you all the best x

Fluffyruffytuffs · 17/08/2023 18:15

Ps I had an ex who I loved very much but who would talk to his ex secretly. When I found out he claimed it was innocent and she was ‘manipulating him’. 🙄 Apologies apologies but it carried on. I couldn’t arsed. A couple of years later I met my soon to be husband.

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 18:16

@ZorbaTheHoarder well I thought he was. Maybe he's not. I just always thought he was until today lol

He is very supportive of me, encourages me to always try things and do my best. He believes in me. I have quite low confidence and he has helped me with that. He makes me feel loved like is always telling me how much he loves me and calling me beautiful and how smart I am and leaves me little notes to find. If I have a bad period I will get to his to find he's bought me something nice to cheer me up. We laugh together, we have fun, he never makes me feel bad about myself. Usually if I address an issue with him we can talk it out reasonably. Maybe these things don't equal a good boyfriend I don't know but I just felt like we had a good relationship until this happened. Sometimes he can be selfish and self absorbed yes, but I don't think he means to. And if I bring it up he will apologise and plan a nice weekend for us. But then he does end up falling back inside his own head. He lives in his own artist world. We went to visit my grandparents in Wales once and the whole time he hardly spoke and it was super uncomfortable. He was in such an odd mood. He didn't want to be there because he wanted to be at home working on his book. So things like that do occur yeah. There have been times that I've gone back to uni and spent an hour crying in the shower because I feel like the relationship isn't like it was a year ago and I want it to come back. But then there are so many good qualities as well so it can be hard

OP posts:
HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMariaa · 17/08/2023 18:21

In the kindest way possible op he hasn't helped you with your confidence, if he truly had you'd value yourself too much to put up with this shit.

I bet you anything he's a negger.

Don't feel bad. Many, many of us get caught out by men like this in the early days. It does help you steer clear of them and find a decent one that actually allows you to grow and flourish.

Crikeyalmighty · 17/08/2023 18:22

@LadyOfTheCanyon ha- you have it to a T- I'm married to one, and at 7 years married he was busy writing poems/songs about a woman- and it wasn't me, I was too busy running our business and looking after a 7 year old. Shame I didn't find all this stuff till 10 years later. I changed tack and basically ' took him off a pedestal' and these days I'm a far harder person. If I had found out at the time I would have told him to go and do one. He is either a coniving shit or just very very naive. No one flies to Manchester with 5 kids just to hang around your flat without some kind of romantic undertones unless it's an old schoolmate etc

LadyOfTheCanyon · 17/08/2023 18:22

@Whenthepartysover

Ah sweetie, I just know the type. Some of it comes with the territory of being a creative, but most of my arty boyfriends -whisper it- just weren't actually very good artists. All the brow stroking and histrionic moping about on the sofa because I didn't 'get' their shitty haikus about the war in Iraq or whatever ( yes David I'm looking at you) was just a form of emotional control. They're almost all look-at-me types with a superiority complex.

And I stood it for so long.

What's that bollocks saying? Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. You can still cherish the time spent with someone even if they weren't for you in the long run.

( Except you, Ben. You really were a dick. )

Rockschooldropout · 17/08/2023 18:23

OP he’s pulling your chain !
he’s not a perfect boyfriend by any stretch of the imagination.. he sounds like an airy fairy knobhead…
I don’t believe for one moment this is innocent .. chatting every day for six months ? She confides she’s not happy at home .. it’s an emotional affair that she if not both are hoping to make physical ..
who leaves five kids and a husband to jet across the world to Manchester to just stay in someone’s flat and “hang out” locally ….
Does she even know you are his girlfriend ?
The ovulation stick is to check she can’t get pregnant ..
You deserve better … Chuck him in the bin with his left over craft beer bottles ….

SeeTheWorldAnotherWay · 17/08/2023 18:27

Bin him.

HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMariaa · 17/08/2023 18:30

(Singing)
Mr. Pretentious, you think you are a wonder
Well your poems are a bit shit and you have a man bun.
You're no God's gift to women - That's all in your head!
You are just a buttmunch!
(One singer singing)
No one likes a buttmunch!
(All singing)
And you're also bad in bed!

Adapted just for him op!
Please break up via barbershop.

Fedupwitheveryone · 17/08/2023 18:33

OP I don't have time to read the thread but my take is this is not good.

I understand the unusual/arty vibe (the majority of my family and friends) I also have had many, many platonic male friends over the years where honestly nothing was going on despite outward appearances and assumptions - BUT - I've also been cheated on and had smoke turn out to be the fire that it appeared to be (case in point - i'm now divorced).

The biggest issue here is that they're too close. it's not appropriate. Neither of them is single, so they shouldn't be having close regular contact with someone of another gender. Innappropriate those friendships were allowed to develop even without meeting IRL.

I'd be as pissed off he was enjoying platonic fun with a random new woman, as if he was actually cheating - it amounts to the same thing.

I adore some of my girlfriends' husbands and partners - but would NEVER think it's appropriate to hang out with them without their wives in tow. If a man and a woman are both straight and enjoy each others' company too much, it gets complicated.

Sorry OP, I think he needs to see that your feelings are more important than his right to new friends

krustykittens · 17/08/2023 18:34

10 YEARS ON A NOVEL?! Fuck me! I guarantee this guy is a mediocre talent at best but uses his 'art' as a way to make every one forgive unreasonable behaviour. Not speaking to your hosts for two days = rude. Not speaking to your hosts for two day because you want to be working on your permanently unfinished novel = rude and incredibly self deluded. But I bet in his mind it is all justified because he is an artist and just can't get on ordinary people's wave length and grasp things like manners and empathy. And yes, he is having an affair with this woman. None of what you have described is remotely appropriate.

Dillane · 17/08/2023 18:35

Sounds like she’s hoping to get pregnant by your bf OP.

Chickenkeev · 17/08/2023 18:36

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 18:16

@ZorbaTheHoarder well I thought he was. Maybe he's not. I just always thought he was until today lol

He is very supportive of me, encourages me to always try things and do my best. He believes in me. I have quite low confidence and he has helped me with that. He makes me feel loved like is always telling me how much he loves me and calling me beautiful and how smart I am and leaves me little notes to find. If I have a bad period I will get to his to find he's bought me something nice to cheer me up. We laugh together, we have fun, he never makes me feel bad about myself. Usually if I address an issue with him we can talk it out reasonably. Maybe these things don't equal a good boyfriend I don't know but I just felt like we had a good relationship until this happened. Sometimes he can be selfish and self absorbed yes, but I don't think he means to. And if I bring it up he will apologise and plan a nice weekend for us. But then he does end up falling back inside his own head. He lives in his own artist world. We went to visit my grandparents in Wales once and the whole time he hardly spoke and it was super uncomfortable. He was in such an odd mood. He didn't want to be there because he wanted to be at home working on his book. So things like that do occur yeah. There have been times that I've gone back to uni and spent an hour crying in the shower because I feel like the relationship isn't like it was a year ago and I want it to come back. But then there are so many good qualities as well so it can be hard

At the end of the day, he's not making you feel good. He's making you doubt yourself. So he's not a good boyfriend. Maybe he has motives, maybe you're just not suited. Either way you're not happy so scoot. There's no point in wasting time.

Fannyfiggs · 17/08/2023 18:38

Trust your gut. This Claire woman is taking the piss and I'm sure she left her ovulation test for you to see. Your boyfriend isn't as stupid as he looks is making out.

Take your boyfriend off his pedestal and really look at him. Would you want him as a boyfriend for your best friend or (possible future) daughter. What if you married him, what would your life look like in 10 years. What would he bring to the relationship?

Get out there and live and enjoy your life and never, ever let a man upset you ❤️

AncientBallerina · 17/08/2023 18:39

He is not a good boyfriend. It’s easy to say nice things and do cute stuff when it suits him. It’s not that easy to spend a weekend with your girlfriend’s grandparents, but if your are a good boyfriend, you are on your best behaviour because they are elderly relatives who are important to your girlfriend.

SockGoddess · 17/08/2023 18:45

My take away from dating about 5 of this particular species is that their neediness is off the chart. It's always about THEM. You have to spend your time agreeing that their art is amazing, analysing it, listening to it, critiquing it, sympathising while they agonise about it.

Did you date my ex LadyOfTheCanyon? Grin Oh god it's bringing it all back.

Mine wasn't just like this about his arty projects though, but also if he cooked a basic curry, or pasta with a jar of sauce, or put together a flatpack. he would fish for compliments and you had to admire it and talk about its wondrousness in detail.

Other women also featured Hmm

Agree OP this is a type. A type that craves admiration and being Mr Wonderful / Knight in shining armour to any woman who will play along, but it's really about his ego.

StinkyWizzleteets · 17/08/2023 18:46

Whether he’s having an affair or not (he probably is if even emotionally) is somewhat irrelevant as you choose to believe he isn’t (why??) but he’s not treating you with respect. He’s expecting you to fit around his plans and he’s putting you off netting her (why) - he’s not stupid he knows what he’s doing.

you’re being extremely naive but you have a choice. Accept that he has an American girlfriend who has come here to see him and it may have gone further than texting or get a backbone and leave to find someone nice.

i don’t think an affair would have been at the forefront of his mind when it all started but something is not right - trust your instincts

oakleaffy · 17/08/2023 18:47

FrodisCapering · 17/08/2023 10:09

Listen to and trust your gut. It's never let me down, even when I thought I might be crazy!

@Whenthepartysover THIS.
Always listen to that gut feeling.

I'd not trust him, or her.