Flushing the goldfish

Of course it wasn’t going to last!! No one is surprised here. Once an asshole, always an asshole! Come on! After the goldfish made his return, we hung out three more times that same week. That Sunday we woke up at my place and popped open my last bottle of champagne from my wedding. We walked my dogs and then got brunch on a patio. I apologized to the woman and her daughter next to us because my dogs were begging for their food. Luckily, they were dog lovers and didn’t mind at all. He and I playfully argued and teased each other and finally the woman next to us said, “You two are just the cutest couple.” Right away I informed her that we were absolutely not a couple because he dumped me months ago so this was his probationary period. Definitely NOT a couple. He’s an asshole. She and her daughter thought this was hilarious and all through brunch they were eavesdropping on our conversations and laughing when we roasted each other. I let him pay and reminded him that he needs to redeem himself for his behavior earlier this year. The woman patted my hand and told us that she sees us living a long and happy life together. GROSS! Ick! Yuck! No! Again they laughed at my reaction and wished us good luck after petting and saying goodbye to the dogs.

The rest of the week went well. I didn’t see him but we talked everyday. Thursday came around and we were talking about You’re the Worst again because I was finishing up the last few episodes of the latest season. I mentioned that my friend Zack was also a fan of the show. This is when all fucking hell broke loose. He already seemed to be in sort of a bad mood that night but when I mentioned another guy’s name he flipped completely. I asked what his problem was and he said he can’t keep track of all of the guys I’ve introduced him to and he doesn’t care about the opinions of any of them anyway. “Why the FUCK would you text me what you’re talking about with other guys in the first place,” was actually what he said. He also told me it’s extremely rude to mention another man’s name to him.

He said, “I don’t care about your other dates and the guys you hang out with. It came across as ‘I’m dating soooooo many other guys and here’s what they’re all saying. Deal with it.’ Sarah likes rainbows. I don’t tell you that because why would you care about Sarah or her opinion on rainbows!? Tiffany and Jenni are happy. You want to get to do whatever you want without ever thinking of the other person. You don’t care about people. You’re rude and don’t care about…ME!! You wanted me to be jealous.”

Holy rant! After reading it all I told him to reread all of our messages when he’s sober. Then came the sarcasm…

“You win. You’re right. You couldn’t have done it any differently. It’s all my fault. I should have been intrigued with strange men’s comments. My bad. Think about all of this when you’re not so fucking selfish! Maybe I actually like you which is why I care so much about this. I said that you’re rude though but if you’re above hearing that and think you’re too good for that comment, I apologize. You don’t see it and you refuse to think about it! You were soooo polite it’s impossible to wonder why there was an issue. You could NEVER be wrong.”

Throughout all of this I repeatedly had to explain myself and remind him that Zack is my friend and he shouldn’t be so jealous and angry about me having friends who are guys because I have a lot of them and that won’t ever change. Finally I decided we were done for the night since this had gone on for hours. We could talk about it in the morning. The next day though, he was no different. I asked how he felt after reading the conversation when he was sober. “I have words. You won’t like them. Truce.” That’s all he had to say for himself after acting out and having a temper tantrum like a fucking spoiled child who didn’t get his way. I wished him good luck in life and dating and thought that was the end of it. He responded though and took everything I said the night before and twisted it. He said that I said, “Do you know who I am!? I’m better than you and my friends all hate you.” Now come on, even if that’s true I think we all know I’d have a much more creative way of saying it!

I was done though. I’ve dated too many jealous and insecure guys. I can’t tolerate guys who are intimidated by someone who is strong and independent and resilient. I won’t be with someone possessive and who twists my words and tries to mind fuck me. His behavior when we dated the first time all made sense now. I couldn’t figure out why he started fights with me and insulted me all the time. He was insecure and wanted to knock me down a little so he felt like he had more control over me. That’s some toxic bullshit and I fell for it when I was younger, more than once. I’m not going down that road again though.

Good luck to you, you sweaty bastard! You’re dead to me.

 

Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here every day.

Sometimes you know it’s not a match just from a few sentences. This time I knew it wasn’t a match when his response to one simple question was a 400 page book. This guy gave me more details than necessary, far more than anyone could ever want. He might as well have thrown in his social security number and all of his banking passwords. I would have had more fun with those than I did reading his reply to, “What were you up to all weekend?” If he hadn’t unmatched with me I’d copy and paste his exact answer into this post.

This guy left his job a year ago for whatever reason and has been following Guns N Roses around the world the entire time. I shit you not. Guns N Roses. He’s seen them in 12 bajillion countries and over 988326 bajillion times. Sometimes he gets to go backstage and everything! He bought a tissue with Frank Ferrer’s balls sweat on it for 4K on eBay 5 years ago. He has a life-sized Axl Rose blowup doll in his bed at his mom’s house. I might be exaggerating (or completely lying) about some of this but he does live at his mom’s house when he’s not racing around the world to follow a washed-up old 80’s rock band.

I attempted a subject change several times but he ALWAYS brought the conversation back to Guns N Roses. I’ve been really into some things before too. I really loved The Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block as a kid. I had all the NKOTB Barbie dolls and slept on NKOTB sheets and pillows. (Thanks, Mom!) It’s healthy and normal to really like something but this guy was OBSESSED! I couldn’t talk to him about anything at all without him referencing Guns N Roses and still EVERY response to any simple question was several paragraphs long. Can we meet in the middle here? I like more than a one-word response but I don’t have the mother fucking time to read your Guns N Roses biography right now!

I started only answering his questions with one or two words, hoping he’d just stop talking to me after a while. Nevertheless, he persisted. After a couple days of him writing to me like he was a 13 year old girl writing in her diary, he asked if I thought we had anything in common. Since I don’t live with my mother, I am employed, I’m not wanting to S the D’s of every member of the band, and I’m not a complete lunatic, I told him no. No, sir, I do not believe we have one shred of commonality. This upset him greatly.

He went on to get very emotional over my answer. I thought he wrote long responses before but this was insane. He was typing with fervor! The paragraphs were coming faster than I could read them. He really thought he found his perfect match in me after a few days of exchanges on Bumble?? I never promised to leave my job to travel around with him in a beat up 80’s Firebird in acid-washed jeans and cut-off t-shirts while blasting ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ with our permed mullets blowing in the wind. My cold, one-word responses painted a different picture in his mind, apparently. Before I could even read all of the giant yellow boxes that kept popping up in my Bumble app, he unmatched with me. I broke his heart. Ripped it out, stomped on it and returned it bruised and mangled. I’m not his ‘One in a Million’. He told me ‘You Could Be Mine’. He’ll tell his friends he ‘Used to Love Her’. But I can’t be his ‘Rocket Queen’. Have ‘Patience’ and ‘Don’t Cry’, boy. One day you’ll meet your video vixen and you’ll travel away to ‘Paradise City’.