Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

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

Possible EA - she's a clinger.

3 replies

CoffeeAvalanche · 06/12/2010 17:23

I'm not a regular poster, but I am a regular reader of the board. As seems to be normal, I've name-changed. Backstory DP and I have been together for over six years, we have one DS who has just started school.

This is quite difficult for me to write out, as I'm not sure if I'm just being a jealous, possessive mare or if I actually do have good reason for feeling hurt. During the latter half of last year DP and I went through an extremely rough patch. We were rowing a lot, and rather than work through it DP would retreat into himself, so essentially it was a case of papering over the cracks. During this time it emerged he had been confiding in a female friend - facebook chats all through the nights when I was at my parent's with DP, meeting up for coffee, and at one point telling me he was meeting a male friend for an evening and instead going out for drinks with her. (I only found out about this when DP was playing with his phone and I took it off him - he'd left it open at text messages between the two of them). I confronted him over this, he swore nothing had happened or would happen, he was very sorry etc etc etc.

It all came to a head over Christmas/New Year, when for various reasons (being badmouthed by his family, him texting various exes and "friends") I left him for some weeks. Eventually we met up at a neutral location and talked through our relationship - he admitted he had been deliberately pushing me away, he knew confiding in the OW was wrong, I told him I felt completely betrayed and then I told him that if we were to make another go of things, I didn't want him having any contact with her whatsoever. He agreed, was very emotional and said enough to reassure me that his priority was DS, me and getting our relationship back on track.

This year has been far better. We talk through our problems, we're more emotionally open with eachother, things have felt fantastic. That is until last week, when I discovered that DP and OW have pretty much been in constant contact all year (he told me that the last time they'd had contact was in January, before I moved back in with him). From what I've been told/have seen, it's been coming from her - most messages end with her asking him if he's free for coffee sometime, and as far as I can tell he hasn't replied, or if he has he's kept it civil and brief.

...and yet I feel so angry. It's like the "wound" has been opened again. I've got all this irrational anger directed towards the OW (a friend of his sister's), I find myself coming over all Miss Marple, wanting to check his phone/email, I keep wanting to confront him and tell him I know they're still friendly. It's going round and round in my head all day everyday and I don't have a clue what to do.

Deep down I know he hasn't been unfaithful, but it still feels like such a betrayal. Posting here I feel like I'm overreating so much - most threads here are about REAL problems, this seems so juvenile but I just needed to get it out of my head. Thanks for reading.

OP posts:
StuffingGoldBrass · 06/12/2010 17:31

It's possible that it is all coming from her, and your H just doesn't want to have to be brutal about telling her to back off. TBH if the woman is needy and inadeqaute then insisting that he cuts contact by telling her harshly to leave him alone forever does seem a bit vindictive as often just ignoring or stonewalling someone can give them the hint.
However, some people are a lot more monogamous than others. You say you fell out previously about him texting or emailing or communicating with his XPS - has he form for shagging any of them while supposedly exclusive to you? Or do you have very high monogamist boundaries ie all communication with other attractive people is suspect? I am friendly with various XPs while having no wish to shag them - the occasional chat on the phone or FB comment and now and again seeing them socially at parties or whatever is fine.

CoffeeAvalanche · 06/12/2010 17:37

In a previous relationship (ten years ago or more) I had jealousy issues, but I think that came down to age (and the fact the boy was a shit) more than anything else. In this relationship I've never had any reason to come over all green eyed until this woman popped up on the scene last year - DP has a fair amount of female friends, some of which I've met and are friends with too, others I haven't met, and I've no issue at all. (In fact it's pretty good at this time of year as they go shopping with him and make sure he doesn't come home with any present disasters!)

It really is just this one woman. I hate the fact that he was confiding in her, and that he concealed the fact they had met up (once? twice? who knows?). I told him that I felt like he'd put her before me, and how much that had hurt and he agreed that he had, and he was sorry for it. I know that issuing an ultimatum wasn't very clever, dignified or mature but I was hurting, and just reacted to that hurt rather than being more rational.

If it was anyone else messaging/emailing him I know I wouldn't be bothered at all. Even the XP in question that he was texting last Christmas!

OP posts:
CoffeeAvalanche · 06/12/2010 17:39

Further to the XP thing - I think my issue at the time wasn't so much that he was texting an XP, just that he was giving them the attention he should have been giving me. He went through a phase of not texting/phoning me at all (eg when I was visiting family), any communication had to be initiated by me. He is very emotionally guarded which drives me crackers but it is something that, this year, has improved a great deal.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page