A woman wonders online if she is wrong to cut off contact with her a longtime friend for what she called "uncomfortable" behavior toward her husband at a bar.
The situation, which involved tarot card readings and an incident with olives, has led to debate about trust, friendships and boundaries in relationships.
The original Reddit poster (OP) under Aggressive-Recipe-19, based in the Midwest, described a close-knit friendship group, aged 24 to 28, that had known each other for about eight years.
Troubling Turn
The OP met her now husband, Mitchell, after becoming part of the group, and he fit in seamlessly. Their friendships remained stable until a series of events led her to sever ties, mainly with her friend Ari, the only other woman in the group.
The conflict began when Ari, who practices Wicca, offered to read the OP's tarot cards. The reading quickly took a troubling turn.
"She started to choke up and get nervous," the OP wrote, explaining that Ari claimed the cards predicted infidelity and a sad ending for her marriage.
Though she initially dismissed it, the warning stayed with her.
Some two weeks later, at a friend's birthday celebration, tensions escalated. During the outing, the OP user stepped away to order drinks, leaving her husband and Ari alone.
When she returned, she found them laughing together. Then, she witnessed Ari place her hand on her husband's drink, grab the olives from his glass and eat them in what she described as a suggestive manner.
'Sucks them off'
"She looks him in the eyes and sucks them off," the Reddit user wrote.
Feeling embarrassed and angry, she decided to leave the bar early. Later, she confronted her husband, who dismissed her concerns.
The incident prompted her to re-evaluate past interactions between the two, recalling instances where Ari often gravitated toward Mitchell—sitting next to him at game nights, pairing their characters in "Dungeons & Dragons" and even following him outside for smoke breaks.
The OP's reflection led her to cut ties, not just with Ari but with the entire friendship group. She ignored invitations to social gatherings and avoided contact for six months.
When her husband suggested inviting Ari to a party they were hosting, she was stunned.
"I haven't talked to her since the olive incident and she hasn't reached out either," she told him. His response—that she was overreacting—left her questioning whether she was in the wrong.
'Way too eager'
The situation quickly gained traction on Reddit, where users overwhelmingly backed her decision. One person wrote: "She was flirting and he wasn't shutting it down.
"I wonder if they have been chatting behind your back. He seemed way too eager to invite her."
Another cautioned that her husband's behavior deserved scrutiny, saying, "I think you need to find out what your husband is doing when you are not with him."
The debate over how to handle friendships that strain relationships is not new. According to a piece on Oprah.com, friendships can become toxic when they introduce unnecessary stress, jealousy, or discomfort into one's life.
Experts suggest that if a relationship continually makes someone feel insecure or disrespected, it may be time to walk away.
Additionally, skepticism surrounding tarot card readings may have played a role in this conflict. A discussion on HubPages describes how some view tarot as nothing more than a psychological tool that can plant ideas in people's minds, leading them to interpret events in a way that aligns with a reading they've received.
The OP may have been influenced by Ari's earlier warning, making her more sensitive to behavior she might have otherwise ignored.
'Heartbroken'
The fallout between the Reddit user, her husband and their friend group continues to ripple, if the OP's replies in the thread are any indication.
"Cole are Ari are actually lowkey f*** buddies, but Ari doesn't want a relationship and Cole saw her suck the olives. Bro looked heartbroken."
Newsweek has contacted Aggressive-Recipe-19 for comment via Reddit.
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