Damn. Checked off damn near every box.
When did the switch flip when you knew you couldn't get that from her?
Short story:
-Early on but it took me 4 years to fully process it
Long story:
We had a ~4 year relationship. I did something stupid (didn't cheat, but gave the appearances of probably cheating trying to be too nice to someone I had a history w/) and we never really got beyond that. I apologized but that was the first sign of trouble. Idk if it was her ego, her history w/ some other dudes (one had cheated on her and gotten someone pregnant), but that it was like she never decided to be in or out and submit beyond that.
Around the 2 year mark of the relationship I asked her to move in w/ me when I was off to grad school. Basically had a 3 and 5 year plan for us based on her also looking to apply at the school at the time and asked her if it aligned w/ her vision. She said she wouldn't do it given the situation above. Went off to grad school w/out her, but kept trying to have conversations about what she saw over the next few years so I could feel comfortable taking the relationship to that next level.
She ended up deciding to go a different direction and be an entrepreneur so I asked her how she was thinking about things if the business didn't pop off in X amount of time. Timeline for having kids. When she would know it was time to do something more secure.
By this time I was an internship for a job that paid really, really well but had me working like a dog. I was honest and said I didn't see myself doing the full time job more than 2 or 3 years, but needed to know where her head was at to do that. Those convos would go nowhere though because she took it as me not believing in her or her business.
Landed the full time job offer set to make like $190K but working 65-70 hrs a week after grad school, so I really needed to get on the same page w/ her on plans for the future. Couldn't do it. She lived in SoCal and I was on the east coast for school, so I'd always fly out to see her honestly because I hated the city I was in. fukking hated it. She didn't understand and took that as me not wanting to bring her around my colleagues because she didn't have a college degree (that's another story...she was super smart and really, really good w/ people but had decided to drop out of school to take care of a sick family member; in another world this girl could've been anything she wanted to be). The tension made the grad school experience pretty terrible for me on a personal level.
I finally got fed up with everything and fukked up and cheated. Long story short she found out, and was the most submissive she'd ever been in the relationship. Apologized about everything. About not listening to me when I said I didn't fukk w/ the environment I was in, about holding the non-cheating incident at the beginning of the relationship against me, etc. Basically gave me the pass I'd been hoping she'd give me for that first incident after like 3 years of holding it over my head.
I moved to LA after graduating, still in a relationship, and she was finally ready to move in with me. I wasn't as sure anymore after looking back at how fukked up my head had gotten in grad school. We also still couldn't have that future conversation. Any questions about a future where her business wasn't throwing off tens of thousands of dollars in profit was not believing in her. She also couldn't understand how demanding my work was and why I couldn't text her back and forth during the day.
With all her protests, we ended up taking a break. By this time I mean I'm in LA making good money, living near the beach. So I was doing my thing as a single dude. My address spoke for me w/ girls. I still had feelings for old girl though, so we tried to re-spark things after like 6 months of me living the single life. shyt was all good for a little bit but some of the old shyt started to resurface and the petty arguments started again.
She came to visit me for 2 weeks from where she was way out in the burbs. After a couple days I would dread coming home because I was bracing myself for an argument with her, and she could sense it. One night we had sex kind of out of routine and I was just so out of it. I kind of realized it was over then.
The morning after she asked me what happened and said something felt different. Felt off. She said even if we had arguments in the past the sex was always passionate, super intimate, etc. Had to be real with her and tell her I just wasn't feeling it that night. Didn't feel that intimacy or connection with her.
I didn't add this because it would've been too much, but that was the first time it had felt like I was just fukking some girl, not my future wife. And if I was fukking some girl, I might as well do it without strings and pains. I straight up didn't believe anymore whereas, 6 months into the relationship, I honestly (stupidly) wasn't even sweating the thought of her getting pregnant because it just felt so right - spiritual even.
We tried for a few more weeks, but the relationship ended after a really heated argument about a month later. Still think about her almost daily but that window is closed. I keep my distance out of fear of falling back in again, but also to let her move on as well.