His name was Donny. He was the lover of my ex-girlfriend’s best friend.
From the outside, their relationship seemed to be nearly perfect, and I knew that because the three of us — me, my girl, and her best friend — would often spend time together at my house. We played board games and all chilled together.
We were really good friends if you asked me.
Whenever she mentioned him, it was always in a good light. She used to tell us about his acts of love, be it gifts, some sort of flowers, and generally, just how attentive he was as a partner.
I questioned the attentiveness because I am very invested in my relationships and the things I used to hear about him were…not really significant in any way.
They were just *things*. And they didn’t translate into that deep sense of love we all wish to find.
In the same way, I say some sort of flowers because they never really seemed to be real, actual flowers. They were either cheap arrangements found in random places or plastic roses — which couldn’t have been more expressive because looking back at it, they matched his personality precisely.
I never saw her hold a fresh bouquet or a natural flower, and I never saw or heard of any true effort from him.
To be honest, I never really liked him. He was the kind that smoked weed and had something odd and outlandish about him. At times, he was so strangely detached from what was happening, like he was a ghost preoccupied with other souls.
I remember when we all gathered at my house — I live alone, but my parents’ apartment is on the same floor as mine — and he walked past my father who was in the hallway without even looking at him. The girls got along with my family really well, yet the young boy had no manners.
On top of that, I felt like he was trying to look and act like an Italian thug, taking into account his origins and the fact that his thoughts were only occurring in his native language — he specifically mentioned it.
In their relationship, he portrayed an absolute angel. Lovey-dovey, cute nicknames, modest smooches (quick kisses and whatnot), and catering to his girlfriend’s needs whenever we all hung out together.
Do you know those super secret agent movies where the main character is super secretly living a double life? I had thought I would’ve never met such a person in real life until Donny shocked everyone with his screenplay.
But not before one day, he pre-shocked us spectacularly when he tattooed their couple date on his torso.
Nuh-uh, that was TOO much. Something was off. He was trying so hard to impress that it became obvious he was hiding something. Something big. They hadn’t been together for that long, and they were super young and weren’t that in love — trust me, you could tell.
It made absolutely no sense.
A few days later, the truth was about to be revealed. A random girl messaged his girlfriend and, oh boy, what followed was just the fire catching its first dose of oxygen.
What she showed her left us all speechless. Donny had been sending this girl flirtatious messages, along with an image of him holding a condom wrapper with his teeth. Disgusting.
The breakup followed, but our secret agent promised he changed for the better (whatever that meant in his mind).
He began stalking her home streets until she finally talked to him and they made up. She said she was only doing it to plan revenge, but I don’t know, maybe she did love him.
The stalking wasn’t something new.
Sometimes, my girl and her friend would go out to do various activities — you know, typical young adult stuff, badminton, a walk in the park, girl talk, things of that kind — and out of the blue, Donny would often show up and readily join them.
And as if that was not bad enough, couple arguments would stir up too. Imagine going out to play with your best friend and on the way to the playground, you both get stung by a wasp. Then the wasp starts *bzzzz* buzzing at your best friend on the entire way back home.
He just ruined all their fun.
Anyway, some time went by after the incident but the relationship was not a relationship anymore. I don’t even know what to call it, but they were technically together, with him turning into her slave just to keep the boyfriend status alive.
New text messages sent the girl’s way were about to get rid of it. Multiple girls were now texting her on social media, saying they had been approached by Donny. They all had proof too, countless screenshots of how miserable this guy was.
What was happening is that Donny, each nightfall, installed different social media apps only to hit girls up. He did this every night for a long while, and he covered his tracks by disabling his accounts before morning so that his messages would go away.
They broke up for good and never saw each other again.
I feel terrible for what happened to my friend.
She didn’t deserve it, nor does anyone deserve to go through such a terrible thing. I wish fewer people suffered in relationships. Please, be very careful who you choose to be your partner.
Looks can be deceiving and things are not always what they seem.
Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Not everyone shares your heart.
☔ Here, have this umbrella for a rainy day. If you would like to support me, please share my story with your friends and loved ones.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash