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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

DH and friend (long)

16 replies

Freckles22 · 22/09/2014 16:50

Name changed as DH knows normal user name although sure he'll be checking to see if I've posted anyway as he knows I'm on here a lot.
Basically was on hols last week with DH, toddler DS and in laws. One morning I had argument with FIL about his overeaction when DS fell over. Had to dash upstairs to calm down but I was shaking with anger at the time and this was compounded by feeling like I hadn't been backed up by DH (which I know now isn't true, he was having words with them while I was upstairs). I then spotted DH's phone on the floor charging and just decided to look through it.
There's distant history before we married of him calling sex chat lines (gay and straight) and looking at porn on his phone. Stems from very difficult time at Uni for him and had been unable to kick the compulsion. We had very difficult period working through it and I thought I'd dealt with it all but clearly trust remains a bit damaged.

Anyway, I found text conversation from the day before we went away between DH and a female colleague which I sort of knew about. She had left his company the week before and he had been to her leaving do and got horrendously drunk the night before she left. I even had to sleep in spare room he was so hammered that night. She started off the texts by saying "have a great hols, get a tan for me, let's get together when you're back xx" My heart sort of stopped but the reply from DH was quite innocuous, just a bit of work gossip but he called her 'love' which I've never know him call anyone and he signed off with a X which is also very rare for him. She went on to say she missed him loads etc and to look forward to seeing him when back. He replied in a similar way, more X's and that was that. I was rattled though. When he came up to check on me I was extremely stressed and in a state - he asked what he'd done. I just demanded he log in to his work emails so that I could see everything that had ever been said between him and this girl. He looked a bit confused but immediately said ok. He then asked why. I told him I'd seen the texts but he was adamant it was just platonic and friendly. He said they'd been good friends at work, she was the only other person who he could talk to about a difficult mutual colleague and he felt a bit low that she was now gone. I just felt it was still too over-familiar and crucially she wasn't a friend he ever really spoke about at home. I listen to him discuss other colleagues all the time.

He logged into his work emails on his phone and handed it straight over. I searched her name in his inbox and opened up the first few most recent emails. The first was from DH sent the morning after her leaving do. He apologised for not being there on her last day but was paying for it with a big hangover and asking her to keep in touch. She then replied with her mobile number and personal email address. The next one was the one that hurt the most. It was from DH on the first Monday after she'd gone saying that he was feeling low, missed her lots and that she was the best friend he had in the company. It was quite pining in tone and I've never know him be that emotionally open. He said that he could easily meet her for lunch when she was settled in her new job. It made me very uncomfortable. She replied and said she missed him too and looked forward to seeing him. Lots of kisses. That was it until the text convo which I found 4 days later. I had it out with him, he was shocked that I felt anything untoward had gone on but I said that I felt like he had been heading towards getting too emotionally involved with her. I asked how he would feel if he had seen something similar between me and a male colleague. How it feels to me to find out that he has been confiding in someone else about how miserable he is at work when he tells me his day has been fine. I also asked how he thinks her DH would have felt to see such a pining email. We managed to get through the last few days of hols but I was in a state on the plane home and when we got back. We talked it over some more and he admitted how it could have looked like boundaries had been crossed and he would really not have liked it had it been the other way round. He said that he just never thought about it in that way and as he doesn't have many friends he was pleased to have clicked with someone. He said he would wait for her to get in touch this week and tell that the friendship is hurting me and why and that ithas to end. He also said he would show me her reply so I could judge for myself how she saw the friendship.

Do you think this is reasonable? Or am I being naive? My head is all over the place, I'm 6 months pregnant so not sure if I'm overreacting but I've been so anxious about him going back to work today and she's not even there anymore. It's also eating me up that if she still was there, I wouldn't know anything about it and they could've drifted into a much closer relationship.

OP posts:
AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 22/09/2014 16:54

It does sound like he was becoming more emotionally attached to her, possibly without thinking about it. It sounds like he's been quite open with you and agreeable to taking steps to stop the situation.

What do you think about it? Does it put your mind at ease somewhat?

kaykayblue · 22/09/2014 16:59

Well I think you might have overreacted slightly, but if there are underlying trust issues and you are 6 months pregnant, then it's sort of understandable.

I can see why him confiding in a female colleague whilst excluding you would be painful, and don't judge you for that. However, you couldn't have really asked for a better reaction from him.

He showed you things straight away, didn't try and blame you for being unreasonable and weird, and gave his side of events. He even offered to let the friendship taper off. Pretty good I'd say.

I think it's easy for people outside to say "you completely overreacted" but if I saw e-mails like this from my partner, I would be quite worried too, as he just isn't the sort of person to open up to others unless he is extremely close to them.

hellsbellsmelons · 22/09/2014 16:59

I have an ex work colleague like this.
He's male but we were such good friends and he is a great guy.
We are still in touch via email and text and meet up with another ex colleague for lunch regularly.
I'd have been lost without him in my last company.
He was my best friend. We shared secrets.
But I was absolutely not attracted to him at all.
Nothing, nada, just really good friends.
It is possible!

Branleuse · 22/09/2014 17:01

i think youre nipping something in the bud before it went further. Tell him you dont want him to contact her anymore

BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted · 22/09/2014 17:03

Nothing you've reported about his conversations with her would worry me particularly. It sounds like a genuine work-type bit of bonding. Honestly, I think you've over-reacted. His response to your demand to see his work emails is very telling. I don't think he's guilty of anything, not even a vague emotional attachment by the sounds of it

Castlemilk · 22/09/2014 17:07

You are not overreacting at all.

And I am someone who has always had really good male friends, some made at work, who I would call intimate friends, I would make a point of spending time with them, sometimes alone if there was an issue requiring private gossiping!

HOWEVER -

  • all of these friendships have always included my partner/H - either because he too would be friends with them or I'd be filling him in on said gossip/angst/whatever that evening;
  • I would not be busy telling my partner everything was 'fine' at work and then saving my real, personal issues with stuff for either a male or female friend;
  • most of all, I would without thinking be open about how I felt about them, eg if a friend had left and it had affected me a lot. Male or female, I'd be saying the same stuff to my partner - 'It's shit now X has left...' etc

I don't think he's necessarily up to anything, but don't you dare feel as if YOU have a problem here. You don't. You especially don't with a man with a history of cheating using phone lines...

Waltermittythesequel · 22/09/2014 17:11

I think you're completely overreacting but understandable with history.

Honestly seemed innocent to me!

Fairenuff · 22/09/2014 17:13

have a great hols, get a tan for me

That's an odd thing to say to a colleague, male or female. Sounds very personal.

^he called her 'love' which I've never know him call anyone and he signed off with a X which is also very rare for him*

Does he do that with his male friends, or other female friends? If not, what is so special about her. That kind of messaging is definitely crossing a boundary.

She went on to say she missed him loads etc and to look forward to seeing him when back. He replied in a similar way, more X's and that was that.

I would keep a very close eye on this friendship, he might be reluctant to give it up but I do think it's best nipped in the bud. The fact that he says she is the only one he can talk to and that they have 'clicked' would be big red flags for me.

Freckles22 · 22/09/2014 18:07

Thanks. I am reassured to hear that I've not been overreacting but equally reassured to hear from some of you that I have been. I do think it has been a bit of an eye opener for him, I get that he might not have realised he had got a bit emotionally attached to her but maybe now he is questioning this. His email to her wasn't matey it was different, I've not seen him write in that way ever. There was an almost longing to see each other again in what they had both written.

He came to meet me at lunch and could tell I was anxious. He asked if I was thinking if she had contacted him today or not. I said yes and he said she hadn't but asked if I just wanted him to text her and get it over with. I'll see if he has or not later.

OP posts:
FelicityGubbins · 22/09/2014 18:15

He sounds decent tbh, I think anything that might have happened has been nipped in the bud and so long as you are happy then great (smile)

And don't feel that you can't check up every now and again, it's not paranoia, it's common sense Wink

Viviennemary · 22/09/2014 18:19

It does sound that at least she was overstepping the mark in being a bit too over friendly with a man she knows is married. However, I don't think there is really anything to worry about at this stage.

RedRoom · 22/09/2014 18:21

I think that there might be a slight bit of interest between them, possibly bordering on flirting. However, in a working environment, people sometimes flirt with people they don't even fancy, just because they are close all day. I was once taught about flirting on a business networking course: touching arms, leaning in, laughing, eye contact and all that stuff! Sometimes, what is just familiarity between friends of the opposite sex (which would be totally fine between two females or even a woman and a gay man) can seem to cross a line because the line is already so thin. I don't think anything untoward has happened though and I don't think the tan comment is at all dodgy.

I think that you can trust him because his reaction was to immediately show you everything and also because you can clearly see from the emails that the most that has happened is that they have stated that really like working with each other. I can't see anything overly flirty, sexual or disrespectful to you.

However, you are right to raise it if it makes you uncomfortable. It means he will have to think twice before firing off the kisses and 'loves' in case it can be read as a come-on to her. He may know that he doesn't fancy her and vice versa, but to an onlooker like you the 'banter' may be a uncomfortably overfamiliar. If he loves you, he will respect that.

Many innocent people could find themselves in this situation with colleagues of the opposite sex: one just has to be very careful not to keep things on the right side of friendly, not flirty.

Quitelikely · 22/09/2014 18:27

I think you were quite right to be concerned. This certainly sounds on the verge of something more but not quite yet. It must also hurt seeing him confide and talk in a way that he never has with you. That would hurt me. I think your early intervention may have prevented anything more developing.

Who knows if he actually will cut all contact. You ought to be there when he writes the text so you can see the response. My thoughts are he may well have contacted her already to warn her.

arsenaltilidie · 22/09/2014 19:01

The women that have male friends that behave like your husband are being very naive.
I can bet my house those men and your DH will never send that sort of message to another male friend.

At the end of the day, your DH and the colleague where about to embark on an affair but you caught them before it started.

Whatthefucknow · 22/09/2014 19:08

V dangerous territory in my opinion. You could orderNot just Friends By Shirley Glass. He needs to read it too.
I think you are right to be proactive about protecting your marriage. Those are definitely a preliminary step before sex.

Freckles22 · 22/09/2014 19:59

Thanks. Have put Not Just Friends on to my kindle. It really resonates.

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