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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

I'm having an affair

231 replies

Rgy3250999 · 27/04/2018 15:09

Well I don't quite know where to start.

I've been with my DH for well over a decade, since we were teens and we have a young family together. We used to fight and fall out a lot when we first started dating, probably because we weren't overly compatible and he didn't show me a lot of affection. I have issues in the past which I accept have probably made me quite needy, although he really wasn't affectionate a lot. We both had family issues and I suppose that pushed us together even more as our relationship was like a form of escapism.

Fast forewarn a number of years and we had a family together. The arguments calmed down but we still weren't affectionate and sex was very rare and not great (little effort from him mostly).

I have had depression (undiagnosed so presumed) and haven't been the easiest person to live with at times. I've struggled to hold down a job due to social anxiety and his lack of affection meant that I used to question him a lot after nights out and ask about work colleagues etc. I know this was wrong and I understand this has probably pushed him away. He used to look at porn but then stopped because I felt quite jealous so now when I talk about his low libido, he's quick to remind me that he was more normal until I interfered.

Anyway, we have tried to make it work and plodded on. Deep down we do get on but there is a lot of resentment on both sides and when we have tried to make an effort, it feels forced and fake. It never lasts and we go back to our usual routine of being like friends with little interest in each other and not much affection or physical contact. We don't argue much now as I think we're both past that stage and we do get on ok, but it's not fulfilling.

So, I was feeling lonely and stupidly set up a profile on an online dating site with a fake picture. Not to get dates or anything, but to have conversation with other men and remember what it felt like to be young and have that excitement. I intended to stop and delete the profile but it became addictive and I probably withdrew further from my marriage.

After a few weeks, I exchanged numbers with one man and we talked a few times (he still didn't know what I looked lIke) and it led to phone sex late one evening whilst my DH was in bed. However, he wondered where I was and came looking for me very quietly and caught me. I felt terrible and he shouted and got upset. I explained what I had done and why and told him that these men hadn't got a picture of me and I hadn't met anyone. He eventually agreed to forgive me and we both said we'd try to get the spark back. I cut off contact with that other man and deleted my profile.

Then a few months later, my husband was poorly and I was trying to look after him and the kids. He spent over a week in bed sleeping and I was lonely. The sex and affection that had been promised hadn't been overly forthcoming even before he was poorly and I was now so tempted to create a new profile that one evening I signed up to the site again. I chatted to various men briefly and eventually one man came along that seemed really nice. He wasn't amazingly good looking but we clicked and he made me laugh. We exchanged numbers and talked a few times on the phone, plus sent hundreds of messages and I felt addicted to the attention and having so much fun. I knew I should stop but I couldn't.

After a few weeks of talking, he suggested we meet and that's when I thought it would end. I was just going to ignore him or block him as i knew it was over anyway but because he had been so lovely and I'd basically tricked him, I opened up about my home life and told him the truth. To my amazement, he didn't block me. He said he was sad as he had felt such a connection and hadn't gelled with anyone that well, even when we talked on the phone. I agreed as it was effortless and so natural. I was that taken aback by him not blocking me that I agreed to meet him. I didn't think I was capable of it really as I'm very shy normally and have social anxiety issues. I also knew it would be wrong and the voice in my head said it'd be ok because I would stop myself. I've always told DH that I'd never meet anyone else and believed that to be true as it had only ever been talking and I did/do love DH and my family.

That day I was so nervous but I met him. It was like I had forgotten everyone else (selfishly) and pretended to be an actress or someone else so I wasn't doing anything wrong. We had a long walk together in the sunshine and although I was nervous, we laughed a lot and it was really nice. We had a few kisses and cuddles and although it felt a bit awkward as deep down I knew it was wrong, I didn't want to stop. Still I told myself that this would be it and I'd end it. I had proved to myself that I could still date and be found attractive and I thought that was all I wanted.

He messaged a lot after that meeting though and I couldn't stop the contact. My DH didn't suspect anything and although he's a nice man really and a good father, home was boring and the messaging was exciting and actually felt far more loving than what I had at home.

Fast forward another week and this online man asked me for another date. This time to the cinema. Again, I didn't think I'd turn up but I did and thinks felt amazing. It was like we were a proper couple. We were further away from my home so I could relax and not worry about being caught. We held hands and cuddled a lot and then it turned really quite passionate with the kissing. I could feel he was erect whilst we kissed and I knew he wanted me. He said he hadn't felt anything that electric and passionate before and that he thought he was falling for me. Part of me felt terrible but then another part knew he meant it and I felt truly loved. He really looked after me and kept looking at me when he thought I wasn't looking and stroked/kissed my hands so gently.

After the film, he asked if I'd like to see his new home as he had just moved a few days before and said I could visit him (or not, no pressure) at any time and he would love to see me. I agreed to go to his place and followed him back in the car.

I knew we would kiss and I was actually a bit scared of how I felt and what I'd allow myself to do but still I didn't turn around. We got inside and kissed a lot. We laid on his bed cuddling and he made me feel amazing. The kissing was so passionate and we were both massively turned on. Although I didn't allow him to touch my naked body, he groped me a lot and I ended up giving him a hand job. Afterwards, it still felt amazing. We laughed, we talked, we cuddled. He got another erection and it felt good that someone wanted me so much.

So that was yesterday and now I'm wondering, what next. If we meet again next week, I'm sure he will touch me at the very least and I'm fairly sure we will end up having sex. This is already an affair but having sex would really seem like a proper affair to me, especially as me and DH were both virgins when we met and haven't been with anyone else. My head is a mess and I don't know what to do. I can't believe what I've already done and either my DH or this other man is going to get hurt which I didn't want.

OP posts:
butterballs9 · 29/04/2018 21:14

Op told us what the problem was right at the beginning of the post: "We used to fight and fall out when we first started dating - probably because we weren't overly compatible and he didn't show me a lot of affection."

OP - you and your spouse are just not that into each other.

End of. You'd be doing him a favour by ending it too.

SoupDragon · 30/04/2018 07:26

This is an entirely normal response

Shagging someone else isn’t.

Who knows what he was doing when he was out and about.

That is irrelevant. Don’t make stuff up. What we do know is that the OP has joined a dating site, been wanking off some random and having phone sex whilst her husband was asleep upstairs.

Ellenripleysalienbaby · 30/04/2018 07:43

What's with all the erection detail?

Oblomov18 · 30/04/2018 07:48

This is painful to read. You had choices, you still do. Please have the grace to acknowledge this.

Claire90ftm · 30/04/2018 15:53

"I had a really crap childhood"? Ha! Well boo-hoo. That gives you an excuse to be a cheat!

paranoidpammywhammy2 · 30/04/2018 16:04

I think there are decent ways to deal with relationships but many people seem to 'overlap', no one is perfect. At least you have been honest afterwards.

End your marriage.

Sort yourself out.

Possibly then contact wankee!

supersop60 · 30/04/2018 16:45

OP - cheaters don't get much sympathy on here. Sort out your marriage first. no-one will judge you for being unhappy. Then you can look elsewhere. Cheating is shit for everyone concerned.

butterballs9 · 01/05/2018 22:06

Errr... her husband was using porn and ignoring her...that's just as bad as an affair in my opinion - actually worse, much worse.

I could completely understand an affair - but using porn and pretending that was 'normal' - eeeek!! A bit like using prostitutes....double eeek!!!

butterballs9 · 01/05/2018 22:09

Op - your husband should have grown a pair and admitted to you when he used porn and didn't show you affection that in fact he wasn't really into you. He's a coward - I can totally understand why you sought refuge elsewhere. An affair is much braver than using porn which is just revolting and hideous, like prostitution.

RainySeptember · 01/05/2018 22:23

She asked him to stop using porn and he did.

He asked her to stop sexting internet randoms and she carried on. In fact, she stepped it up a gear.

vodkaandcranberry · 01/05/2018 22:35

That made such horrible reading. Your poor husband and children.

SoupDragon · 02/05/2018 08:10

An affair is much braver than using porn

Oh yes, shagging another man is SO brave! Give that woman a medal.

FFS. 🙄

Anasnake · 02/05/2018 15:37

Porn is worse than an affair ?????? Hmm OK

PanGalaticGargleBlaster · 02/05/2018 15:55

Errr... her husband was using porn and ignoring her...that's just as bad as an affair in my opinion - actually worse, much worse

I know MN has its fair share of loons but i think you have stolen the crown of fuckwittery.

butterballs9 · 02/05/2018 16:12

Ha! Pan - is that the best you can do? Label anyone who doesn’t agree with you as a ‘loon’? Hilarious. Yes, I would rather my soon to be ex husband had had an affair than was a heavy porn user or paid for sex. Just because you think a certain way, it doesn’t mean it’s the right way to think or even the way everyone else thinks. Heavy porn is degrading and exploitative to women and it is known to lead to very unrealistic expectations about sex. Prostitution is also exploitative. Yes, affairs can be painful and messy but they can also be a catalyst for much-needed change. What about situations where one person withholds sex and intimacy for no good reason (as is the case here). The OP has said she is starved of affection - this is a basic human need. This marriage sounds like utter shite and I can totally understand why she found solace in the arms of another man. Monogamy is highly over-rated in any case. You are simply having a knee jerk reaction to a complicated situation. A wedding ring does not signify possession - if OPs husband is not prepared to give her what most people would say was a basic need then I think she should find it elsewhere and, if possible and practicable, make an exit strategy.

butterballs9 · 02/05/2018 16:16

I didn’t have an affair while I was married not because I didn’t want to but because I am too risk-averse. I think all the sanctimonious stuff is mostly nonsense - it’s to do with one’s attitude to risk and also the degree to which you are terrified that your own spouse might do just that. I got to the stage where I was desperate for my husband to have an affair but he refused.... 😆

amIevenalive · 02/05/2018 16:20

Finding out your partner has been unfaithful is the worst pain I have ever felt, It has destroyed so many peoples lives. No one is happy now. I would not wish this pain on anyone one. Pls Pls don't do it end it now, or leave your husband, no one deserves this.

SoupDragon · 02/05/2018 17:14

What about situations where one person withholds sex and intimacy for no good reason (as is the case here).

It’s quite straightforward. You end the marriage.

SoupDragon · 02/05/2018 17:21

I think all the sanctimonious stuff is mostly nonsense - it’s to do with one’s attitude to risk

By “sanctimonious stuff” do you mean the people who think an affair is wrong? It’s fuck all to do with “one’s attitude to risk” and all to do with “one’s” personal moral code.

MadMags · 02/05/2018 17:32

I think you need to be close to the dregs of humanity if you think it’s sanctimonious not to fuck someone else while you’re married. Jesus!

KingHenrysCodpiece · 02/05/2018 19:02

Affairs are wrong, but often there are mitigating circumstsnces that make ordinarily decent people start affairs. For many, its a way of temporary bailing out without having to make a full scary move to end the marriage. Sort of like exchanging one pillow for another and never having to be in that frightening space where you have nothing but yourself to rely on. Ending a marriage can be a genuinely terrifying prospect for some people that they dont feel able for whatever reason to do. Not everyone has the strength to simply end it. And I sometimes imagine how miserable a space to live in that must be.

Gingerninj · 02/05/2018 19:32

I can't believe I just managed to read all that. Either this is fake or you're a really selfish person. Social anxiety, can't work...has phone conversations with complete strangers and then decides to meet one of them...where is the logic in that? I'm not perfect myself, I've struggled with depression and anxiety on and off since I was about 11. Never did I feel the need to blame this on the stupid shit I've done. It was you who had the affair, not your mental health. Apologies for being rude

shammy1b · 02/05/2018 20:46

Pls can everyone get a grip n stop slating..im no angel been cheated on by long term partner with whom with have kids and ive done cheating in past..yes its not nice BUT people dont just wake up and think oh today im gonna cheat..shit happens caused by both parties to make someone cheat regardless of whether she gave handjob or phone sex if dh had TRIED AFTER she sat him down and told him how she felt and was open to talk about problems at hand then maybe she wouldn't have been pushed to this extent...simple so everyone get off your high horses and wonder why you got cheated on..sometimes its not all about sex and yes I KNOW IT HURTS but when I moved on ut made me assess why men kept cheating on me and how I should approach future relationships.. yes I realised too that i was selfish and just lived a mundane life and we wasnt ob same page but i wouldnt take part blame or talk same as her hubby seems to be doing and when shit hits the fan even though she has tried before all this affair shenanigans began she is still slated as the devil incarnate..affairs are not black and white ok

shammy1b · 02/05/2018 20:48

Sorry for typos..stupid phone wasnt made for my big fingers lol

butterballs9 · 02/05/2018 20:52

Amlevenalive - yes, I've been in that place. But it didn't destroy my life or his life or anyone else's life. Yes - I was devastated and forgave and then it happened again...and again....and then I had had enough by which time it was my partner who was devastated. He couldn't believe that I wouldn't put up with all his shitty behaviour for ever. He thought I would be like his mother and turn a blind eye. Well, I wouldn't and I didn't and he lost me. His loss. Good lesson to learn all around.

Soup - if it was 'quite straightforward' to end a marriage there would not be divorce lawyers who earn hundreds of thousands of pounds, not to mention an industry devoted to marriage counselling and guidance. Not to mention a lot of psychotherapy. And, come to think about it, a huge industry devoted to 'bringing the romance' back into a marriage dinners/dates/fast cars/expensive clothes etc, etc. It is so NOT straightforward to end a marriage ESPECIALLY if there are children involved. And in some cultures it is STILL practically impossible to end a marriage.

Madmags - marriage is an artificial institution. Of course it can be great, but it does not mean the two people in it are 'in love'. They may not even like each other. It in no way prevents either one or indeed both of the people in it falling in love with other people or even, as you put it, fucking other people. Often the very people who are supposed to be fucking each other - ie: the married people - are the only ones who aren't! It is human nature to want what you cannot have. This is where my point about being risk averse comes in. While there must be many people who have toyed with the idea of infidelity (if only in their own minds) you have to be a risk-taker to go ahead with it because it might just lead to the bust-up of a marriage with all the pain , chaos and financial consequences (this latter is a biggie for men, imo).

KingHenry - I do like a voice of reason. A great many of the reasons why people stay within the institution of marriage are I imagine practical. (See above - money is a huge motivator. As is the custody of children of course.)

Ginger - the OP sounds very unselfish to me. She has constantly referred to guilt, pain and shame and not wanting to hurt people. Sounds like she is the one person who IS hurting. She and her partner are stuck in a loveless and sexless marriage where there is no affection. Social anxiety must be a horrible thing to deal with. Her partner used porn and when she quite rightly remonstrated and he stopped he blamed her for 'interfering' claiming his libido had been fine before. In other words, he needs porn but not his wife to get turned on.

I don't think the OP even claimed the mental health issues were responsible for the affair. She had a less than perfect childhood, which is normal. She then married a man she probably shouldn't have done (sounds like he feels the same way) and tried to find and create affection within the marriage, which is fair enough. Her husband either wouldn't or couldn't be affectionate even after she repeatedly tried to ask him. She reached out to find attention, affection and a physical connection elsewhere as she wasn't finding it at home.

Sounds quite sensible to me. We also do not have the husband's side of the story. While he may, of course, be as squeaky clean as the day he was born and a thoroughly wronged and cuckolded young man, he may just as well not be. IT would be completely wrong to assume that he is entirely blameless in all this. He isn't. He is withholding affection which is a type of emotional abuse.

Whatever one thinks about the use of porn it can have a negative effect on a couple's sex life and create completely unrealistic expectations plus create a tendency to objectify people. Neither of which are conducive to affection, warmth, tenderness and all those feel-good emotions that many people need in order to want to get physical with another person.

An affair is such a heavily-loaded word yet if you look through history the mistress and the lover have often had a vital role to play in romance, love - and not to mention propping up the marriage. (Now the French have an expression for this, but they would do, wouldn't they? Can't remember what it is.)

When I was still (reasonably happily) married I used to tell my husband it was okay if he took on a mistress as long as I got to check her out first. No bunny boilers!

(Ok - the above was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but no way was I going to be jealous, possessive wife as I have seen how husbands respond to this....)