My vaccinated boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to go to Florida with his cheater brother. Ew.
He proposed the idea one day while he was at work, via text message of course.
“Was thinking of going to Florida for a weekend at the end of the month. Would you mind?”
“Of course I would mind. Florida is a cesspool and you have no business getting involved in that,” I replied.
“Why? I don’t plan on coming into contact with anyone except Hunter and we’ve both been vaccinated.”
I was typing back something along the lines of, “I’m sure Hunter will be bringing enough germs to infect the whole state,” but then Brady said, “I already got a ticket. I assumed you wouldn’t care.”
Do you know what happens when you assume, Brady? He was already on my shit list because he let Winnie sleep in the bed with us one night and now she refuses to ever sleep in her own bed.
We got into a huge fight about it, after the baby screamed and cried because she wasn’t ready to sleep and wanted to continue playing on the iPad. It was already way past her bedtime. Brady gave in and I said, “You can’t just give her whatever she wants like that. She’s already spoiled and I don’t want her to turn into a brat too.”
“Oh yeah?” Brady said with a straight face. “And you don’t think she got it from you?”
I got up and walked out of the room because I didn’t want to curse him out in front of Winnie, but needless to say, I let him fucking have it over text message.
So now I was really mad at him.
Luckily though, work has been a good distraction. I’ve been going into the office 2-3 times a week, mostly just to get out of the house. Mike and Paige are almost always there and stay cooped up in his office, which I thought was odd. I can understand needing to work closely together, but it’s just weird. Half the time, they don’t even know I’m in the office because they never come out. One day I cornered Sam to see if she had more information.
“He has her on a performance improvement plan so I think he’s trying to work with her,” Sam explained.
A performance improvement plan?! Interesting!
“Do you think she’s going to get fired?” I asked.
“It’s hard to say. I’m not exactly privy to information like that,” she said back.
And it’s like, you should be. You have the most access to Mike, you should know everything. But whatever.
The weekend Brady went to Florida, Brendan was also on vacation too — to some chic private island. So Winnie and I headed over to Mel’s to have company while we kept tabs on them. The four of us sat perched in the sunroom facing the lake in their backyard with wine spritzers and I complained. I’d told Mel a little bit about Brendan, but when she saw me spiraling while watching his Instagram videos she figured there was more to the story.
So I explained everything, including the whole separation scandal. I showed her the videos of Brendan and his supermodel wife taking a private jet to the island and frolicking on the white, sandy beach.
Mel was quiet for a minute.
“What?” I wanted to know, sensing her judgement.
“You already know what I’m going to say,” she said.
“Yes, it’s kind of inappropriate. I know that.”
“You’re having an emotional affair.”
“Mel!” I gasped. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“You may not think so, but even his wife agrees. And you’ve deliberately not told Brady about him so you must know it’s true.”
Jeez. I don’t remember asking for such brutal honesty.
“What do you want to happen?” she went on. “You can deny it all you want, but you obviously have some feelings involved.”
“I don’t want anything to happen. He’s one of the closest friends I have here and I want to keep it that way,” I said.
We were silent for a moment while we sipped our drinks.
“I’m surprised, I guess,” she said. “You and Brady seem so good together.”
“We are.” I was defensive now. “I haven’t told him because there’s nothing to tell. I don’t want to make it a thing.”
“You know, this happened to us a few years ago. It was with him though, with one of his nurses. It was when he was working overnight and they spent a lot of time together. And then when he was home during the day, he’d be on the phone with her. She was a little bit older, divorced a zillion times and super sexy.”
It sounded almost exactly like Brady and Sydney.
“So what’d you do?” I asked.
“I got him to admit he had feelings for her and when he did, I told him he had to end things with her if he wanted a future with me.”
And then I got a flashback of breaking up with Brendan. I can’t believe Mel handled the situation so easily. If Brady admitted to having feelings for someone else, I’d definitely leave. But Mel is so smart, it’s no wonder she and her husband have such a strong marriage. I need to listen to her.
I wasn’t really worried about Brady while he was in Florida despite the fact that he hadn’t texted me since he landed and was hanging out with his morally corrupt brother.
But then on Saturday night, Hunter sent a picture in a group chat between the three of us. The picture was of Brady slumped on a couch, looking like he was passed out with a beer in his hand. But in the corner of the picture I could see a sliver of a girl dressed in a strappy crop top and jeans next to him. Excuse me?
“Where are you and who’s there?” I asked.
Hunter sent some crying emojis back. I wanted to fucking kill him. In a separate message, I said, “Tell me who is there right now or I’ll tell your wife about your secret kid in Chicago.”
“Calm down. We’re at the house and the maid is here,” he said back.
It took me a few seconds to realize that by “maid” he meant Daniela, the gorgeous housekeeper I’ve met a couple of times.
“And you don’t have to worry. I have that situation under control 😉,” Hunter added.
“You’re fucking disgusting.”
When Brady got home on Sunday night, I confronted him — mostly just to guilt trip him.
“You know, you’re a dad now. It’s super irresponsible to go to Florida and party with girls like that. You could overdo it and die of a drug overdose or something. Then what would we do?” I said.
Brady, who was bouncing the baby in his arms, stopped and looked at me like I was insane. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m just saying. Obviously your brother doesn’t care about his family and I don’t want him to be a bad influence on you. I don’t think it’s a good idea to do a trip like that again.”
“Okay,” Brady said. “I hadn’t seen my brother in a long time so I thought you’d understand.”
“Of course I understand! I just don’t see the need to need to hang out with other women and drink to excess like that. And whatever else you did,” I said.
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
“And stop apologizing to me!” I exclaimed. “Just do better.”
A little while later, while we were getting ready for bed, Brady said, “We should watch what we say in front of Winnie now. She’s talking and might start repeating things. We don’t want her saying ‘drug overdose’ or anything like that.”
And it’s like, are you seriously trying to lecture me on parenting when you’ve created a little monster brat of a child?
“Okay then when you know you’re in trouble stop picking up the baby to protect you,” I said.
“Okay.”
We got in bed and I made Brady tell me the details of the trip: what they did, where they went, who they saw, etc. He was sure to be super vague about the housekeeper, but then I thought of something.
“Did you ever sleep with her?” I asked.
“Sleep with who?” he asked, to buy time.
“Daniela. I sensed some tension there when I met her. Did y’all have sex?”
“No! Jeez.” He looked away. “I mean, maybe when we were younger, but I don’t think so.”
Which means they absolutely did and I’m so sick of Brady having sex with every woman he knows. He and Hunter are really not that different.
hot mess in high heels. 
eek. he really went and hung out with some bish that he already slept with?? Oh hell naw lol. I was thinking it wasnt the coolest thing of ur “emotional affair” <- whatever u wanna call it lol but now, idk that I feel sympathy as much as I was starting to for Brady. Hmmm stay woke lol. Him and his brother together, w/o their significant other sounds like trouble and you and I both know, girls can be straight whores – hopefully he respected you.
I’m furious about it!!
Reese when you confess about your feelings for Brendan and you’re relationship with him then you can throw stones at Brady. Brady at least is out in the open. You are so sneaky and it speaks volumes. You’re projecting on Brady bc you want to justify your situation. Just grow up already.
thank you mel ♥️
omg what a fucking nightmare!! i would have been mad, too.
come to baltimore (i promise it’s actually kind of not awful) for a day or two and hang!
I read Baltimore looks very much like New York. Is that true? My information is purely based on the setting for Runaway Bride with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts 😛
Almost none of that movie was filmed here in Baltimore, mostly it was filmed near the eastern shore. They did actually film in NYC, too for the city scenes with Richard Gere. However, Baltimore is still a very cool city.
He doesn’t know if he had sex with Daniela? What does that even mean??? I’m sorry, but more and more I get the feeling he and Hunter are definitely cut from the same cloth. Who leaves their partner and child behind during a pandemic to go party in FL with their skeezy brother?
The fact that you are drawn to Brendan, who seems to be a genuinely nice person, tells me that if you were to start over with just you and Winnie, your priorities might be slightly different than they were when you and Brady started out and you might just be willing to hold out for someone who actually values you and treats you with the respect you deserve. I have to agree with the women posting below, you deserve more love and respect than what you are getting right now. I divorced my husband rather than start a family with him and have our relationship be the model our kids would see for their own future relationships. Just saying.
I have to be honest, and I know it’s not my place, but I think y’all should break up. I’m sure there are good times that happen too, and I know you have a baby and a house and a life together. But you don’t seem to have a lot of respect for each other.
Whenever you are upset with Brady you seem more focused on making him feel bad than finding resolution. And whenever you’re upset with him or arguing, he’s so incredibly dismissive. He constantly invalidates you, and has gaslit the hell out of you in the past with other women (like Jessica, Sydney, etc). Him having one situation like that I could get. Some men are kinda dumb and don’t recognize how their friendliness comes off to a girl who’s into them. But after your concerns were prices true the first time he should have learned to respect your intuition, or at least your feelings. And you all had one major argument before he was going to propose and then it just never happened? The fuck. A lot of couples get into arguments en route to proposal trips etc because the partner who is proposing feels stressed and it comes out sideways. It makes zero sense for them to take marriage off the table because of it. And also, the stuff with the baby. You’re not on the same page regarding the basics. He doesn’t respect your parameters in the least and has no problem walking all over you and your boundaries in front of Winnie. What will that teach her? That you aren’t worthy of respect and that this is a normal relationship dynamic.
Regarding your emotional affair with Brendan, because that’s what it is- yeah it’s messed up and I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for his wife. But you are clearly super attractive and can find attention anywhere. I can’t help but think it seems like an attempt to escape or implode your relationship.
Again, I’m not in your relationship. But it just looks awful and painful to be in from where I’m sitting. And him being evasive about what he’s doing is awful and a major red flag. Tbh I think Brady is an asshole. And may need to see a neurologist if he can’t remember whether or not he’s had sex with a woman he hangs out with behind your back.
Love your blog and I hope you are able to find some happiness and support, it sounds like you work really hard to be a good mom and businesswoman. You deserve support.
I have to agree. Brady seems like such an asshole and I can not believe you put up with it. It really seems like you two do not like each other anymore. I think you need to leave Brendan alone until you both are single.
I’ll start by saying we don’t know you or Brady, and just go off what’s written here. But based on that, this relationship does seem extremely toxic and that toxicity is something Winnie will learn and carry with her. The apparent lack of respect between the two of you is saddening. Brady is one big walking red flag. I believe your emotional affair with Brendan comes from some deep insecurities and unmet needs. At the end of the day now that Winnie is here, Brady and his emotionally stunted family will be a pet of your life forever. My hope for you is that someday you will realize you deserve to be treated much better.
*part of your life
yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a relationship that isn’t “toxic” so maybe I’m the problem
Does hunter really have a secret kid in Chi?? I remember when he was hooking up with your friend (and anything else that moves) but DAMN!!!
no, but he wouldn’t know that. he was having unprotected sex with someone who wasn’t on birth control and then basically ghosted her.
Are you doing okay, otherwise? Is there a lot of tension at home right now?
ehh. I’ll update soon.
Hey! It has been a month, so I’m checking in.
Where did you go!!!?
I’m here!
Update?
Update?
maybe
I genuinely hope you and your baby girl are doing alright. Regardless of if you decide to update your blog anytime soon. Be well.
Hope you’re ok ❤️
Hope you are well! Miss your words. ❤
Miss u! Come back to us 😦
Hope you and the baby are well!