Banished by Houston Hubby

This is the continuation of the story that started in The Moments I’m Freezing in Time (Riding the Wrong Way with You).

The week after I met Mr. Houston Hubby the United States shut down due to Covid. Luckily, and maybe unluckily, the sex with him had been bomb enough to hold me over as I adapted to a life of sleeping in, scrolling on my phone for hours, and going for a walk around the neighborhood as the exciting part of my day.

What do you get when you mix boredom, good memories, and no sexual options together? MAXIMUM INFATUATION.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Mr. Houston Hubby (which is probably when he gained this nickname, to be perfectly honest.)

He and I would occasionally chat or respond to each other’s IG stories, but the conversations always seemed to dwindle. I even spoke to my therapist about how I liked him a lot, but didn’t seem to get the same interest back from him.

Months into lockdown, I was watching a movie with my roommates one night and simulatneously texting him. For lockdown, I was in Oklahoma and he was in Texas, but that night he started texting me about coming to visit me in Oklahoma.

My heart did cartwheels! So wait a mintue, he was still in to me! Happy dance!

My roommates felt uncomfortable with him visiting due to Covid, so I had to reject his offer, but I kept it in mind.

A month later when I was preparing to get my visa to move to the UK, it turned out that the office I needed to visit was in Dallas. I was going to go to Dallas with my roommates and their car, but though I could rent a car in Dallas and turn it into a trip around Texas.

I messaged him this detail and asked what he thought of me turning it into a roadtrip to come visit him in Houston. He immediately replied, “Yes!”

For a week we talked a lot more often as we planned the trip and in those conversations, he only showed more and more interest. Saying things like, “I can’t wait to see you!” and “I wish it were next week already!”

But the biggest green flag was the fact that he offered to drive from Houston to Dallas to pick me up. That trip is around a 4 hour drive each way and he suggested it! So clearly, the interest was mutual and I was so excited to break my 5 month dry spell. He asked how long I planned to stay in Houston and I said it was up to him. He told me he had an exam he needed to study for so Sunday would be a good day for me to leave. For the return to Oklahoma, I planned to rent a car in Houston and drive the 7 hour trip back. Sunday it was!

I arrived in Dallas on a Wednesday afternoon and he arrived late that night. I knew he’d be tired and we also hadn’t seen each other for months, so there was some awkwardness when we finally did see each other. We had sex, but it was tired sex. Awkward sex. Whatever, I told myself, we are just not in sync yet.

Thursday morning I had my visa appointment and then we drove to Houston together. The 4 hour drive was filled with road rage on his end, followed by an interesting conversation on whether Beyonce’s Black is King is appropriative of African cultures or not, followed by a lot of silence. Again, I chalked it up to him being tired and I just sat in the awkwardness trying to not deep it too much.

When we arrived to Houston, we got dinner, smoked some weed, showered, he studied, I read a book. We had sex again and it still felt out of sync, but it was better. The next morning, Friday, we went to the Botanical Gardens and walked around for a bit, talking and enjoying the beautiful nature. We then got lunch and he went back to studying and I read.

As he sat at his desk studying he looks up at me and goes, “I have a lot of studying I still need to do…” I respond with “oh, no worries! You do you!” and then he continues with, “you know how I said you should go home on Sunday. Can you leave earlier?”

Shock flooded me.

“Do you want me to leave today or tomorrow or like…?”

“Yeah…”

I couldn’t formulate a response in the midst of my shock, so I just went and got my laptop and reserved a rental for the next morning. I tell him I’ve placed my order and he nods. After around 10 minutes, he then takes his keys an books and leaves his apartment without saying anything.

I tried to read for a little bit more but was filled with so much anger that I just went and took a shower and cried while the water ran.

I luckily was able to reach out to a friend and his wife who lived in Houston, told them I was in town, and they invited me over for dinner that evening. As the hour approached for me to leave for dinner, Mr. Houston Hubby had still not returned and I had no idea where he was.

I decided to just leave anyway and as I open the door to the apartment, I see him sitting on a plastic chair outside his door. Bizarre!

I tell him that I’m going to get an Uber to my friends for dinner. He halfassedly offered to drive me. I told him, “no, you clearly need time to study.” and I left.

In hindsight, I should have just packed up then and there and slept at my friends house, but I wasn’t thinking straight.

I think I spoke more to my Uber driver in the 20 minute drive to my friends than I had to Mr. HH that whole trip. I told my friends what happened and they were just as shocked as me.

I returned to Mr. HH’s apartment around 9 PM with a cleared mind and confronted him with why what he was doing was so confusing and hurtful. He mumbled some excuse about how Covid has messed with his ability to socialize and monotonedly said sorry. He said he would sleep on the couch and I just went to bed. I couldn’t sleep all night. I just cried.

My rental was reserved for 10 AM, but the anxious energy I felt that night had me out of his place by 8 AM. I was able to articulate further how much he had hurt me and he again could barely show any sympathy towards me. It was as if a switch had gone off and he was now a robot.

I drove 7 hours home, after barely spending 36 hours in Houston, and cried the entire way home.

He never checked to see that I made it home, but he did continue to watch my IG stories for around a week.

Writing this a year later, I am relieved he was only the hubby of my imagination. Sometimes you gotta thank people for showing you their true colors, however confusing they may be.