Avoid Those with Silver Tongues

Vertical Horizon's lyrics of "He says all the right things, at exactly the right time" have become an omen of oncoming treachery to me. Since being introduced to the song ("Everything You Want") by an ex boyfriend of mine, I've become wary of any person that is a smooth talker and seems to say "everything you want to hear."

The men and women that have silver tongues and quick wits; I find... to be the biggest liars and heart breakers.

The ex-boyfriend, let's call him Tommy, was actually a friend of another ex of mine. He was engaged when we met, and from the lips of him and his partner they were swingers. So when his friend and I broke up, I didn't find it to be immoral to start an "affair" with him. Lo and behold, he never actually told her that we were sleeping together (fun side note: this is the guy that took my virginity). With the news in my mind I told him that I hated him and apologized to his partner since I thought he had told her but instead went behind her back and made me "the other woman."

A year or so goes by and I'm at a party which he happens to be hosting, I get a little too tipsy and cry into his shoulder about how I think I still have feelings for him. Seeing this, he kisses me (he is still dating this girl at the time). All three of us agree to what I would call open dating (?). One night, he and I talk and I tell him to choose between us because it isn't fair to anyone. He chooses me.

We start regularly dating and he is still friends with her, which I'm not thrilled about but both of my best friends are exes of mine, so I didn't really think it would be right for me to ask him to stop talking to her. A few months go by, we've talked about getting married, the future, blah blah blah. One day, after having sex, his dad texted him and I asked him if he wanted to respond. He said yes. I open his phone and respond to his dad. Now, the six months we've been dating I've voiced to him my concerns about her and how close they are. He always assured me they were friends and that I was being jealous and crazy to think that of him.

I'm not usually one to snoop... but I see that he also receives a text from her.

"I can't wait to see you."

"I can't wait to just be together."

"I just want to sleep next to you forever."

I immediately feel my blood boil, shake him awake, and tell him that he better tell me that I all of a sudden can't read English. Of course, he turns and says it's an invasion of privacy... which yeah. I'm head over heels for this guy... like stupid in love. So when I agreed to still go to a party he was hosting with a friend of mine, I planned to show him he should still be choosing me.

Seeing them together knocked my anxiety in hyper mode and I often went outside for a few breaths (and admittedly a few smokes). When he came outside to talk to me because apparently people were asking about it, I get emotional and he tells me that if I can't calm down that he will find me a ride home. I walk inside, slamming the door behind me, calling for the friend I came with. Tommy storms in, bellowing "you do not slam the door in my house!"

My response was "maybe you shouldn't cheat on me then." That was when I felt the stinging from his hand on my cheek. My friend basically flew across the room, since he was going for it again. Several people tore him from the general area. I was so in shock, I couldn't do anything but cry and yell at his (now fiance) "if you want him after this, have him."

This...I'm reluctant to call him a man, gaslit me for months, manipulated two women in his life, lied straight to my face, cheated on me for five out of the SIX months we dated and had the audacity to act like the victim in all this.

I have a deep set hatred for him and anyone that seems too sly, too cunning, too charming. There's a deep, dark, fiery pit in hell for him... and to this day... I can't stand his name .