A short time ago my boyfriend, David, had come to live with me in my house. He was 26 years old at the time and was preparing for his teacher's exams. I am quite older than him, I was 35 at the time, I had been working since I was very young and I could afford to buy my own apartment. My name is Daniel, Danny to my friends.
I was very happy that David came to live with me. Even though we had only been dating for a year and a half, I was deeply in love with him. David was a very handsome, sweet, good-natured guy and I loved his sense of humor and the light-hearted way he took life. However, as soon as he moved in, the problems started. I had been living alone for quite a few years and was a bit of a neat freak. On the other hand, David, an only child, still living off his parents' money and quite spoiled by them, had never lifted a finger in his life for housework. He was very careless, never did any chores and seemed to care very little about dirt or the poor state of the house. This caused us to start having arguments about it right away. I insisted that he had to get involved in the house chores and used to urge him to do them or reproach him for not having done them when it was his turn to do them.
And I would often do it quite angrily, becoming very aggressive, since, in addition to the fact that he did not work at all, it annoyed me that when I reproached him, he paid little attention, took it with total frivolity and promised me that he would make amends, which he never did. This used to result in a lot of anger on my part and sometimes in relatively violent arguments, although he did not usually respond aggressively. This was also influenced, I suppose, by the fact that I was bigger and much larger than he was, which often made me, if not an intimidating boyfriend, then the dominant one in the relationship.
One afternoon when I came home from work, I found, as was often the case, all the breakfast dishes and the dishes David had used for lunch dirty and scattered around the kitchen. I went straight to where he was studying and, trying not to be too aggressive, I said to him:
-David, you've left the dishes unwashed again, dammit....
-Sorry -he replied with one of his charming smiles-, I was going to do it, but I started to study a new subject and I didn't want to interrupt it. I'll do it later -this was his typical answer, he NEVER did it later.
-Yes, later... when? I have to make dinner in a little while, will I have to do the dishes as usual so I can have dishes and space?
-No, man, no. Before you make dinner I'll scrub, I promise -he got up and added: -Do you want to go for a walk? I need to get some air.
I was angry, but I didn't want to get more upset and accepted. We went out into the street, while he asked me, with his usual affability, about my day at work. We chatted about inconsequential things as we strolled along. At one point we followed an itinerary that was not our usual one and, as we passed by a street, we saw a store, unknown to us, of esoteric books and materials. David let out an exclamation of joy, he was very fond of these subjects, and asked me to come in and see it. Once inside, he spent several minutes chatting with the clerk, a rather elderly gentleman, and then got engrossed in looking at the books in the store. After a long time I got impatient and told him:
-Come on David, we have to go, we have to prepare dinner. By the way, did you buy the onions and eggs I asked for?
-Well... no, I forgot, I'm sorry.
Then I burst out and I couldn't contain my anger:
-FUCK, CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING I ASK YOU TO DO? DO YOU THINK I'M YOUR SERVANT? REALLY, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN BE SO USELESS AND LAZY...
I continued shouting expletives at him for a while, when I noticed that I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around and saw the old man in the store. He said to me softly:
-Why are you yelling at this nice boy like that?
-That's none of your business! -I replied roughly-, Mind your own business!
-Yes, it is -he said again in the same soft voice-. I think you should apologize to him.
I glared at him. David, a little frightened, asked me to calm down and told the old man not to worry, that everything was fine. He told me, without being the least bit upset:
-I think you should listen to your boyfriend and calm down. I think you two would be much happier if you listened to him more often. In fact -as he said this he made a strange gesture with his hand, turning it in front of my face and continued, now much more slowly and marking each word-, from now on you are going to obey him in everything he tells you.
When he said this I felt a little twinge in the back of my neck. The old man turned around and I was going to answer him angrily again, but there was something that stopped me, I don't know what. On the other hand David, genuinely worried about my possible reaction, quickly took me by the arm and led me out of the store.
We soon forgot the incident and, after stopping by the supermarket and shopping, we returned home. As soon as we arrived I said to David:
