Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

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

Married...and fallen for someone else. That old chesnut.

62 replies

Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 11:54

Well, as the title says I am married. 2 kids, 5 and 2 years old. Married life has had lots of downs and well as the ups and it has taken its toll. Last year I considered how life would be if I left my dh. We worked it out and are trying to make life work well together. All is OK. On the surface. But in my head I am a mess.

For the past 2 years I have been very attracted to someone else. Nothing has ever happened but I was pretty sure the attraction was mutual, however I never, ever knew. I had attempted to meet up with him...in a seemingly innocent way in case he didn't have feelings for me e.g. Lunch at friends (when my husband was away with kids). He accepted but then cancelled right at the last minute.

This weekend I suddenly had an urge to see him (had had quite a few drinks). I texted him asking if he fancied meeting up for a drink as I was back in town and out with friends (we recently moved away). He said he couldnt but i persisted (over texts). He then suddenly called me and a 3 hour chat ensued. He admitted he has feelings for me (which made me go weak) but that he can't meet me. He said it could never be just a kiss or sex with us but that feelings would develop and we would fall in love. And he doesn't want to do that to me as I am married. He says it will only bring problems. That's why he cancelled the lunch. He said if he had come he wouldn't have been able to resist me. So he didn't put himself in that position. He's single (divorced) but he was protecting me from a right old mess. He's a very decent man.

I am now feeling devastated and in a right mess. I know he is right, of course I do. But I feel so desperately sad and I just want to see him, see what it is like to kiss him and explore that new exciting relationship. I feel trapped by my marriage, that it stifles me from living how I want. From being me. My husband is very different to me and wants different things. I love him but we have been together since we were very young and it's hard. However ourlittle dc are obviously our priority.

I could go on. I know this is a classic situation and I feel pretty foolish. I know I am basically being a complete bitch and I just have to get a grip on this. But I am struggling. I am fantasising about having an affair. But I don't even have that choice as the other man has said he won't allow me to makes that mistake despite us obviously having a huge attracion between us. But I of course, like an idiot, am trying to work out how to persuade him, to get him to allow me to see him, which he of course wants but is strong enough not to do. Just.

I told him the phone call has affected me hugely and he says this is normal, to be calm and let time go by and it will pass. But i don't want to. I want to see him.

If anyone has any advice on how I can deal with this situation I'd very much appreciate it as I am very jumbled up emotionally right now.

Sorry this is such a long post

OP posts:
rainbowfeet · 04/11/2013 12:01

Prepare yourself for a flaming...(not from me)!

You don't say if your dh feels there are problems in the marriage?? If so could you not suggest relate.? It sounds as though you don't particularly want to end your marriage without trying to repair it first. The grass is very rarely greener take it from someone who knows!!!

JustAnotherFucker · 04/11/2013 12:03

I don't think you do love your husband or you wouldn't be trying to have contact someone else to whom you are attracted Hmm

You should stop all contact and finish your marriage if that is what you wish, but calling it a classic situation doesn't make your behaviour any less awful imo.

Men who cheat follow a well trodden path of those who have gone before. They are all still shits and so will you be if you don't sort out what you actually want.

Harsh I'm afraid, but its no less worse because you are a woman who feels the need to cheat on her partner.

Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:04

We've been to counselling, yes. Things have improved since. But there are still issues.

If I get a flaming, so be it, as long at it is constructive. I am really struggling.

I know i'll be judged and I know what I am doing and feeling is wrong. But i don't know how to change it. My husband has started working away so I am now alone in a new place all week and I have too much time to think.

OP posts:
Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:06

I agree, calling it a classic situ doesn't make it better.

OP posts:
Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:06

And questioning if I still love my husband scares the shit out me as we are a family.

OP posts:
peking · 04/11/2013 12:09

What are the issues? Perhaps we can help a little.

tingle1 · 04/11/2013 12:09

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

LittlePeaPod · 04/11/2013 12:10

Oh for god sake, not another one....

Op get a grip, if you are that unhappy that you are desperately trying to start an affair with someone that clearly as more morals than you then leave your DH. He deserve better than to be living a lie with a woman that has no respect for him or his feelings. If you are unhappy, then leave.

Thank god OM seems to have more morals and is tying to do the right thing.

MerryMarigold · 04/11/2013 12:11

I think you do know how to change it. You contact. You delete his number. He is right. You will get over it.

If you work on your marriage for a while, it doesn't work out, you separate...Then who knows what may happen 5 years down the line (although I also agree with the grass is never greener)...

I think saying you don't know what to do, and you are out of control is speaking like a complete victim. You are not. You have choices and control. Exercise them!

MerryMarigold · 04/11/2013 12:11

You cut contact, that should say

JustAnotherFucker · 04/11/2013 12:12

Take up a hobby? Make an effort to make new friends? Work out how to end your marriage as nicely as possible if that is what you want.

Courting someone other than your long term committed partner is not a way to alleviate boredom.

Fwiw arranging an 'innocent' meet up while your husband was away with the dcs is really shitty.

His 'I can't trust myself' means he is either a) waiting until its convenient for him to meet you, or b) a cack-handed way of saying he's simply not interested the way you are.

Both cases call for you to back off for your own sake as well as for the sake of your current relationship.

BlueSkySunnyDay · 04/11/2013 12:12

Well you have two decent courses of action

  1. Finish your marriage, which will leave you free to persue this relationship which may or may not work.
  1. Put this guy out of your mind, if he creeps in literally, deliberately think about something else and work harder on your marriage. Get a hobby if you are bored, there isnt a "have an affair" aisle in Hobbycraft, there are lots of other things you could be doing Hmm

Option 3 - the shitty one - carry on pursuing another man behind your husband's back.

Its quite simple really, are you a decent person or not?

kinkyfuckery · 04/11/2013 12:12

He is not a "very decent man". He is embarking on an affair with a married woman - what's decent about that?

Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:12

The issues....we fundamentally disagree on how we want our lives to be. I'd like to buy a house, he wants to rent. I like socialising, he doesn't. He is too tired to have sex and I feel neglected and there is no intimacy as a result. I want to take life by the balls and live it...and he wants a much quieter lfe than me.

OP posts:
scaevola · 04/11/2013 12:13

"explore that new exciting relationship" - there is no new relationship. You are fantasising on that point.

You are lucky - the object of your fantasies, despite your pestering him to the pont of harassment, has let you down gently and said something which is absolutely true: he's preventing a "right old mess'.

You need to make choices now about your marriage. Do you think it can be improved? Do you even want to improve it?

If you want to be single and pursue other men, you can.

JustAnotherFucker · 04/11/2013 12:14

Well end your marriage then.

Or be a twat.

Your choice.

peking · 04/11/2013 12:15

I think maybe you feel unfulfilled and want to try new things in life. I can relate to that! Tired please try and find other avenues in life to explore and you can socialise without your husband.

Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:16

This is whyI needed write this post I guess. To hear how much of a twat I am being to be honest! It's hard with just my own thoughts rattling around.

I'm not a victim, just a bit lost at the moment. But up to me to sort it out.

OP posts:
Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:17

Thanks peking, very true

OP posts:
Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:17

Thanks scaevola, good advice

OP posts:
DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 04/11/2013 12:18

This man you fancy has done you a massive favour by not leaping at you.
Now that you know he isn't averse to you it's going to play on your mind all the more. I wish you could put all that energy into being honest with your H and looking at where you go from here.

When you and H patched things up, did he know there was someone else you had your sights on? If so he is taking a risk working away. It's not really a whole-hearted effort at making life work well together if H is in the dark and you're fantasising about the other guy.

Suppose you and H split up, will the other person still be interested? Do you hope no other female sparks his interest in the meantime, is he waiting for you? And if things don't work out with OM? What if he isn't interested in taking on a 5 and 2 year old?

peking · 04/11/2013 12:19

I can sympathise with your situation. You're bored of your marriage and feel like your DH isn't giving you enough attention/intimacy. Exciting new man comes along and makes you feel alive again. It's an intoxicating emotion and very hard to resist after years of normalcy. But unfortunately lust doesn't last!

Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:20

That's it in a nutshell Peking

OP posts:
Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:23

Donkeys, no my Husband doesn't and didn't know. But until recently it was just a fantasy in my mind. It's only now it has been acknowledged with the OM.

I'm not going to leave my husband.

OP posts:
Tiredofthinking · 04/11/2013 12:24

And yes, he has done me a huge favour, i know

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread