My Worst Date

It had been a year since that hot July day when I told him I was leaving. He acted hurt, and stood there the next day faking tears as I pulled my car away with my two dogs in back.

His idea of coping was to move a woman into his home that was twenty-two years younger than him, but I'd known for a while that they were messaging each other behind my back. That part wouldn't have bothered me so much except for the fact she was a witch in sheep's clothing, and her mean spirit was woven into a fine cloth of manipulation that hurt those around her.

There was a time when the three of us were good friends, online at least, but even then I could feel how jealous and possessive she was with him. She would pout and go offline if he didn't pay attention to her, or spent too much time talking to me. Sometimes I would get his attention on purpose to make her angry because she was so spoiled, so his moving her in didn't surprise me.

As fate would have it, I found myself in a bad situation with a male roommate, and by this time I had nobody else to call for help but him and his girlfriend. She insisted I come and stay with them, an idea I found all too curious, but I didn't have any choice, so they picked me and my belongings up and we headed back to their house.

Within a week, they decided we should all go camping, and that was the worst idea in the world it turns out. I got tired of hearing about her ex all day as we drove to the campsite and more tired of hearing it all evening around the campfire. For whatever reason, she grew horribly jealous of me, and that night threw a fit and went to sleep in the car.

I was left sitting by the campfire watching him cry, so I got my dog and decided I would sleep in the car and send her back down to the fire to work things out with him. It was cold and uncomfortable, and when I went to dig out my tights I found that she had stolen them.

He finally came to the car to get me and apologized for her behavior, and I was so cold I went back to the campsite with him and into the tent where the three of us slept. The next day she spent sitting in his car, and I was left wandering around the area, doing whatever I could to kill time while they were now both in the car.

A little later, I noticed he was down by the campsite, so I went down to see how it was going and he suggested we take the dogs for a walk. I was more than willing to go do anything as I was so bored, so we got my dog and hers and went for a walk. While we were walking, he put his arm around my waist and told me to hang in there and be patient. He wanted me to stay cool and wait things out so he and I could be together.

The next day he and I tore down the camp while she sat in the car and played games on her phone. The ride back was icy, and after we got home she stomped off and the unpacking of the car was left to him and me. As the days went by, they began staying in their room after dinner and shutting me out completely but I had no idea why.

I found out later she lied to him and said I'd sat on her glasses and mangled them, when in fact I found the glasses when they were lost, gave them back to her in one piece, and had no idea she was capable of this type of ugliness. It got so bad that there was fighting and yelling, and he couldn't figure out which side to be on. She wanted me to go to a shelter, but she would have robbed me blind while I was gone, and besides, I wasn't leaving my dog there in her presence.

I packed my things and moved them into a rented truck, after which it was pitch dark outside, but she insisted I leave then, even though I am night blind, so I did. I was so angry that I drove over halfway back to my sister's house before I pulled over to get some sleep.

It was a tough time in my life with my sister not wanting me staying at her house, and my feelings shattered by what had gone on when I was living with him and his girlfriend. I managed to pull myself out of that situation, but I often sit and reflect on what happened.

I think the biggest thing I learned from the whole mess was that you have to have full trust in someone for any type of relationship to work. There had been no trust between him and I before we broke up, and that was because I knew he was texting her behind my back. I should never have stepped back into the lion's den, and have since learned not to jump into something when my gut tells me that it's a bad decision.

#MyWorstDate