“Tom” was a hypnotherapist and worked in the mental health field, and was 20 years older than me (I’ve always preferred men who were older than me.) There was an instant connection for me…he just “got” me. Our relationship was everything I wanted: emotionally supported by someone who was just the right combination of experienced and, well, kinky. Right in the early days of our relationship, I started going to pastry school, and ultimately, the nickname “cupcake” got started. We were together for about a year and a half when I decided to get a tattoo of a cupcake on my boob (cue me rolling my eyes at my younger-self). After another few months, my 21st birthday rolled around the corner. He bought me this necklace, saying “you only turn 21 once”, while he clasped it around my neck. Of course, I swooned. After another year and a half, we were past the honeymoon stage, but definitely still in love. We were talking one night about the future, and I found out he didn’t ever want kids. That was what started it, I think.
Fast forward another six months and we were barely seeing each other. He’d always been a work-a-holic, but it had gotten ridiculous. Long, long hours, lots of unanswered text messages…I probably should have seen it coming, right? We were fighting so much…about the whole kids thing, about him working so much, and a lot about me being frustrated at having to practically beg for scraps of his attention. He broke up with me in a fucking FaceTime call. Of course, it was all “you deserve to be with someone your age. I need to let you experience your twenties” bullshit.
So in the aftermath I completely fell apart: took a 5 month leave of absence from work for mental health issues, had a ton of casual sex, smoked a lot of pot and drank a lot of tequila.
TL/DR; Boy meets Girl, Girl and Boy fall in love. Boy breaks up with girl after 4 years via FaceTime. Girl has mental breakdown, takes 2 years before she’s emotionally stable.
So now I need your help. I can’t get rid of the cupcake tattoo that is a constant reminder of him, but I CAN get rid of this necklace.
