Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

A lucky escape...regular twat or something more sinister?

92 replies

relieved · 20/09/2010 15:43

Hi,

Just looking for some opinions, as involvement with a man has recently finished (got back with his ex). I do of course miss him and feel rubbish at the moment (though I know this will pass...I hope it will), but I do wonder if I will look back and realise that I have had a lucky escape, as I feel that there's something not quite right that I can't put my finger on. I loved him anyway but can't help but wonder if that was the major thing we had in common - I loved him, he loved himself too.

There is lots I do miss about him, but a few characteristics I'm not exactly sorry to see the back of.

  • lack of empathy towards other people - as if it was only his feelings that mattered. He seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on other people, e.g. me.
  • very flirty, which never really bothered me on a serious level, I tended to think of it as an act but if we were in a restaurant and I so much looked at the waiter, he would fly into a rage.
  • in the beginning, he was charming and complimented my figure, but towards the end would insult my appearance - he repeatedly told me I needed my mouth fixing, that I had 'shit tits', that my shoes were horrible (which they weren't, and that really hurt!). I wasn't 'perfect looking' so I didn't deserve him. Reading this, I see how disrespectful he was to me actually, and strange as it sounds either a) it didn't hurt me or b) I didn'y care what he said to me.
  • obsessed with being attractive - on the one hand would moan that he was unattractive, but on the other, would ask if girls he met fancied him and then say to me 'i am very good looking, aren't I?'.
  • obsessed with sex - will openly say to colleagues and mutual friends that he 'needs to have sex'.
-sex that was all about him. In the beginning, I was satisfied, but he soon lost interest in pleasing me, the whole thing revolved around him, him receiving oral sex or him being masturbated by me or himself. He would ask me to pleasure myself, but it seemed he wanted me to do it over him if you see what I mean. It was never 'making love' either, and always, always had to involve me being dressed up. Actual intercourse fairly infrequent.
  • lying about sexual conquests. I know two girls through friends he claimed to have had sex with, and they say they never slept with him.
  • constant need for attention and to have his needs pandered to. Seemed to dislike being on his own actually, and would get very angry if I made plans that didnt involve him.
  • very impulsive. Exciting at first, but quite tiring ultimately. Always seemed to find it difficult to make long term arrangements and would behave without thinking of the implications, e.g. he has backed out of work commitments and burned bridges with clients at work.
  • excessive alcohol consumption
  • felt entitled to my money
  • at work, gets jealous of other people's status, though he doesn't work hard himself
  • Prone to arguments with people that criticise him

I probably sound like the woman scorned and I should stress that I did have fun with him, he was very charming and funny to be around when things were good, very clever conversation, cultured, educated etc, we went on loads of dates, so it was never dull. I was completely into him, but there were things he would do or say that I didn't like, and I couldn't see it ending well, yet didn't have the strength to tell him to piss off either. I also really wanted to look after him and love him 'better' as it were.

So should I be weeping into my pillow or breathing a sigh of relief?

OP posts:
suwoo · 20/09/2010 15:45

Shock at 'shit tits'. What a cunt.

You are well rid, love.

thatsnotmyfruitshoot · 20/09/2010 15:48

You don't really need to ask, do you??

stampingmybigangryfeet · 20/09/2010 15:49

So you were my ex's new girlfriend!

Well I am at a loss to find the words to tell you how lucky you are to be out of this. You will see this for yourself soon when his toxic influence has worn off.

He sounds pretty scary actually.

SingingTunelessly · 20/09/2010 15:50

Shock Just read that list back and think what you would say to somebody asking this question!

Lucky, lucky escape.

FetchezLaVache · 20/09/2010 15:53

I didn't get further than "likes to inflict pain on people eg me" before I thought what suwoo thought! A very, very lucky escape. Seriously. See how he'd got you thinking it was all somehow normal and no more or less than what you deserve? Cunt.

BaggyAgy · 20/09/2010 15:53

I will be heavily flamed if I dare say he was a NARCISSIST with narcissistic personality disorder/tendencies, as I am not a psychiatrist. However, on reading your post I wondered it was for real, or if you had used Narcissistic Personality Disorder site to fake it up. Why not Google Narcissistic Personality Disorder and see if you agree. I think maybe NPD describes your ex and also my ex. Oh are you well rid!!!!!!!!!

celticfairy101 · 20/09/2010 15:56

'I feel that there's something not quite right that I can't put my finger on."

The list that followed needed no further explanation. Horrid, horrid man.

Anniegetyourgun · 20/09/2010 15:56

He must have been very charming indeed for his ex to have taken him back. Unless he treated her a lot better than he treated you.

mathanxiety · 20/09/2010 15:58

You should be pouring yourself a celebratory glass of champagne and buying yourself some more nice shoes.

It wasn't you, it was him.

relieved · 20/09/2010 15:59

LOL at the posters that called him a cunt...I will bear this in mind.

I do feel pretty low at the moment, but am not exactly upset, i.e. not cried much.

BaggyAgy, I will google the narcissistic stuff. Yes it is a real post, and he is a real person I'm afraid, though sometimes I wonder myself if I'm remembering it all right, he can't be for real.

How many of these kinds of exes are there about?!!!

If one of my friends had told me her boyfriend had treated her in this way I would be livid.

OP posts:
relieved · 20/09/2010 16:01

Anniegetyourgun - here's how he got his ex back...told her that I was on the scene. Voila!

Am drinking tea at the moment mathanxiety, but maybe should get the champagne on ice...and definitely get some shoes. How nice it will be not buying sex shoes...

OP posts:
thumbwitch · 20/09/2010 16:01

RELIEF!! Definitely. In fact you know that because of your name.

Makes me angry that so many of these fuckwits exist...

thesunshinesbrightly · 20/09/2010 16:13

I had one he is now an ex.

Don't you feel relived? i know i did.

msboogie · 20/09/2010 16:15

yeah so it's clear as day that the guy's a headcase of the highest order and you have dodged a massive, exploding, toxic radioactive bullet made of essence of pure evil.

I too thouoght you had googled NPD nad made up on the back of it

BUT, BUT BUT

What the heck is wrong with you Mrs? How can all this abuse and manipulation have left you unmoved? why didn't you care? even someone with terribke self esteem would have been massivley upset by some of what he said .

Do you think you deserve no better than this? or have you been frozen solid by the evil deeds of some previous monster masquerading as a boyfriend?

relieved · 20/09/2010 16:17

I do feel a mixture of sadness and relief - I seem to yo yo between missing him immemsely and it aching, and then feeling like a weight has been lifted and really strong. Hopefully I'll become stronger and the thoughts of missing him become less frequent.

Having a read of the narcissistic stuff. It feels like I have a bingo card, actually, but without being a mental health professional, I do feel like I'm just playing internet doctor.

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 20/09/2010 16:21

I am truly puzzled why you had to even ask if you had a lucky escape

you did, with nobs on

however, if he hadn't binned you and gone back to the ex, would you still be with him ?

perhaps you need to ask why you were with such a fuckhead in the first place...

relieved · 20/09/2010 16:23

msboogie, I really don't know. I'm waiting for it to come crashing down. I don't think my self esteem is that bad either! I'm no Cheryl Cole, but for a person in real life, I'm ok, and while my boobs aren't my favourite feature, they are a c cup and not saggy so I know what he says isn't true.

I would tend to be quite 'sticks and stones' with him, and never, ever let on to him that my feelings were hurt. Think that used to wind him up a bit. He seemed to enjoy mindgames, but I suppose I was guilty of participating in them.

Have never had 'bad' boyfriends before, not on this scale, just a couple that weren't that into me, that's as bad as it has been.

OP posts:
relieved · 20/09/2010 16:26

AF...I most likely would still be with him, running around, doing whatever he asked. So yes, I should analyse why I was with him. I ought to send her some flowers really and thank her for taking him off my hands didn't I?

OP posts:
madonnawhore · 20/09/2010 16:29

Are you kidding me?? I can't believe you had to ask whether this is a lucky escape.

You're probably grieving for the relationship you didn't have with this man rather than the unpleasant reality that was your relationship.

Any one of those things on your list taken in isolation would be deal breakers, but all of them together...!

If there's anything positive to be taken from this it's that now you have a handy checklist of behaviours that will help you spot a grade A cunt in the future.

AnyFucker · 20/09/2010 16:30

yes, that would be a fitting gesture Grin

they wouldn't "get it" though, so spend the money on flowers for yourself, and thank your lucky stars

or give a tenner to Women's Aid charities, to symbolise the horrible fact that these organisations have to exist in the first place...and a few years from now you might have been knocking on their door

btw, I am not judging you for being taken in by a fuckhead...I have been there and examined myself very closely indeed since then...

relieved · 20/09/2010 16:33

I think that you are right madonnawhore, I am grieving for the fantasy, not the reality. I suppose it was confirmation my silly broken heart needed. I could probably add more to the checklist as well.

AF, thanks for not judging me, seems a lot of smart, wonderful women have been down this path before.

OP posts:
mumonthenet · 20/09/2010 16:38

Yes, lucky escape.

And I would add that you probably have high self-esteem, which explains why some of his rudeness/cruelty went over your head. In a weird way, people with high self-esteem often put up with a lot of shit because it doesn't affect them iyswim. They tend to see the perpetrator as someone to be pitied, or ignored, or corrected...maybe as a challenge.

Loads of professional, strident, resilient educated, independant women have become victims of abusive characters. It's not just the timid wallflowers.

dittany · 20/09/2010 16:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

relieved · 20/09/2010 16:44

mumonthenet, thank you for your reply. I think that perhaps does explain it. Some of his insults didn't hurt because they are things that I think - he wasn't saying anything I'd never thought myself, but for the most part, I'd be thinking, 'that's bollocks'...'yes so you think my tits are shit...funny how you want to cum on them though' (sorry!). I really did used to let the insults go over my head. It takes me back to school actually - I was bullied quite a bit and became accustomed to ignoring hurtful comments.

Maybe I did see him as a challenge. Why I would want to take it on though, who knows??!!

OP posts:
Anniegetyourgun · 20/09/2010 16:49

You're entitled to mourn the lovely man he seemed to be, who turned out not to exist.