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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

Female friend? Advice

45 replies

alexis97 · 22/01/2025 10:52

Hi everyone, I'm married and have been with OP for 5 years. We had the most brilliant relationship until he left his job in the army and went to the prison service.

He has a female friend he works with who I have never really been fond of due to things I hear but I have never interfered because it's my husbands friendship and I'm not that wife. I've always been very respectful to female friends.

This female friend confided a lot in my husband when her relationship was crumbling and eventually came to an end. She's been absent from work for a little while.

Long story short I lost my phone in the house. Our 1 year old loves to hide my phone so I assumed he had put it somewhere. I let him know I was going to call my phone with his, I then opened his phone to his chat with her, no previous messages and a message from him to her "I really miss you and can't wait to see you" I obviously was miffed, I asked why this came about and he said he'd spoke to her on the phone on his way home she called him. So I looked on his call logs and he deleted the call history, so yet again pressed him and he said he knows I'm not fond of her and doesn't want me to get upset if I seen it which makes no sense because I seen the message before he had chance to delete it. and that he does miss his friend and it's lonely at work without her. I pressed again and he said he didn't know why he did it. I'm obviously upset because if he's deleting things so I don't see them what else is he hiding? I don't know what to do we have 2 children. I've gave this man so much love and support. I'm at the end of my rope.

OP posts:
LongDarkTeatime · 26/01/2025 14:06

Lavalampsarehot · 26/01/2025 11:03

There’s another thread on here about men and women being friends at work and texting.

If work is toxic and lonely - he may have crossed the boundary and declared he misses her. It doesn’t necessarily mean cheating. But he mustn’t let that emotional attachment grow.

You guys need to sit down and have a chat. He needs to be accountable for crossing the line and then you need to choose whether you can heal together.

Personally, I have been the one to text “I miss you” to a male colleague simply because work was so bloody awful (tribunals, bullying and redundancies)…I’ve since realised this crosses a million boundaries and I’ll never do it again. I talked to my DH about it in depth and I acknowledged that it wasn’t acceptable.

Don’t jump to conclusions. But make sure your DH acknowledges it and takes accountability

As others have said, this is sensible advice.

However he must have had a strong reason to go to the trouble of deleting evidence of their contact. This is what would concern me. Does this come from concern as to your reaction on learning of appropriate contact? Or does it come from guilt at what he’s knows is inappropriate contact being discovered?

bluebalou · 26/01/2025 14:10

I'd tell him to back off or leave his job or we'd be done, no way would I put up with second guessing, something is going on there and you know that l.

Honeyphilpott88 · 26/01/2025 14:19

I have been through a very similar scenario, gaslighted for over 2 1/2 years (that I know of) the deleted messages and phone calls on the way home and deleted from the call log..brings it all back for me x

Boymama13 · 26/01/2025 15:33

Sjh15 · 26/01/2025 10:48

No chance I’d be anywhere near ok if my DP sent that to anyone. That’s the sort of message he’d send me when we were getting together

Absolutely this, I would still send my DH texts like this, even more so when he's working and the kids are doing my head in.

SprySheep · 26/01/2025 15:45

He is 100% having affair. The prison service is rife for it, along with the police force & NHS.

1HappyTraveller · 26/01/2025 15:45

I’d put money on it that he is cheating.

Even if he denies it please go to the sexual health clinic. You can’t stop what he’s doing but you can look after your own health. Get a check up.

edited due to typo

Lavalampsarehot · 26/01/2025 15:46

SprySheep · 26/01/2025 15:45

He is 100% having affair. The prison service is rife for it, along with the police force & NHS.

Never knew this! Crikey

SprySheep · 26/01/2025 15:48

Lavalampsarehot · 26/01/2025 15:46

Never knew this! Crikey

My partners ex wife was a prison officer & then a police officer & she had affairs in both jobs. It’s very common.

NaThandie · 26/01/2025 15:50

I divorced my ex because of such behavior ,so I don't think my advice will benefit you. One thing I will advise is that ,being a housewife and a mom only benefits you and the kids while the men takes advantage of being free. I honestly think it's more than friendship.

Weyohweyoh · 26/01/2025 15:57

Trust your instincts. You know what is going on here. Hope you’re ok x

Worcestershirem0mmy · 26/01/2025 21:29

Do not trust 99% of prison officers. I have ten years experience working across two prisons and I am telling you I’ve never seen cheating like it.
Men and woman in long term, previously happy marriages somehow crumble so quickly as soon as they are inside those prison walls away from their families.

Firefly27 · 26/01/2025 21:31

Obviously , it’s an ongoing affair. He will deny it with all his might and even promise he will break all communication (all farce . He will continue) may even agree to go on counselling (all farce again ! Just to get you to back off and simmer down ) . Emotional attachments more so than sexual (I’m sure they are sleeping together too ) are not easy to break esp when they weren’t intending It’s upto you what you want to do next !

FallenRaingel · 26/01/2025 22:18

Do you have access to his phone bill @alexis97? After I kicked out an ex the extent of his cheating was there. Itemised. Both sims on my contract and although texts and calls aren't charged (the photos he sent were) it was all still itemised.

TheTigerWhoCameToEatMyArsehole · 26/01/2025 22:28

Cheating isn't always kissing, touching or flirting. If he's got to delete text messages so you won't see them, he's already there.

If he has to sneak to do it, lie to cover it up or delete it from being seen then he probably shouldn't be doing it.

MsDogLady · 27/01/2025 07:37

@alexis97, I would bet big money that he is cheating. He and OW have built an intimate, romantic relationship based on a Rescuer/Damsel dynamic, and he’s been covering his disloyal tracks by deleting their chat. In addition to those damning words, he has form for dodgy behavior with other women. He has been treating you like shit on his shoe in general, and you’ve written numerous threads detailing this.

To summarize, he has:
*Treated you like a stranger and withdrawn affection.

*Followed and liked female coworkers’ risqué photos, and called/messaged one of them outside of work.

*Told your mortgage broker that if he wasn’t married he’d ask her out. She responded that you 3 could have a date to Netflix and chill. He proceeded to add her on Facebook, and, when you objected, he said that he’d remove her … but he lied and kept her.

*Masturbated to a schoolmate’s photo that he keeps in his phone.

*Messaged his Ex.

*Hidden his phone, keeping it under his pillow every night.

*Committed to holidays with colleagues without letting you know, just assuming that you’ll manage all your work and family responsibilities (toddler with autism and new baby) in his absence.

*Ditched your birthday plans for him (rare date night, comedy club) to go on holiday with new colleagues he’d known for a month, so you had to sell the tickets.

*Immediately after you all returned from a trip (12 hours of travel) and you were struggling to organize the house and corral bouncy children, he announced that he wanted to leave to attend a friend’s wedding, which was fine with you. He said he’d just have a few drinks and would be home at a reasonable hour … but stayed out until 8 a.m., allegedly in a mate’s room.

*You moved and gave up your dream job so he could leave the army. You’ve always treated him with great care, but he doesn’t reciprocate. He ruined your enjoyment of your 2nd pregnancy via his sordid behavior and his minimizing your physical issues and later PND. (Example: when you had a diagnosed sudden drop in blood sugar, he and his family said it was all in your head.) He habitually dismisses your feelings and couldn’t care less when he upsets you. His cyclothymia is no excuse for his lack of empathy and callous disregard.

I’m sure that I’ve left out other examples of his massive disrespect, immaturity, and self-serving boundary crossing. In one thread you actually used the word infidelity but didn’t elaborate as to whether you were referring to the sleazy behavior described above or something else.

@alexis97, you’ve written about the extreme emotional and medical abuse you suffered at the hands of your mother as the target of her Munchausen by proxy. You now have a painful medical condition caused by the strong meds you were prescribed in your youth because of this dangerous woman’s lies. You never even had the illness that she convinced the doctor you had. You cut her off, but she still rears her monstrous head occasionally to cause trouble.

Your childhood trauma was so normalized, and I wonder if that plays a part in your continued tolerance of your H’s mistreatment. Consider accessing IC for support.

Returning to the question at hand, I believe this lying cheat is up to no good. He and OW are having affair. After this betrayal and because of all his other faithless actions and contemptuous behavior, it would be game over for me.

TheLovelinessOfDemons · 27/01/2025 15:38

Canonlythinkofthisone · 26/01/2025 13:39

I have a male work friend. We get on very well and have friendly chats, exchange pics of what we're doing, what the kids are doing, what the dogs doing, etc
I've absolutely no reason to delete the messages, any more than I would a conversation with one of my female friends.
Shady as and I'd be asking more questions in your shoes. Sorry

I had a jealous partner and I deleted texts and hid my phone bc he believed I was sleeping with everyone, male or female, bosses, work coaches, whoever.

IMBananas666 · 27/01/2025 20:26

Probably an unpopular opinion, I don't think spouses should have close friends that they could be attracted to our have feelings for. It's too tempting. He should willingly give up this dangerous friendship. Make him choose her or you. If he talks, you have your answer. Marriage counseling as well.

Phoenixfire1988 · 31/01/2025 14:44

My ex and I have 3 children together and one on the way he had been acting strange for a while and it had caused so many problems and arguments, he wouldn't tell me anything and refused to let me look at his phone anyway he had to give me the pin for his old phone when I took it for repair and he hadn't wiped it .......
I found out he'd been spending all his money on drugs and sending messages to only fans type women and they were grim 11 years of my life down the pan in that 1 moment,I threw him out immediately because I was not tolerating being lied to and gaslit and he willingly let me get into debt and struggle to feed our kids while he was shoving his wages up his nose .
Trust your gut in my experience it's rarely wrong

Phoenixfire1988 · 31/01/2025 15:05

After seeing msdogladys summary of your past posts why are you even with this man ?? You need to polish that backbone of yours and leave him then seek a therapist to stop you falling into this trap again your past trauma is clearly clouding your ability to deal with situations properly it's not good for you or your children and he will never change.
It never ceases to amaze me what some women will tolerate and allow

MsDogLady · 31/01/2025 20:43

@Phoenixfire1988, I’m so sorry that this cheating addict has betrayed you and your children in such a heinous way. Kudos for kicking him out. Beware of his false, manipulative promises to change.

@alexis97, how are things going now?

The remark he made to OW shows that they are operating on an established level of (non-platonic) intimacy that is totally out of order for a partnered man. He deletes their messages to protect their illicit relationship. As evidenced by his transgressions listed my previous post, he has been acting like a single man and treating you with utter contempt since starting the new job. This man is not a safe, faithful partner, so I hope you are taking definitive action and formulating an exit plan.

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