Have you ever encountered your ex in an unexpected setting? I once bumped into my ex in a Mexican restaurant a few weeks after a traumatic breakup, and I literally dove under the table to keep him from noticing me. We ended up on somewhat good terms, so it wasn’t that I was afraid to speak to him; rather, I was just so taken aback by the sight of his face that I was at a loss for words. I’m sure you may relate to this anxious feeling if the last time you saw your ex didn’t go as planned.
Depending on how things turned out, you and your ex might have started talking. Alternatively, you two might have made eye contact before pretending to be total strangers. To put it mildly, navigating conversations with ex-partners may be difficult. While some people are able to rekindle their friendships, others are unable to do so. Seeing an ex can trigger a torrent of recollections about your relationship and how it ended, regardless of the circumstance.
I invited folks to share anecdotes about the last time they saw their ex in order to get a better idea of how different these types of relationships are. Some of them are funny, some of them are cute, and others of them are just plain unpleasant. As you read on, get ready to cry and laugh at the same time.
Hidden Objective
We dated for four and a half years before calling it quits at the end of my first year of college. We cut off communication after I was crushed so I could go on. He sent me this SMS asking to talk two years later. I first encountered him that evening at his place of employment, when he was closing down a pizza restaurant and playing all of our songs over the intercom. We walked to a gazebo in a park where he expressed regret and his desire for reconciliation. We bonded in the gazebo and talked nonstop for many hours. The following day, we continued to text, and he expressed his want to be with me. but suddenly revealed that he had a girlfriend, something he had neglected to mention the night before when we were together. He still reaches out occasionally to try to meet me despite the fact that I’ve broken off touch since then. Oh, and the boyfriend and him? Together, they just recently purchased a home.
Getting It Done
We share a building, so last week we exercised within about four feet of one another for an hour without saying a word to one another. He wouldn’t be there so late, so I went to the gym in our building around ten o’clock in the evening. I went insane when he entered the room at ten. He exercised for a full hour behind the elliptical I was on, and we would both glance up at each other (me through the reflection of the window in front of me) and then quickly look down at our phones to avoid realizing that we were the only two people using the gym.
Rapid-fire reunion
He cheated on me and crushed my heart during our two-year relationship (of which one was spent apart). [Later], he was flying to Baltimore, where I was living at the time, from California for a college-related event. He figured he was staying with me and not his friends, though. Remember that he cheated on me with her and is still dating her. after this was the first time I had seen him after our breakup, you can understand the range of emotions I was experiencing when he came to Baltimore to essentially spend the weekend with me. In just three days, we experienced one of the strangest emotional roller coasters I have ever experienced. We cried, laughed, fought, and reconciled.
imposing gestures
Before I obtained a job in New York and went back last year, I lived in the south with my ex for four years. In addition to him kissing another female as soon as I started my new work in punishment for me “leaving him,” we split up because I found someone else. I hadn’t seen my ex in seven months, and my grandpa died in May. He dressed up and came to my grandpa’s funeral expecting to dazzle me, but after spending so many years together, I was completely turned off by him. especially now that I’m with my soulmate and future hubby. When we saw each other, [my ex] gave me an awkward hug that made me think about all the issues in our relationship. Knowing that I had no ill will toward him and that the relationship was terminated made me feel completely at ease.
Returning To Old Patterns
After a rather lengthy text from my ex expressing his regret and how much he missed me, I last saw him in March. I gave him the benefit of the doubt because that was so out of character for him to see if anything changed. To’reconnect,’ [we] went out to dinner three times, but despite my best efforts, I never felt anything. When I was sincere, he completely lost it and reverted to his selfish and immature ways. I’ve never been happier, so it was wonderful to know that I broke up with him for a reason.
Redeemer’s Tale
I dated this man for five months when I was 23. We went on vacation together and spent three nights a week together, but he wouldn’t call me his girlfriend, which hurt me a lot because I wanted more from him. He always seemed to have the upper hand in our relationship, in my opinion. However, the split had a silver lining in that it gave me the inspiration I needed to make many positive changes in the areas of my life that I was dissatisfied with. Two years later, I was living with the love of my life, working at my dream job, publishing my first book, and I couldn’t have been happier. I once saw my ex across the room at a charity event where I was with my boyfriend. It wasn’t difficult because he stood out because no one else was wearing a top hat (why?!). Even though I didn’t want to talk to him, my ex ultimately came up to my partner and I. During the course of our brief and unpleasant talk, my ex acknowledged that nothing in his life had truly changed and that he had come to the event particularly to try to meet women (and was having little success). Maybe it’s spiteful, but I loved that he saw me as happily married, prosperous, and confident — not to mention wearing a gorgeous dress and getting a blowout — when he was out in a top hat pursuing random women.
Still Very Near
Young Hispanic couple on a date in a restaurant laughing and hugging each other shutterstock
We were really happy together over our five years of dating. We had such amazing friendships. It came to an end when he established his life in Canada and I wanted to return to my hometown of New York. We amicably broke up and went our own ways since we both realized we weren’t each other’s forever person. We are close friends to this day, and I last saw him at my college graduation. He attended since my parents were unable to.
After that
We went out to supper while I was on vacation with my current boyfriend. My ex-boyfriend from a few years ago was our waitress. Seeing him after how brutally we ended was a shock. Strangely, the fact that my current boyfriend thought it was amusing provided me the confidence to get through dinner without the terror I formerly had toward the ex.
It’s possible for an ex meeting to trigger a torrent of memories, regardless of whether it made you feel sad, amused, validated, or relieved. No matter what your circumstance, know that others can empathize, and take pride in the progress you have made in moving past that relationship and healing. Next, thank you
