My fiancé felt he was being humorous when he wasted my handcrafted present by throwing it out in the garbage and then laughing about it with his buddies. He was completely unaware that the actions he took would result in a consequence that he had not anticipated.
At the time of his proposal, Greg and I had been dating for a total of nine months.
We first met at a party at the college, and I fell in love with him right away. He was charming, humorous, and had this way of making me feel like I was the only lady in the room. He was a delight to be around.
He used to tell me, “You’re different from other girls,” over and over again. “You actually get my sense of humor.”
That struck me as being really romantic. As I look back, I know that it was most likely a warning sign.
Nine months into our relationship, he proposed to me by getting down on one knee, and I immediately said yes without any hesitation. While my friends were giggling with delight, my mother was overcome with joy and crying joyful tears via FaceTime.
Everything seemed to be OK.
I did a lot of tiny things for Greg, and he appeared to really appreciate them.
He would send me love emoticons via text message whenever I would leave nice notes in his vehicle. When I surprised him with his favorite cookies, he would reach out and kiss my forehead, and he would refer to me as his “sweet girl.”
Consequently, when it came time for his birthday, I wanted to do something that would have a significant impact. I am not quite wealthy since I am now completing my college education while working part-time at a bookstore. Consequently, the purchase of a costly item was not a chance.
However, I have always been someone who leans toward sentimentality.
What I said to my closest friend Sarah was, “I want to make him something from the heart,” while we were browsing through the craft items at Target.
Her response was, “That is so adorable.” “What are you thinking?”
My choice was to create a scrapbook.
I devoted a significant amount of time to gathering photographs from our dates, ticket stubs from each and every movie that we had seen together, and the post-it notes that I had written to him over the course of the months. In addition, I contributed sketches of things that made us laugh and jokes that were only known to us.
I spent the most time working on the cover.
I personalized his name by hand-writing it in a sophisticated calligraphy style and embellishing it with little hearts. Despite the fact that it did not have a professional appearance or anything else, it was produced with love.
“This is beautiful, Alice,” my roommate Emma commented when she spotted me working on it at our kitchen table at midnight. “It’s so beautiful.” “He’s going to love this.”
My words were, “I hope so,” as I carefully positioned another photograph. “I just want him to know how much these nine months have meant to me.”
It was on his birthday that I finally delivered it to him, and my heart was pumping with excitement.
During the time that we were alone in his apartment, I paid close attention to his expression when he opened the door.
“Wow,” he said as he gently scrolled over the pages of the book. “This is… incredible. I adore it, sweetheart.
I was engulfed in a strong embrace from him, and I had the sensation that I was flying.
“You really like it?” After taking a step back to see his face, I inquired.
“Are you joking around? I cannot believe this. Take note of all the effort that you have put in. Softly, he kissed me again. It is my pleasure, Alice. It’s true.”
He carefully positioned it on the shelf in his living room, just in the middle of the room where everyone could see it.
It felt like my heart was about to explode because it was so full.
“Yes,” I said to myself throughout the latter hours of that night. “He understands me. He has his respect for me.
However, after a few days had passed, my ideal little world came falling down around me.
We had returned to his flat, where we were spending time with a few of his acquaintances from college. When I heard Jake, one of his pals, inquiring about birthday presents, I was in the kitchen pouring beverages. I was there when I heard him.
“So, what did you get for your birthday, man?” A shout came from Jake.
With a grin on my face, I anticipated that Greg would discuss the scrapbook with a sense of pride. He could even go so far as to flaunt it.
I saw that he was laughing instead.
“Oh man, you guys have to see this,” he exclaimed with enthusiasm.
As I made my way back into the living room, I was just in time to see him remove my scrapbook off the shelf. When I felt my heart begin to race, it was not in a positive manner.
He looked at it and remarked, “Look at this,” while waving it about as if it were some sort of joke. “Straight outta middle school relationship core.”
There was a brief gap of silence in the room. Then Greg did something that will trouble me for the rest of my life.
He then threw it away in the garbage.
Not in any other way. The thousands of hours I put in at work and the memories I painstakingly gathered were tossed away like rubbish.
While his pals laughed as if Greg had just come up with the most hilarious joke of the century, I stood there completely still.
As much as I wanted to run away and scream, I composed myself to smile instead. What choices did I have available to me? It was not my intention to be the “overly sensitive girlfriend” who was incapable of laughing at a joke.
Greg murmured, “Babe, relax,” as soon as he noticed my expression. “It’s just a joke.”
As a joke. In that way, my love for him was shown. One of the jokes.
Although I continued to comply with it for the remainder of the evening, I was dying on the inside. When I came home that evening, I sobbed more than I had in years. I had not done so in years.
Over my tears, I said to myself, “Perhaps I was acting like a child yesterday.” Perhaps scrapbooks are not as cool as they seem. It’s possible that I let him down without even recognizing it.
However, despite my best efforts to persuade myself otherwise, the feelings of pain continued to persist. Because, on some level, I was aware of the reality.
It was only that the guy I believed loved me had just shown to me how little he valued our relationship.
In the evening of the next day, Greg’s closest buddy Mark extended an invitation to us to have a small gathering at his home.
Despite the fact that I was still ashamed from the previous night, I nearly decided not to attend. The notion of Greg’s pals laughing caused my stomach to tighten up every time I thought about it.
Greg responded, “Come on, babe,” as he seemed to be unaware of the fact that I had been so silent during the day. “I’m looking forward to it. “Mark is currently preparing his famed chili.”
I mustered up a grin. “Of course. It sounds wonderful.
However, when we arrived at Mark’s flat, we saw that something was wrong.
Mark looked to be more reserved than normal.
At the same time as everyone else was getting their drinks and making themselves comfortable in the living room, he kept looking at me with this peculiar expression on his face.
“You okay?” When Greg went to the restroom, I inquired about it from him.
He responded with a “Yeah,” but his jaw was clenched. “Just thinking about some things.”
Around fifteen minutes into the evening, everyone was laughing and having a wonderful time playing jokes with one another. At that moment, Mark abruptly arose from his seat in the wheelchair.
And my scrapbook was in his hands at the time.
At that moment, I had the sensation that I was unable to breathe. Where exactly had he obtained it? As to why he had it.
“Greg,” Mark stated in a tense tone. “Do you recognize this?”
After a single glance at the scrapbook, Greg couldn’t help but giggle. “Oh man, that thing again?”
Mark’s expression vanished into a stone. I took out the garbage last night, and as I was doing so, I discovered it in your trash can. In the course of my assistance in cleaning up after the celebration.”
“Yeah, so?” Greg said, “I’m still not following this.” “It was just sitting there.”
That was the moment when Mark completely lost it.
“Just sitting there?” He was increasing the volume of his voice. It’s this item that she labored on for you for a long time, right? This fragment of her heart that you discarded as if it were rubbish, does it not make sense? Are you under the impression that showing off to your buddies is more essential than showing respect to your girlfriend?
It was completely silence in the room. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Greg attempted to interject, and his face became crimson as he did so. “Mark, dude, it was just a joke—”
“No.” The moment Mark interrupted him, I had never before heard his voice sound so icy. It seems to me that you are not aware of what you have done. Greg, you shouldn’t have insulted a gift like that. That is an insult to her.
It seemed as if tears were hurting my eyes. I had finally found someone who would advocate for me.
“This girl,” Mark said, holding up the scrapbook as if it were something of great value, “sat down and spend a significant amount of time creating something that is uniquely yours.” She accumulated recollections. She preserved every single movie ticket, as well as every single experience that was significant to the two of you. What more is there to say? How unusual is that, Greg? This is the type of stuff that you need to be valuing and cherishing.
While Greg’s buddies avoided making eye contact with anybody else, they couldn’t help but stare at their shoes.
“Instead,” Mark said, “you chose to be a “cool guy” and humiliate her in front of your friends for the sake of your own image.” To what end? Is it a cheap laugh? I am congratulating you, guy. You have gained your chuckle.”
Greg whispered, “It wasn’t that deep,” but he had an expression that suggested he wanted to vanish.
“It is that deep!” There was a crack in Mark’s voice. “You did not merit this present in any way. You are not deserving of her in any way, shape, or form. You are so fortunate that you don’t even recognize it. The majority of men would do everything to have a fiancee who is willing to put in like this. Who else would be concerned enough to accomplish anything like this?
Currently, I was weeping. It was finally someone who noticed what I had been trying to provide.
“Instead, you spit on it,” Mark said in a low voice. “She is spat on by you. To put it another way, you are the most naive person I know.
When that moment arrived, there was complete silence in the room, and Greg seemed as if he had been smacked.
During the evening, I went home by myself.
Greg had attempted to connect with me following Mark’s lecture, but I was not prepared to listen to his explanations at that time.
As I sat in my dorm room, taking in all that was going on around me, I stared to the ceiling. The length of time that our relationship had really lasted. The speed with which his real nature may be revealed. My goodness, I deserved to be loved by someone who regarded me as a gift rather than a joke.
“You okay, honey?” Emma questioned me as she brought me a cup of tea.
I surprised myself by saying, “I think I am,” at the time. “I think I’m finally seeing clearly.”
I gave Greg a call with the following morning.
My hands were trembling, but I was able to maintain a calm voice.
When he responded, I added, “We need to talk,” and he agreed.
Please thank God, Alice. With regard to the previous evening—”
“I want someone who values me,” I said in response to the interruption. It is not true. We are finished.”
“What is it? My dear, I was only joking around. My intention was completely unintentional. As you are aware, I adore you—”
“No, Greg,” she said. That is not the case. When someone loves you, they will not make fun of you in any way. Those who love you will not dispose of your heart in the same manner as useless trash.
He continued to make excuses, claiming that he was sorry and that he would atone for his actions against me. On the other hand, I was no longer interested in his explanations.
“Goodbye, Greg,” I murmured before hanging up the phone.
This was the end.
I had wasted nine months, an engagement, and a whole future that I had envisioned for myself. On the other hand, I had the sensation that I could breathe again.
Now it’s been four months.
I immersed myself in my academics, increased the amount of time I spent with my genuine friends, and gradually began to recall who I was before to my relationship with Greg. In all honesty, I was content.
Then, destiny made the decision to put me through some amusement.
At the time, I was waiting for my regular vanilla latte at my favorite coffee shop close to college when I heard someone call out my name.
When I glanced back, I saw Mark standing there.
Since that evening at his flat, we had lost touch with one another. I could see that he was anxious, as if he was uncertain about how I would respond to seeing him.
“Hi,” I responded to you. After that, since I had never fully appreciated him, I said, “Mark, what you did that night… I was never given the opportunity to express my gratitude. I am so grateful to you.
His expression warmed up. “You don’t need to thank me for telling the truth.”
As soon as we placed our drink orders, we sat down at a table in the corner.
It was at that moment that he looked me in the eye and said something that I had not anticipated happening.
“You know, I’ve been wanting to voice this for quite some time. In the moment when Greg first introduced us to one another, I fell in love with you. Due to the fact that you were with him and he was my buddy, I refrained from making any statements. On the other hand, the way he dealt with you that evening? I was slain by it. due to the fact that you are deserving of so much more than that.”
My heart came to a standstill. “Mark…”
He spoke quickly and added, “I am aware that this may be strange.” Moreover, I am aware that the timing is most likely poor. It was impossible for me to continue to act as if I didn’t feel this way.
I couldn’t help but gaze at him, recalling how he had protected me and how he had recognized the worth associated with what Greg had discarded.
He reached inside his rucksack and added, “There’s something else,” as he reached inside. “I couldn’t stand the idea of this ending up in the trash again.”
It was my scrapbook that he took out.
“You kept it?” It was a whisper.
Without a doubt, I’ve kept it. Indeed, Alice, that is stunning. The amount of love and concern that you put into all that you do is shown by this. Someone who would do such a thing would be an idiot.
The conversation lasted for many hours that day. Since the split, he informed me that he had been thinking about me every day, hoping that I was doing well from the breakup.
As he admits, “I kept wanting to text you,” he said. “But I didn’t want you to think I was just swooping in to take advantage.”
My question was, “And now?”
“Now I’m hoping maybe you’ll give me a chance to show you how you should really be treated.”
Slowly, we began to appear in each other’s presence.
After some time had passed, I came to the realization that he was patient, understanding, and never drove me beyond what I was prepared to handle.
And what about now? Almost a year has passed since we first started dating. Everything that I produce for him, from drawings on napkins to whole picture albums, is something that he holds in the highest regard. As well as every single message that I send to him, he keeps every single cinema ticket.
The reality is that there are times when the universe will put you through a terrible experience in order to get you closer to the person who will love you as much as you deserve to be treasured.
Greg was completely unprepared for it. In the process of handing me over to someone who is aware of my value, he lost the finest thing that has ever occurred to him.
As for the truth? That is the most satisfying kind of retribution possible.
