Don’t Get Caught In A Bad Cycle

(My (now ex-) boyfriend and I met working in a local bookstore. He is off one day and asks if he can borrow my car while I am working, as his car is shared with his grandmother, who he lives with. I say yes, remind him of what time I get off work, and don’t think anything else of it. My shift finishes and he is nowhere to be found. I am standing in our parking lot, fuming, as another coworker passes me on his way out. He offers me a ride home. Just as I open my mouth to accept the offer, my car comes to a screeching halt in front of the store. My boyfriend bounds out of the car, gesturing excitedly for us to come look at something. We go out and my boyfriend is flipping open the hatch of my little mini-wagon. There in the back, is a shiny new mountain bike. He & our coworker begin excitedly talking bikes, etc. My boyfriend tells him that he just paid $275 for this thing, as he pulls it out of the car to be admired. I am hot, tired, and hungry.)

Me: “I’m glad you got a new toy. Can we go now?”

(He ignores me, goes on talking about the bike.)

Me: “Did you at least put some gas in my car, since you were out riding around all day?”

Coworker: *catching on to my worsening mood* “Uhm, dude? You might want to listen to her for a minute.”

Boyfriend: *to me* “Just a second.” *to co-worker* “Yeah, I live close enough I can ride to work every day now if I want to. No more depending on Grammy to let me use her car.”

Me: “I’m not trying to be a witch here, but I didn’t get lunch and really need something to eat. Can we please go somewhere and get dinner now?”

Boyfriend: “Um, well, I spent all my money on the bike. But Grammy’s got a bunch of leftover junk in the fridge so I thought we’d just go back to the house and eat there.”

Me: *stony silence*

Coworker: *facepalm* “You just blew it, pal.”

(My clueless boyfriend goes back to prattling away about how cool his new bike is. I get in the car and drive off, leaving him there. Might as well let him get used to the ride to Grammy’s.)