Reddit Stories - UNVEILING Secrets_ The ENIGMATIC Dinner ENCOUNTER_

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #secretsrevealed #dinnerencounter #mysteryunveiled #storytelling #communitydiscussionSummary:A captivating tale unfolds at a mysterious dinner encounter, where secrets are revealed and enigmas are unraveled. Dive into this intriguing narrative filled with suspense and unexpected revelations.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, secretsrevealed, dinnerencounter, mysteryunveiled, storytelling, communitydiscussionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My partner was behaving oddly during the meal with her closest companion, resembling a romantic duo. When I inquired about it, he mentioned that their romantic connection had ended long ago. Left the church. Sorry for the long post, I didn't realize how much I had to say until I got it all typed out. Thanks in advance to anyone who reads all this. I've been with my girlfriend Jordan for a little over two years, we live together. and we have two cats.

Up until this weekend I genuinely thought everything was perfect in our relationship. Which I know is what everyone says in these posts, but I really was thinking that I was going to ask her to marry me sometime in the next year. We don't ever get into arguments, Jordan is very sweet and easygoing and normally we just mesh well on everything. Honestly, if everything in our relationship hadn't been so good up until now I probably would have just broken up with her this weekend. But because things have truly been so perfect I'm not sure if maybe I'm jumping to the wrong conclusion about what to do because my feelings got hurt. The other person who's important in this story is Jordan's friend Mark.

She's known Mark for their whole lives because they both grew up in the same small religious community. Jordan isn't part of that religion anymore, she decided to leave the church when she was, I think, 19 and moved to the state that we live in now. Mark still is in the religion and apparently takes some of the religion and apparently takes it really seriously, I'm told he now works for the church back in Jordan's hometown. Also, as far as I know Mark is the only person from the religious community that Jordan still talks to besides her parents, which I'm mentioning because I now think it could be a red flag.

So on Saturday I met Mark for the first time because he was in our city and Jordan wanted us all to have dinner together. At this point I want to say, I will admit that when we were first dating and I found out that Jordan had a best friend who was a guy I didn't really like it, especially because it seemed like they were on FaceTime with each other a lot. But since it was a childhood friend and they mostly didn't see each other in person, I just trusted Jordan that Mark was only a friend and didn't let it bother me and eventually I got over it. So when we were going to dinner, I wasn't jealous or suspicious of Mark at all. If anything, I was somewhat excited to finally be meeting him since I've been hearing about him for two years.

But then the way Jordan and Mark acted at dinner is what convinced me that there's something going on other than just being best friends. I honestly don't even know how to describe it except to say that I've never seen two people act more obviously like they were in love with each other. They literally would not stop touching each other. They were constantly touching each other's arms and shoulders and at some points they were actually even holding hands. They completely left me out of the conversation and were laughing about inside jokes and every time they'd laughed they'd do this thing where they put their foreheads together or that was when they'd be holding hands. And then also they were just looking at each other in a way that I didn't feel comfortable

with at all, it was honestly even worse than the touching. It just wasn't how anyone would look at somebody they're supposedly just friends with. I'm 100% sure that every stranger looking at our table thought that Jordan and Mark were the couple and that I was her brother or something. I felt like a third will the whole time and Jordan didn't even notice how awkward she was making it for me because she was way too focused on Mark and all the attention she was getting from him. And that's really not like Jordan at all, usually she's a lot more considerate and would notice immediately if I wasn't having a good time or if she was accidentally being rude and excluding someone at the table. So it was genuinely really jarring to be sitting there with her and

Mark and basically feeling like I didn't know my girlfriend at all. It was like he turned her into a completely different person who didn't even care that I was alive. So finally at at one point when Jordan got up to go to the bathroom I just said to Mark, so are you into my girl or what's going on here? Mark, nothing's going on at all. That ship sailed a long time ago. Me, what does that mean? Did you guys date at some point?

Mark, no, we never did. And then when she left the church, we both knew it meant that we were never going to. And we've accepted being in each other's lives as friends. There's nothing else going on at all. Me, that makes it sound like the only reason you're not together is because she left the church. And all Mark did was shrug. Me, well, what if she came back to the church? Would you marry her?

Mark, oh, she's not going to do that. You might as well ask what would happen if a bicycle had six tires. And so then when Jordan came back to the table, Mark said to her, Op wants to know if we'd be married if you weren't a godless heathen. Jordan, why, did you two call your mom while I was gone? And then she and Mark both just laughed about it and changed the subject. So because of dinner and the conversation and everything else that I've written about in this post, I really feel like Jordan and Mark are in love with each other and not just best friends like they say, and the only reason they aren't together is because they can't compromise about their religion. I think

Jordan thinks that because she's okay with that decision, she expects me to be okay with being her second choice. And in the meantime, she's actually secretly wanting to be with Mark. So that makes me think that I should probably obviously just have self-respect and break up with her because I shouldn't be in a relationship with someone who would rather be with somebody else. But then the problem for me is that our relationship has been so perfect and Jordan has always treated me so well except for this one night. The only time she's ever acted. like this was on the one occasion that Mark was around in person. Normally even when she's talking to him all the time, she's never made me feel this way. So on the one hand, I'm wondering if maybe

it doesn't matter what Jordan's feelings are for Mark, as long as he isn't going to be around, it doesn't actually seem to affect our relationship. So maybe I just need to cool off and go back to trusting her that they are indeed only friends even if it seems to be true that they have complicated feelings for each other. Or should I just end things? Update, I talked to Jordan on Wednesday night. The TL-L-D-R update to the situation is that I didn't break up with her, after we talked about everything I feel like that would be too much of an overreaction for what's actually going

on. I do still think I was right to be upset about what I saw happening at dinner on Saturday and Jordan didn't disagree with me about that, but I think I did jump to the wrong conclusion that it meant that she secretly actually wanted to be with her. with Mark more than she wants to be with me. Now that we've talked it out, I don't think there's a reason to end what's otherwise the best relationship I've ever had and I'm glad that I didn't just immediately trust my instincts because there was more going on with the situation that I didn't really understand that Jordan

has since told me. And now I do feel like she can be given some grace in this situation assuming nothing like this ever happens again. So thanks for the advice, especially for everyone who told me to just talk to her before I made a big decision. So when we talked I decided to take the main piece of advice that I got from everyone and start by telling Jordan that my feelings were hurt by the way she treated me at dinner with Mark and then see how the conversation went from there. It turned into a very long talk so I don't want to try to remember exact quotes and get them wrong but here are the important things. I repeated to Jordan some of what I wrote in the post and said that I felt excluded by her and Mark, especially because they were being overly touchy-feely with each other to the point where it made me uncomfortable.

Jordan seemed surprised like she didn't even notice that she and Mark were touching each other that much, but then she thought about it and said that I was right and apologized. She said that Mark is always really touchy with everybody and not just her, I asked, and so she didn't even think about it, but that she wished I would have said something at the time because she didn't realize they were being that obnoxious. I said that was part of what bothered me, because I thought that normally she would have noticed something like that. but she was acting so different around Mark and not paying any attention to anything else including how I was feeling that it was honestly just made me question which one of us she cared about more or if she cared about him as more than just a friend. Jordan apologized more and said that she could understand why it would look that way to me, but that she loves me and cares more about me than anyone else in the world and that she

didn't mean to act like that or make me feel that way. She said that she was trying to not make Mark feel like a third will because of being a single guy out with a couple but obviously it backfired and just made me feel like the third will instead which wasn't what she wanted to do either. After that, Jordan explained a lot to me about her history with Mark, and basically as she explained it, she said that she fully admits she cares about him as more than just a normal friend, but she says that it's not in a romantic way. She said that's why she always specifically refers to him as her best friend and not just as her friend, and said that she would use the phrase he's like my brother if it weren't for the fact that

she once had an actual brother, R-I-P, so she won't use that phrasing for anyone else. According to Jordan, the main thing that happened to make her and Mark so close was that when she was 17 she tried to kill herself, and that was actually when everyone else in the community stopped talking to her and Mark was the only person who didn't. For the next couple of years until she moved he was literally her only friend and she said that he checked on her every single day to make sure she stayed alive, which is also when they got into the habit of talking on the phone so much. And also apparently during this time Mark's parents thought they were dating and made a big deal about how they shouldn't be and that's

why she made that remark during dinner, apparently calling Jordan a godless heathen is something that Mark's mom said. I did tell Jordan that Mark basically said to me that he thought the two of them would be married if she had stayed in the church, and I asked her if she thinks that maybe Mark is in love with her even if she doesn't feel the same way. She said definitely not and I don't think she was being dishonest, I really don't agree, but I think she genuinely believes that Mark isn't into her in any way apart from friendship. Her opinion of the situation is that she also thinks she and Mark would eventually have gotten married if she had never left the church or moved, but from her perspective it would have been more because of pure pressure than anything else and she doesn't

think it would necessarily have been a good thing. She thinks Mark was just being honest about that, and that possibly from his perspective he thinks he and Jordan would have made a good couple, but he's probably thinking that because he's just assuming that in that scenario she'd be the perfect church wife so there's no reason why they wouldn't be a good couple. But then the big thing that happened at the end of the conversation is that Jordan told me that Mark is coming back through our city on his way home from this trip, and so she was going to invite him to hang out with the two of us again, but she said that if I'm going to be uncomfortable with him around then she won't ask him.

A lot of people were saying that if she didn't offer to cut contact with him or to cut down on contact with him it meant that she valued him over me, so the fact that she brought up on her own that she wouldn't invite him to dinner with us again because I didn't like it seemed like a really good sign to me. Based on everything else that she said, I do understand why she didn't offer to totally stop being friends with him and I wouldn't expect her to after what she told me about what happened when she was a teenager. So now I'm deciding to take Jordan's word for it that although she and Mark are weirdly

close, it's for the reasons that she explained to me and not because she's in love with him. I think the fact that she was immediately apologetic instead of defensive was good, and the way she explained everything did make sense to me. I don't necessarily trust Mark, but I do think I can trust Jordan. But I am going to watch and see if it seems like she's still talking to him as much as she used to or if anything changes or sounds different. I'm not going to be controlling and tell her that she can't talk to him or that she has to talk to him less, but I want to see if me talking to her about all of this causes her to act any differently at all. I'm kind of thinking she might realize on her own that the way Mark acts towards her actually does seem like he likes her as more than a friend now that I've brought it up, but I don't know.

It could be that things just go back to exactly the way they were before and I won't know changed until the next time Mark is around in person. But I don't think that's something I should keep worrying about before it happens. Next story, ran into my ex-friend after 10 years. When she saw my wife was pregnant, she messaged me asking why was the same. I never good enough. Every time we almost dated years ago, she was always with another guy. Hello, everyone. I, 35M, am happily married with two children. My wife 32F and I have been together for eight years married for four. We were out shopping in our hometown when we ran into

my ex-friend, her parents, and her children. She moved out of state over 10 years ago and I haven't seen her since nor have we had any contact other than Facebook happy birthday wishes. She is married with two kids of her own. Anyway, on to the situation. My Phil and her father are friendly with each other. Both retired military and occasionally have breakfast together with their other retired friends. When we ran into each other ex-friend's dad congratulated my wife and I. We figured my Phil told him we're expecting our third child. I saw my ex-friend. I saw my ex-friend's Ex-friend look at my wife's belly and then acted distant for the rest of the exchange whereas she was friendly starting off. We trade pleasantries and say goodbye.

My wife and I continue about our shopping. By the time we're done I check my phone and see I have a Facebook message from ex-friend. X-F it was good to see you again. Me you too. The family looks good. XF yours too. Would you want to grab coffee and catch up? I'm in town for a couple more days me were actually pretty busy otherwise I would be down.

I'm sorry XF I understand. Adulting. Can I ask you a question? Me sure. What's up? XF was I just not your type. Me what do you mean XF I'm asking what did I do wrong? Me didn't respond as this was out of nowhere XF I pursued you for years.

We were inseparable for years and you never gave us a real chance. I loved you. Our families loved us. Our friends loved us together. You just never committed all the way to us. You wouldn't even have sex with me and I need to know why. Was I not good enough? Could you not see yourself married to me and having a family together?

I didn't respond and I showed the messages to my wife. She knows of this girl and my reasoning for her and I growing apart. mostly because we see her family everywhere and she asked. My wife told me to be honest with her, but I'm not sure if that's right. It feels mean. I'm going to give my POV on our friendship and I'm hoping I can get some advice on where to go from here. Basically she and I met through friends in high school. I was very interested, but she was dating someone at the time.

She ended up asking me out a month or so later and we went on dates and kissed a few times, though we never had the conversation on being official, hence me calling her friend and not girlfriend. One night while riding in the car, her, who I thought was X, B.F. called her and asked when she be over. She didn't have it on speaker, but I could still hear the conversation. She told him I can't talk right now and he asked who she's with. She didn't tell him. He later figured it out and messaged me on Facebook asking if I knew they were still together. I apologized and said I didn't and would cut things off. I called her and she started crying saying she didn't have the courage to tell me they were still together but she liked me so much and was going to break up with

him. I cut her off anyway. Fast forward a few more months and she reaches out and we go through the same motions. Her wanting to be with me but always having another guy messaging her that I would catch out of the corner of my eye. This lasted, embarrassingly, years. Throughout college and our early 20s it was always the same. She'd reach out, we'd reconnect and things begin getting serious again. I'd check her social media and see she just broke up with someone. We even went on vacation to the mountains together for a weekend and the same thing. She had literally just been there a month ago with her ex the trip with me was her idea. The worst part is both our families really did love us together.

My parents were never rude to my girlfriends, but would ask me how X is doing these days. Or Snide remarks about how her parents miss me. I'll even my now fill at one point mention that X's dad brought up how he really thought I'd be his son one day. I confided in my friends years ago that I'm always just a rebound or backup plan, and that's why I could never commit or get more physical with her. They told me to just sleep with her when she comes calling and don't pursue anything more.

The problem was I wanted more but felt used. Anyways, every time we would plan things out where sex was more than likely on the table, I'd see a guy message her or I'd see a post on social media and it just killed my enthusiasm. When I say that I mean literally, it crushed my confidence every single time. One of my best friends told me I didn't have to pay attention to all that and could have just had my fun with her. Didn't mean I had to chase a relationship with her knowing I was always a rebound. That felt shitty to me.

I had other girlfriends here and there, but I wanted this girl. We just clicked, you know. But it's like some sort of goddamn mystical being was showing me a sign every single time things were going to progress our relationship. I just didn't want her to be getting over someone else or having someone on back burner when we'd reconnect. Maybe that's my own insecurity, but I know how I felt and it didn't feel good. So I slowly distanced myself. After a short amount of time passed, I met my wife.

She met her husband and our lives moved on with little to no contact until the other day. I haven't responded to the message and it's been two days. I was thinking of just lying and saying it's not her fault or just not responding, but my wife is insisting I tell her the whole thing. I know this is a word wall but I'm honestly conflicted. I told my wife I was going to ask others for their opinion and I'm considering the internet as my others. Update, thank you everyone for responses. I decided to listen to the majority and responded to ex-friend A.

The response was well received and we chatted the rest of the week and met up on the weekend before Easter. The short of it is we're both leaving our partners. A and I are going to try this relationship and again now that we've completely opened up to each other about our true feelings. Thank you all for the encouragement to do this. Couldn't have done it without you. April fools. I would never.

The real update is pretty anticlimactic, unfortunately. I ended up just never responding to A. It had already been five days by the time I read through every response and decided to just let it go. My wife was fine with that but told me to block her if she meant. messages again. We did a couple Easter egg hunts with different family members yesterday, including at my fills. They have a decent sized property and host quite a few people so I wasn't surprised to see non-family members. I was however surprised when A's parents were there with her children.

After all the adults scattered and hid the eggs and the kids started their search A's dad came over to chat with me, nothing out of the ordinary, and we shot the shit for a few minutes. Towards the end I asked if the kids were staying with them for Easter and he basically told me A and her husband were having some troubles and they needed some time alone to sort things out. He didn't go into specifics so I don't know exactly what troubles are but congratulations to those of you who called that one. For now this should conclude the story. If she does happen to reach out again and I feel it's worth letting you all know what it says then I will. Otherwise thanks again.