Toxic exes
For some people, being in relationship can be compared to those advertisements on TV lauding particular medications, but for which the listed side effects may seem worse than the condition you’re trying to treat.
When love turns toxic, its effects can be far-reaching, as the people below share.
Andre:
My last relationship had me feeling bitter. It made me feel like there was no escaping this woman. I felt like a bull in a pen. I had started a business with her, so even though I had moved out I still had to interact with her. She found every way to get under my skin and made the working environment unbearable. Even the staff and customers could feel it. I told her that she could have my half of the business if she wanted to buy it from me, but she said no. So I bought her out instead.
Nigel:
My ex took me to hell and back. She moved out with my kids and didn’t tell me where she was, all because I told her I wanted to end the relationship.
Debbie:
I try not to let things get to me, but one of my exes really got under my skin. He told lies on me and even went as far as trying to get my landlord to kick me out. We broke up but I needed time to find somewhere new to live, so I told him I would pay half of the rent until I could move out. I gave him the money thinking he would pay the rent, only to come home one night to see that he had moved out. I felt happy, thinking I now had the place to myself. The next day the landlord came to me, asking me when I was leaving. I told him I wasn’t leaving, and that’s when he told me that the rent hadn’t been paid in three months and he had told my boyfriend that we had until yesterday to move out. I was so embarrassed. I had to dip into the money I had put aside for the new place and pay the landlord the outstanding rent.
Ricardo:
My ex nearly sent me to prison. She called the police on me one day, telling them I stole her car. I loaned her the car when we were dating since I was driving a company vehicle, but once we broke up she didn’t want to give back the car so I went to her house one day, took the keys from her, and drove off with it. She didn’t know where I was living so she told the police where I worked and they turned up there. I had to show them the paperwork. It’s a good thing that one of them was an old school friend.
