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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Dp & neighbour - Aibu?

190 replies

Ocholo93 · 26/11/2023 23:01

I am absolutely fuming right now and need opinions on if I’m being unreasonable or not. If I’m being honest I don’t care if I am, I believe I feel this way for a reason and have a right to be angry.

dp recently started ‘following’ a young lady that lives on our apartment floor. We are very reserved in our building and don’t interact too much with neighbours, just say ‘hello’ when we bump into eachother however this young lady was not someone we bump into often, in all the years of living here I have only seen her to say hello twice, one of which was today! So when I noticed that her and dp began following eachother on Instagram I instantly wondered how that situation came about.. they obviously had to exchange social usernames etc?

this is another issue, I am not able to follow him on social media / Instagram, he doesn’t want me on there. I don’t have social media anymore but I did in the past. To be fair it is a business account that he has, for his business. But it is still personal, he is still posting himself on there everyday, interacting with everyone, he follows absolutely everyone he knows on there. When I asked him how they began to follow eachother he told me that she followed him for his business (even though she is not a client).

this evening whilst sitting on the couch, I hear a light knock on our front door. Dp goes to the drawer, takes out a tool and opens the door very slight just enough to pass the tool out but so that I cannot see. I hear a girl say ‘thanks I will bring it back soon’ and then he closes the door. I immediately opened the door after to see who it was and it was this young lady that he follows. At that point I was very confused and instantly realised that they have obviously been messaging as she’s clearly messaged to ask him if she can borrow this.

when I asked dp how it came about he completely refused to tell me. I tried to stay calm but was fuming inside, I asked 4 times and he completely refused to tell me. All he could’ve said was ‘she messaged asking to borrow something’ but instead he refused to answer me and told me not to stress him out. At this stage I was so angry as he clearly knows it’s inappropriate as he couldn’t even have the decency to tell me.

dp Then storms off to bed, as if I have done something wrong by asking him. I hear her knock lightly at the door again (baring in mind she didn’t press our door bell at all, it was a light knock as if to be sneaky in my eyes) so I immediately went and opened the door. I could see she was a bit stunned to see me open the door and put on a nice smile and passed me the tool. I asked her ‘how did this come about?’ And she began to tell me she has an issue with her sink but I asked specifically how did this come about that she’s messaged my dp to ask him for it. It then turned into an argument she cited his ‘profession’ as if to say that means anything? His profession has nothing to do with a tool she’s messaged to borrow. I told her that I don’t think it’s appropriate, she could have just asked me to borrow something (especially as I saw her earlier today) instead of texting her neighbours boyfriend’. She then was rude and told me ‘no one is interested in your man’ and swore at me as she walked off in which I equally swore back.

now I will admit I’m now regretting engaging in an argument. I have never in my entire life argued with ANYBODY, I have never sworn etc I am the most gentlest soul and the calmest person, everyone tells me this. I don’t know what came over me but I felt a rage.

dp did not come out of the room whilst this happened, I then went to him and told him to tell me what happened and he completely refused. He told me that he is not interested in her and that i have brought trouble to my door now, that she is a dangerous person and her friends. I then told him HE has brought this to our door. We don’t get too personal with our neighbours, he would never let me borrow things to neighbours as he likes us to mind our business and stay out of trouble, so if he thinks this girl is trouble then why would he willingly go out of his way to borrow her something. I reminded him that if this was the other way around he would go mad! But he just proceeded to tell me that I am immature and basically crazy.

I am now sitting here unsure of if I’m in the right or wrong. I would never fight anyone and I would especially never fight another woman over a man. That wasn’t really my point, my issue was the way they sneakily exchanged at my front door, she felt comfortable enough to knock on my door like that, that clearly they have messaged eachother etc. in my head I just don’t think this is appropriate, this is not just a neighbour that we are close with etc.

have I made a mistake? Have I embarrassed myself? I’m slightly mad at myself now, my issue is obviously with dp and I perhaps shouldn’t have taken it out on the girl but equally I feel it’s right to be territorial over my home and my kids home and I had a right to question. I couldn’t imagine texting a neighbours boyfriend asking for something, especially if we are not close at all with the neighbours.

OP posts:
DoubleTime · 27/11/2023 11:10

Hi OP,

I'm glad you are going to sort it out with the neighbour, you sound nice and it would be a shame to let a misunderstanding have her thinking otherwise.

I am sorry your DP is so unreliable. Do you ever think about leaving him ? Sounds a bit like he is having his cake and eating it too at times.....

I wish you all the best with whatever you decide.

Nowherenew · 27/11/2023 11:15

Why are you still with him?

Why is being in a relationship with him better than being single?

Lemonade84 · 27/11/2023 11:17

Sorry OP- this is exactly the same behaviour as my ex. Constantly checking my phone/social media behind my back, asking why someone has 'liked' one of my posts when all along he was using his own social media to message other women/cheat. This is why he is so cagey about it, he thinks if he can use social media to cheat then so can you and the paranoia kicks in. The blocking you on social media though is on another scale- this is NOT a healthy relationship.

Sounds to me like you have plenty of reasons to be suspicious. Please reconsider this relationship.

Outnumbered1010 · 27/11/2023 11:18

OP stop apologising. You’ve done nothing wrong and some of the replies you’ve had on here are awful. You sound like you’ve been gaslit and downtrodden, and from your latest update, I believe your reaction is totally justified and he’s been behaving appallingly for years.

You also say he did not ban you from social media, but you deleted it because you couldn’t deal with the stress he was giving you. You need to wake up and realise that he DID ban you - he made a situation intolerable until you did what he wanted. Just because he didn’t say the words expressly, it didn’t mean you weren’t banned. He was just clever about the way he did it. He’s controlling and appalling. Can’t believe you have kids with him. You should be looking to leave him. At the very least, get the hell back on social media and start taking control of your life back!

Outnumbered1010 · 27/11/2023 11:20

And don’t apologise to your neighbour. You’ll be validating their sneaky behaviour and they’ll probably be messaging together about you behind your back and laughing at you. Trust your instincts and ignore her. And kick him out.

Aquamarine1029 · 27/11/2023 11:24

Your partner abuses you by means of coercive control, he treats you as though you're a dirty little secret, he behaves like a single man on social media, and I am fully confident he's cheating on you, probably with multiple women. FGS, he's carrying on with the neighbour lady literally in front of you. He's a controlling, gaslighting pig. I really believe that he has ground you down for so long that you don't even know what normal is anymore. He doesn't respect you at all.

You deserve so much better.

happyinherts · 27/11/2023 11:24

But why the secrecy? Why didn't he just say that xxx neighbour is calling later to borrow a tool? Either of you could then have opened the door and spoken to her. It didn't need all the cloak and dagger stuff, did it?

Ocholo93 · 27/11/2023 11:26

Should I apologise??? I’m feeling very guilty and to be honest just upset with myself as I’ve never behaved that way and have never been rude to anyone so I feel terrible.

part of me thinks that if I apologise it will look like I think I’m in the wrong and I don’t want to appear that way, as I still think it was shady. I also don’t want any trouble with neighbours though.

im sure what to do! Also, in regards to dp, at this point I don’t know why I’m with him. The anger that came from me last night made me realise it’s effecting me and I don’t want to be with someone that makes me feel this way

OP posts:
Frasers · 27/11/2023 11:26

This is very sad. It must be horrible that he’s not even allowed to message with a neighbour without telling uou, and feels he needs to lie and hide it as you behave as you do. It’s so embarrassing she had to even tell you she wasn’t after your partner.

can you get counselling to help you? For most people this wouldn’t even be something that registers, but for you it was an interrogation and inquisition at the door and an argument.

insecurity and jealousy to this level is a mental health problem, and needs support.

Ocholo93 · 27/11/2023 11:27

happyinherts · 27/11/2023 11:24

But why the secrecy? Why didn't he just say that xxx neighbour is calling later to borrow a tool? Either of you could then have opened the door and spoken to her. It didn't need all the cloak and dagger stuff, did it?

This is exactly my point. I wouldn’t have felt uncomfortable about the situation at all if it was handled in normal way. I grew up on a street where neighbours constantly borrowed things/came over etc. the fact that he point blank refused to answer me from the get go made it a weird situation

OP posts:
monstrousindecision · 27/11/2023 11:28

the neighbour is really a side issue of very little importance in the great scheme of things. It's really just allowed you to see your partnership for what it is. I would forget about her and think about how you can manage to get out of this relationship going forward.

monstrousindecision · 27/11/2023 11:29

Frasers · 27/11/2023 11:26

This is very sad. It must be horrible that he’s not even allowed to message with a neighbour without telling uou, and feels he needs to lie and hide it as you behave as you do. It’s so embarrassing she had to even tell you she wasn’t after your partner.

can you get counselling to help you? For most people this wouldn’t even be something that registers, but for you it was an interrogation and inquisition at the door and an argument.

insecurity and jealousy to this level is a mental health problem, and needs support.

you have not understood the situation. the problem does not lie with the OP but with her husband

happyinherts · 27/11/2023 11:30

... and the neighbour's response was way over the top rude too.

monstrousindecision · 27/11/2023 11:31

@Frasers though i agree counselling would help to get her away from this man. I think you need to read the full thread

Frasers · 27/11/2023 11:34

But the op started this just with them being linked on social media. I fully agree the relationship is deeply unhealthy though from both sides.

burnoutbabe · 27/11/2023 11:37

My partner often messages our downstairs neighbours and if they wanted to borrom something he would probably just grab the x, say come up and hand it to them without telling me.

I'd have no issue. its obvious who is at the door (a neighbour in the block) and that he is lending them TOOL X.

(now my 2 neighbours are 2 gay men so thats the main difference).

i don't see their action at the door as SNEAKY. he'd say "i am going out for a smoke/post a letter/take bins out" if he wanted to sneakily see the women upstairs surely?

ManateeFair · 27/11/2023 11:45

TheresaCrowd · 26/11/2023 23:12

He's a personal trainer isn't he, and you've posted about this before?

After your last thread I can totally see why he doesn't want you following him.

I also immediately thought of that thread...

Nicole1111 · 27/11/2023 11:54

Having seen your update what’s most confusing in all this is why, when he is so incredibly blatant about chatting up other girls online, has he been so secretive now. Whatever the reason though I’d encourage you to think about ending this relationship. He sounds vile

happyinherts · 27/11/2023 11:54

Yes, but @burnoutbabe you know your partner messages neighbours and are fine with it. Lending things normally is pretty trivial. The OP doesn't know - or didn't know - about these messages. It could well be innocent, but in which case why the secrecy? It wouldn't matter whether the OP or partner opened the door, would it? Sneaking a tool out after a sneaky text message isn't right.

burnoutbabe · 27/11/2023 12:03

but i'd be fine with it even if i didn't know he was messanging them - i'd assume someone we live with had been in contact and needed something (and sexistly "asked the man of the house"

i just don't see it as sneaky when there are a million ways he can shag the neighbours without the OP knowing. coming to borrow tools from the door isn't one of them.

Ohtobetwentytwo · 27/11/2023 12:07

Neither of you will ever be happy. Just think about that.

lesdeluges · 27/11/2023 12:10

Just skimmed through this, so might have missed something important.

I live alone, and have great neighbours who will help me out in an emergency, such as Jack the plumber, Tom the spark, and Joe who can do anything with a cordless drill etc.!

However, I will ALWAYS contact the wife/gf/partner to ask for help, and they pass on the message. Just politeness and common sense I think. No misunderstandings!

DoubleTime · 27/11/2023 12:15

Ocholo93 · 27/11/2023 11:26

Should I apologise??? I’m feeling very guilty and to be honest just upset with myself as I’ve never behaved that way and have never been rude to anyone so I feel terrible.

part of me thinks that if I apologise it will look like I think I’m in the wrong and I don’t want to appear that way, as I still think it was shady. I also don’t want any trouble with neighbours though.

im sure what to do! Also, in regards to dp, at this point I don’t know why I’m with him. The anger that came from me last night made me realise it’s effecting me and I don’t want to be with someone that makes me feel this way

I think you should clear the air. Without evidence of any wrong on her part, it would be the right thing to do. If you don't, and it was innocent enough, then won't she go to your DP expressing sympathy about his girlfriend? Wouldn't that just throw them together ? He might just lap that up

gemloving · 27/11/2023 12:16

@RetinolStings but why didn't this girl just ring the door bell and her boyfriend was open about that the girl needs a certain tool. Why storm off and not want to talk about it. He's clearly hiding something? This hasn't got anything to do with privacy.

My husband and I would never sneak about in this strange way. Why can't he tell her if he's been talking to the neighbour? I also wouldn't like my husband talking to the female neighbour. Why would he?

OP, this all sounds wrong. I wouldn't want to be with your DP. If I ask my hsuband who he is talking to and how things come about, I expect an honest answer as he shouldn't have anything to hide, neither do I.

BMW6 · 27/11/2023 12:17

OP this incident is just a symptom of the disease in your relationship.

It's Fucked Up.

Why won't you just split up and save yourselves the angst and suspicion? This is no way to live.

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