Introducing Dr Love, who solves your relationship riddles in a confusing digital age
Illustration/Uday Mohite
My boyfriend repeatedly calls me by a nickname I detest, just to annoy me. How do I make him stop? Asking him not to do it only encourages him.
Ask him to grow up, for a start, and then simply stop responding to anything he says until he starts using your name.
There is something very strange going on between my boyfriend and a close friend of mine. He isn't cheating on me or anything but, whenever we are out together, it's as if he would rather be with her than with me. This sounds weird, but they really do get along a lot better than my boyfriend and I do, and I sometimes get the feeling he would date her if it wasn't for the fact that she happens to be a close friend of mine. I don't know if I'm reading too much into all this, but I wonder if I should just ask him. I don't like feeling so unwanted all the time and am pretty sure my friend is not considering being with him only because I am around. Maybe I should just get out of the way and allow the two of them to get into a relationship. What do you suggest?
If things really are as bad as you make them out to be, and you feel unwanted, why don't you simply have a conversation with your boyfriend as well as your friend and find out what they have to say about each other? If they are avoiding getting into a relationship because of your presence, won't a little honesty make things better for all three of you? Also, if they are avoiding this conversation because of you, it is up to you to decide just how awkward things can become at some point in the future. As for reading too much into it, that shouldn't stop from you discussing anything that bothers you, because communication makes a huge difference to the success of any relationship.
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