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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

Desperately seeking relationship advice...

73 replies

Bush321 · 20/10/2019 18:55

Right got a feeling this is going to be a long one so sit tight... and congratulations if u make it till the end!

I met my partner in early 2017, I was 30 he was 50. We enjoyed spending time together, it was all very casual but it worked for both of us.

By October 2017 he told me he couldn’t find work in our town but had secured work in another country so off he went. We stayed in touch as friends, with the odd flirty message being exchanged. Then I started visiting him, we started talking daily, not a month would pass without me getting on a flight.

He flew home to visit me, stayed in my house and we started to feel like we were entering into a proper relationship. When either of us left there were tears and promises to see each other soon.

By this point I had really fallen for this man, I told him this and was always met with it will never work while we live so far apart. Every time I broached him with it he shot me down. So I decided not to waste any more time and try live my life for me and be happy here.

I cut contact, met someone else in July 2018 and was getting on just fine. He started messaging me again, telling me he missed me and the other man wasn’t for me. I should get back to seeing him, he promised me marriage and that he would come home to be with me.

So the inevitable happened and I told the other guy it wasn’t working out. I got back into the habit of flying every three weeks to see my partner, with promised he would be home at Xmas 2018, then it was March, June, September and still he isn’t home.

He is now still in the other country, with no job and no where to live (he is kipping on a mates couch) we r nearly in November 2019 and he hasn’t kept to his end of the bargain.

I kno he has feelings for me although he never expressed them very well, he never says he loves me, never compliments me. And tbh I’m starting to feel like I’m wasting my time.

I brought up the subject with him earlier this week that my time waiting for him had come to an end, he was always aware it wasn’t infinite. He promised me again he would come back to move in to my home and start living our lives together.

I came off the phone more positive and thinking this was finally it. I had said I would be willing to pay for his flight home he just had to pick a date (I Thot as he wasn’t working it would be pretty soon)

On speaking with him this morning he’s now informed me he’s looking for “a few more weeks work” where he is...

I have mentally, physically, and financially carried him for the past almost 3 years... should I cut my losses now? Or hold on just another short time to see if he actually comes back to me?

God I sound so pathetic, and I’m actually not. I’m hard working, I have a job, I’m currently studying for my criminology and law degree as well as raising my teenage daughter on my own. I have a good life, I just wish I knew one way or the other if I need to move on or don’t give up hope. Please help

OP posts:
CodenameVillanelle · 22/10/2019 06:48

Hooray! Well done
Now you need to bite the bullet and tell him

Bush321 · 22/10/2019 06:56

Yess!! I may need a lot of hand holding... assertiveness comes very easily to me, I can construct a legal argument with ease... but standing up to this man is something I’ve never been able to manage very well...
I’ve tried to end it on more than one occasion and always come off the fone totally blind sighted x

OP posts:
AllyBamma · 22/10/2019 07:03

So don’t let him blindside you. Just send him a message saying it’s over, not to contact you again and block. You don’t owe him an explanation at all.

Bush321 · 22/10/2019 07:11

Thank u so much AllyBamma... Ur advice has been invaluable

OP posts:
RantyAnty · 22/10/2019 07:13

End it by text so he can't guilt trip you on the phone.
Block him on everything. Change your number if you have to.

He's a con artist and you probably aren't the first woman he's done this to and won't be the last.

PompeyBez · 22/10/2019 07:32

Oh dear OP, this man really has you where he wants you.
I've read the whole thread. At the beginning he sounded like a high flyer with drive and a great career.
Now it's clear he is a cocklodger of the highest order. I can believe a 50 year old man would still be carrying on like this! He really does have you where he wants you!! Whatever you do, don't let this man into your home!! Don't spend another penny on him!
If you're going to break it off (which it sounds like you are) don't let him talk you around. He will know exactly what to say to manipulate you into feeling sorry for him and believing his tales! Write down exactly what you want to say, and then end the call and block!!
Good luck to you, you sound like a lovely kind person, and you definitely deserve better Flowers

Bananalanacake · 22/10/2019 07:33

I am amazed he expects you to pay his flight. doesn t he have any self respect.

MyOtherProfile · 22/10/2019 07:38

So glad you've seen the truth. He doesn't plan to give you anything. If he did he would have come home to you by now. He is leading a drifter's life partially funded by you. Well done for deciding not to fund him any more.

Do not give him any chance to string you along any more.

Sorchamarie · 22/10/2019 07:49

OP, please read quincejam's post again. And then again. You are the most important role model your daughter will ever have. Please teach her, through your example, that she is should never put up with being treated by anyone, how you have accepted (up until now!) being treated. This man is a user through and through. I wish you the very best for getting shot of him and moving on with your life without this leech in it.

Herewego93 · 22/10/2019 08:22

This man sounds exactly like my father in every way. He's now 80 and still the same lodgers and finds women to fund his travel and lifestyle without ever really working or committing to anyone. He's a drifter and a user. They don't change!

You are young and have a daughter. You shouldn't be funding this guys life. People do what they want to do. He's happy smoking weed and mooching off people and doesn't want to commit to anything if he really loved you he'd be with you and would tell you he does all the time.

You're not happy and wasting your life on this loser. 50 sofa surfing and probably spending your money on weed.

Bush321 · 22/10/2019 08:30

Herewego93 that’s scary... I’m sorry to hear that! I always assumed it would stop at some point but ur dads obv 30 years his senior and still doing the same thing

OP posts:
UnaCorda · 22/10/2019 13:02

how do I take a full 360 from telling him I need him home to saying u kno wot I’ve changed my mind

You stop worrying about protecting the feelings of someone who clearly doesn't care about you, that's how.

Bush321 · 22/10/2019 13:42

UnaCorda that makes sense 🤣 I’m so weak

OP posts:
Shortfeet · 22/10/2019 13:48

Do not pay for his flight.

Do not spend another penny facilitating the relationship.

Spend more time and money on just you and your daughter.

Start your new happy life !

Chocolatenuttruffles · 22/10/2019 18:03

I've read the whole thread and it very much sounds like you deserve and can do a lot better than this guy. You have a lot going for you and he doesn't seem to have much going for him. Smoking weed on someone else's sofa at 50 doesn't sound like much of a catch. It's not easy breaking free from an unhealthy relationship and I'm sure the way he has been treating you, stringing you asking like this must have knocked your confidence and made it harder. But well done for realising now. Don't waste any more time thinking about him. End it and enjoy your new life (and healthier finances!) with your daughter. You may start another relationship, but make are it's with someone who treats you as you deserve to be treated and have nothing more to do with this guy!

Chocolatenuttruffles · 22/10/2019 18:04

Sorry about the typos! Urgh. That should be "along" and "sure".

Bush321 · 22/10/2019 18:32

Thank u so much

OP posts:
Jiggles101 · 22/10/2019 19:00

*You want this using bum to move in with you?...are you having a stroke?!
*
😂😂😂

And I absolutely agree! I know I don't know you OP but OMG you can do better!

Bush321 · 22/10/2019 19:45

Think I’ve been conditioned to think that I can’t do better... but that’s something I will need to fix so this doesn’t happen again x

OP posts:
Honeyroar · 22/10/2019 19:56

He's 50 and still farting around sleeping on people's sofas abroad doing bits and bobs of jobs and not committing properly to a relationship!! He sounds like the one who is 20 years younger, not older. He's not matured and he doesn't sound like he's ever going to. You're way ahead of him despite being two decades younger than you. You've wasted far too long on him already. Move on. You will, because you already were with the other bloke until he got back in touch and started filling your head with empty promises. Tell him enough is enough. Ring him, text him, whatever is easiest, but once you have done block/ignore all contact from him for your own sake and that of your daughter.

Desolate2nite · 22/10/2019 20:18

Please end this. I was with someone for 16 years, apart for 11, then got back together 2 years ago. He is 65 now and still doing drugs. I ended the relationship for good just over 2 weeks ago and I feel like a weight has been lifted. I did it by text because I know how manipulative he is and then I changed my number. Don't waste anymore time on this man, he will drag you down x

Desolate2nite · 22/10/2019 20:24

And I'm not longer feeling desolate 😂

RoseyOldCrow · 22/10/2019 20:33

Congratulations, @desolate2nite that is a great thing that you've done for your future self.

Consider yourself a role model 💕

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