I asked my coworker to pretend to be my boyfriend at my ex-husband’s wedding, but my ex mocked me and said, “No one would ever date you” — so my “fake date” wiped the smile off his face.
“Come to my wedding with Claire and bring our daughters.
Oh, and your invitation does include a +1, but we all know perfectly well you don’t have anyone.”
That’s the message my ex-husband, Max, sent me.
God, I was so tired of him always walking all over me.
We were married for nearly 13 years, and we have two daughters, 10 and 3.
Then one day, he told me I wasn’t “attractive to him anymore.”
When I caught him cheating on me with Claire (his personal trainer), he never even apologized.
He just shrugged and said:
“Well, what did you expect?
Men are visual.
And Claire — she’s perfect.
You just don’t look the way you used to anymore.
You used to have a slim waist.
When was the last time you even looked at yourself in the mirror?”
And while he was packing his things, he kept saying that, basically, everything was my fault because I “should’ve taken better care of myself.”
I just sobbed when he left.
I thought my life had completely fallen apart.
The divorce was an incredibly difficult time for me.
And shortly after our divorce was finalized, Max announced that he was marrying Claire.
Then I received that “wonderful” invitation.
I knew he would take our daughters to the wedding, and I didn’t want to leave them there alone, so I decided to go too.
The thought of it made me sick, but if I had a +1, then it was time to use it.
I just wanted to prove to Max that I was doing just fine without him.
So I asked my coworker, Edward, to pretend to be my boyfriend at Max’s wedding.
He knew all about what had happened with Max because we’d grown close while I was going through the divorce.
And he agreed.
Edward and I stepped into the wedding arm in arm.
Everyone was staring at us.
Well, of course they were.
Edward is tall and athletic, and without exaggeration, he really did look great.
Then Max and Claire walked over to greet us.
Max looked Edward up and down and burst out laughing.
All 150 of their guests turned to look at us.
I asked:
“Max, why are you laughing?”
Still laughing, he said:
“Him?
Your boyfriend?
I’ll never believe that!
No one would ever date you, especially someone like him.
What, did you pay him to come with you?”
I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
I actually felt sick.
But then Edward smiled and said to Max:
“Well, Max, I brought you a gift.
I’ll go get it for you.”
He disappeared for around five minutes.
Then he returned carrying a large box.
Max was smiling until he opened it.
Oh, his face turned deep red like a tomato.
And I smiled when I saw what was inside that box.
