I am the kind of person who takes everything to heart. I am often nervous and try to avoid stress in my life rather than create it. That’s why I was looking for a comfortable relationship where honesty and mutual understanding reigns, trust, of course, too.
Monica was the perfect girl for me – calm, homely, comfortable, but combative. She was the one who solved most of the problems in our couple and took the initiative more often. And it was she who first offered to introduce me to her parents. During the week leading up to the meeting, all I heard from her was encouragement along the lines of, “They’re sure to like you!”
That didn’t give me much confidence, and the unhappy looks on her father’s and mother’s faces only made things worse. Her parents were acting so obvious, trying to show that they didn’t want to see me… Her mother threw her fork so hard at my plate that it cracked. What’s more, I heard her father say after dinner what an unfit guy I was and how I’d never compare to some Philip in my life, for I was a “coward who trembled.” Apparently, they noticed that I was very nervous.
This kind of communication is not at all within the bounds of comfort. I feel superfluous, despite Monica’s assurances that everything went pretty well. I know her parents didn’t like it. Now I think about it all the time, and it keeps me from focusing on my relationship with the girl.
Maybe I don’t need it. I like Monica, but not so much that I lose my head over her and am ready to go to war with her parents. I know it’s impossible for everyone to like me, but that’s why it’s so important to me that my significant other and her family treat me well. The world is already full of people who will hate for no reason, and my in-laws need to be supportive.
