Some small slip-ups cut so deep they spell the end of a relationship.
The Illness
I was watching the game with my friends while our wives were busy in the kitchen as usual. Occasionally, bursts of laughter came from there—I loved hearing it. The game was dull, so I gathered some empty plates and headed to the kitchen but stopped at the door because there was a moment in the match. From where I stood, I overheard the ladies whispering about sex. They were sharing what they say to their husbands to avoid it. I froze and listened.
One wife said she hadn’t slept with her husband in years because she "couldn’t even look at him anymore." Another said she allowed her partner to "find pleasure elsewhere, as long as he used protection." The third giggled as she whispered about googling an illness, claiming her (made-up) "intrauterine fibroids" as an excuse to dodge sex. That woman was my wife, the one I’d loved since I was 20 and married to for 25 years. I was stunned—not just that she no longer desired me, but that she’d lied for years while I worried myself sick over a nonexistent illness. Despite her tears and pleas, I left.
Better
"I like her cooking better than how she looks, ha-ha!" my husband said about me to his boss at the company Christmas party—right next to me.
I Don’t Care
Coming home, I overheard my girlfriend on the phone with her mother. The call was on speaker because she was painting her toenails—something I always found wildly sexy. Her mother asked what cake to bake for my birthday, and my girlfriend replied, "I don’t care, that jerk wouldn’t mind anyway…" No sentence has ever hurt me so much, before or since.
The Best
I was bringing eggnog to my wife in the backyard—she was chatting with a friend—and overheard her saying that with Dani (her ex), the sex was the best. We broke up, and my heart still aches every time I see eggnog in the store.
Just Because
Lilla didn’t notice I arrived at the party and was standing right behind her when, laughing with a few girls, she said if her boyfriend (me) didn’t have a lot of money, she would have left him long ago.
The Call
I was on the phone with my fiancé when we said goodbye. He thought he’d hung up but hadn’t, so I heard him tell his brother, "God, I hate talking to her. I’m done with how she always says goodbye with ‘I love you, babe!’" He even mimicked my voice on the last two words—it felt like a knife to my heart.
The Drink
My ex-girlfriend had a little too much to drink and didn’t notice I was sitting behind her when she told a friend she was about to kick me out—but she’d wait until after her birthday because she was sure I’d buy her an expensive gift. (No gift came.)
A Stray Message
My husband sent me a message saying he had to stay late at work. I told him I was sorry and that I’d have a treat waiting for him at home. He said goodbye, then—by accident—sent another line: "So, I shook off the wife, where do we meet?" He still insists he was just meeting a buddy, but I don’t care—lying like that is unacceptable to me.
The Dog
"I hope that stinky mutt kicks the bucket soon…" My friend said this about my dog to a buddy. My dog was 16 years old, my best friend who’d been by my side through thick and thin for half my life. He was old and very sick; I’d been crying every day for weeks but fighting for his life. That sentence was so cruel and heartless I broke up with the guy on the spot.
