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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:
Meowandthen · 17/08/2023 20:16

CBA to RTFT but he sounds self-ventured and you sound a little immature. This relationship is going nowhere.

The comments about nothing to do in Manchester are daft though. There is loads to do there in and in the surrounding area. I am not from there, or even the north of England, but that just smacks of snobbery. It’s a great city.

POWL01 · 17/08/2023 20:21

She doesn't have 5 kids I'd bet my house!

StillWantingADog · 17/08/2023 20:23

i’m sorry op this does not sound good at all

Nobody leaves 5 kids at home in the US just to see (with the greatest of respect to Mancunians here) Manchester.
yup- and I am a Mancunian!

I don’t know how you can know for sure she doesn’t have 5 kids. They could be nieces and nephews.

whatever the story, it’s very fishy and I can’t see a happy ending for you and your BF.

SirVixofVixHall · 17/08/2023 20:28

Thoughtful2355 · 17/08/2023 10:35

Sorry but who leaves theyre 5 kids to randomly go visit and see Manchester? and then stays with some random guy theyve never actually met AND tracks theyre ovulation whilst away. Its just screaming Red Flags and the fact he had to respond to tons of texts is odd too, why is she not just getting on with her holiday.

Agree with this.
I cannot imagine any married mother of five jetting off thousands of miles to stay with an Instagram contact who she has never met. Deeply weird. If I suggested doing this my DH would think I had lost my marbles.
Does she really have five children ? Or a husband ?

spaghettimaretti · 17/08/2023 20:31

Passerillage · 17/08/2023 10:25

She has 100% come specifically to see your boyfriend. Someone she "knows and trusts"? He is a randomer off the internet so far as she SHOULD be concerned.

Nobody leaves 5 kids at home in the US just to see (with the greatest of respect to Mancunians here) Manchester.

From here, it really does sound like she is in love with him and has come to the UK with some harebrained scheme of getting pregnant by him. Is he quite successful on Instagram?

Your spidey senses are right to be in overdrive, and if he doesn't see that he is encouraging a potential stalker (or somebody to whom he has inadvertently/intenationally given encouragement), then you should back away from him.

This, sorry op

TheShellBeach · 17/08/2023 20:38

SirVixofVixHall · 17/08/2023 20:28

Agree with this.
I cannot imagine any married mother of five jetting off thousands of miles to stay with an Instagram contact who she has never met. Deeply weird. If I suggested doing this my DH would think I had lost my marbles.
Does she really have five children ? Or a husband ?

Almost certainly not.

goldfootball · 17/08/2023 20:56

By MN standards I’m pretty chill about boyfriends having female friends but if one of them left an ovulation stick in the bathroom I’d lose my chill for sure. Wtf?

Comeonbarbiebrianharvey · 17/08/2023 21:16

Claire the bored housewife on Insta,
flew to Manc for some man bun and ginsters,
she planted a test
to cause lots of stress
then flew back to her 5 kids and Mr

Iwantamarshmallowman · 17/08/2023 21:17

At first I was going to say I think you made a mistake in saying it was ok for her to stay. But having seen the update there is a difference between "would it be ok if I invited this woman to stay" and "I have invited her to stay is that ok". He put you in a difficult possition as he had already invited her and you look unreasonable if you say no. At 23 I would have fallen for this shit too. He's manipulating you. Anyone who tells you they would be ok with this situation is a lier the whole thing is bizar. I'm 42 and I would run like hell from this man.

CandyLeBonBon · 17/08/2023 21:19

Comeonbarbiebrianharvey · 17/08/2023 21:16

Claire the bored housewife on Insta,
flew to Manc for some man bun and ginsters,
she planted a test
to cause lots of stress
then flew back to her 5 kids and Mr

Nice!

HowlingAtTheM00n · 17/08/2023 21:26

@Meowandthen but.. she isn't doing any of those things and clearly has no intention of sightseeing otherwise she'd be out doing those things and not sitting texting someones boyfriend all day long when they're not together waiting for him. The only sightseeing she has done was laying in the park with him. Surely she could have lay in a park in usa

Meowandthen · 17/08/2023 21:28

HowlingAtTheM00n · 17/08/2023 21:26

@Meowandthen but.. she isn't doing any of those things and clearly has no intention of sightseeing otherwise she'd be out doing those things and not sitting texting someones boyfriend all day long when they're not together waiting for him. The only sightseeing she has done was laying in the park with him. Surely she could have lay in a park in usa

Read what I actually wrote. I was very clearly responding to the general anti-Manchester attitudes of various posters.

MysteryBelle · 17/08/2023 21:38

Comeonbarbiebrianharvey · 17/08/2023 21:16

Claire the bored housewife on Insta,
flew to Manc for some man bun and ginsters,
she planted a test
to cause lots of stress
then flew back to her 5 kids and Mr

Several creative and very funny and talented mumsnetters on this thread!

HowlingAtTheM00n · 17/08/2023 21:43

@Whenthepartysover if he did worry this would happen why the hell did he proceed to allow her to stay? He didn't consider your feelings at all. He had obviously pre planned for her to stay . He put a random woman on the internet before your feelings. It dosent make sense.
Inviting her to his house , a random person from the Internet? No no..
Picking her up from the airport ..
Spending ALL his time with her..
Constantly texting her while he's with you..

Red the red flags here

They clearly have an emotional connection. I call bullshit and I'd nearly bet they had full intention of making it physical. Of all things she could pack In her suitcase .. ovulation tests. ? People don't use ovulation tests to prevent pregnancy. It dosent work like that.
People use them to get pregnant.
Perhaps he's painting you in a different picture to her . She could could deliberately trying to get pregnant by him so they can be together . Why would she be testing for ovulation if your not having sex with your husband? You simply don't. Those two have clearly struck up a relationship be it emotional or physical.
And exactly like others said kids are going back to school and she's leaving them? Could they be Nephews or neices? She might not even have 5 kids. How old is this woman ?
Ps we all want to know was the ovulation test positive?

HowlingAtTheM00n · 17/08/2023 21:46

P.s @Whenthepartysover thats how affairs start. The constant messaging all day long.
I had an affair ish and openly told my partner I was going out at weekends with blah blah. I didn't hide it but also didnt admit it.
I've cheated and been cheated on and I can nearly bet there's more to this

goldfootball · 17/08/2023 21:47

I mean I live in Manchester and I’m not offended that people think it’s unlikely to be at the top of an American woman’s bucket list 😂 if she was an academic researching the history of the cooperative movement or a huge fan of Elizabeth Gaskell then yeah, fair enough, otherwise I’d be surprised at a transatlantic trip to visit only Manchester for a week.

keojam80 · 17/08/2023 21:53

That's mental!
Married woman with five children from America, travels alone to another country to stay in some guys house who's she's never met. What the actual?
I doubt her husband would be thrilled about the idea.
He's clearly talking to her constantly online to get to that point.
Fuck him off now.

Whenthepartysover · 17/08/2023 21:59

I wondered about her husband too. I asked my boyfriend what her husband thought about it but he said he didn't know, but she apparently told him that he isn't bothered and he basically just ignores her anyway and their relationship is non existent (so then what's the ovulation test for??) so he doesn't care where she is or what she's doing.

I'm going to try and get some sleep. Thanks everyone for the comments, appreciate it

OP posts:
ConstitutionHill · 17/08/2023 22:01

LadyOfTheCanyon · 17/08/2023 17:40

I'm not going to sugar coat this because I'm 30 years older than you and have been round several blocks.

I am VERY familiar with the arty, poetic, man bun wearing, guitar playing indie guy because I was obsessed with this type when I was your age.

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. Some of this is just the reality of being in a relationship with a creative, but a lot of the time it's because there is only room for one ego in the room at a time.

There is NO FUCKING WAY your bf hasn't displayed these behaviours to her. Six months of online chat? She 100% thinks she's Sylvia Plath to his Ted Hughes.

They are having an emotional affair at the very least. You sound like a lovely, switched on woman - I wouldn't waste a whole lot more time on this one.

Also- if she can raise five kids she sure as shit should have the money for a hotel.

She thinks she's Sylvia Plath to his Ted Hughes. You've nailed it there.

OP. Your BF is so far up his own arse, it's so disrespectful to you and he's pretending it's all so cool.

JANEY205 · 17/08/2023 22:03

Op listen to your gut. You aren’t being unreasonable at all. Would you have an American man you met on instagram fly over and stay with you?
Your boyfriend is having an emotional affair (speaking to this woman daily, having her fly internationally to visit him, discussing her marriage etc) is all seriously unacceptable. Please don’t listen to people saying you’re in the wrong as you aren’t. He’s a complete prick and she’s batshit. Theyve crossed so many lines here and been so unfair to you. I’d be seriously worried with her flying here that they have now crossed into physical affair too and id break up with him. You do not have to tolerate your partner speaking to/befriending other women online under the ruse of his fucking hobby. It’s so awful. Im really sorry OP. You deserve a lot more than this prick.

eatyourveggies · 17/08/2023 22:11

Another vote for team 'listen to your gut.'

And don't apologise for it. You've got this.

JudgeRudy · 17/08/2023 22:11

I knew a married man who was into gaming. He befriended a young girl from USA through a shared love of gaming. They started talking about more personal things including her bad relationship. Eventually she came to England to visit him. She had no plan as such but felt she had bonded with him and he promised to support her. 3 months later he was going through a divorce and living with her.
I'm not saying this is the case, but a married woman with 5 children just 'popping over' to England for a bit is odd. No sight seeing trips to London, no concerts or performances, just a stroll in the park and a night at your boyfriend's home (who she's never met). Was there any suggestion that she could meet you? No, hi Yankie, this is my GF?

I know some people make these relationships work but you live miles apart and only see each other at weekends. I'm guessing you live in a shared house/halls. He's a long way from being your partner. I'd say whatever hapoens with her, your relationship might have run it's course. The good thing is he has been decent. Maybe this is a twist or stick moment.

carly2803 · 17/08/2023 22:35

your 23?

dump this moron and find someone on your course or uni who you see, know and trust

100% he has slept with her - trust your gut - hes selfish clearly and everything is about him

StartupRepair · 17/08/2023 23:21

OP so many of us have fallen for needy poetic man bun dick in our youth. Get out now. You sound so lovely and grounded. You don't want to be 40, working full time to support him while he faffs about at home waiting for his genius to be recognised. Go find a nice guy who supports and cares about you.

oakleaffy · 17/08/2023 23:39

StartupRepair · 17/08/2023 23:21

OP so many of us have fallen for needy poetic man bun dick in our youth. Get out now. You sound so lovely and grounded. You don't want to be 40, working full time to support him while he faffs about at home waiting for his genius to be recognised. Go find a nice guy who supports and cares about you.

Ain't that the truth! They take and take and take.

Often unfaithful, and massive, bloated egos.

This American woman with a kid collection- what will happen to the kids, poor things-Is she going home with a bun in the oven? She sounds as deranged as him.

Can't see it working out.