My Boyfriend Demanded That I Give Him My Card to Pay Our Restaurant Bill
When Lisa earns her much-deserved promotion, she wants to go out and celebrate with her boyfriend, Troy. At the restaurant, Lisa learns that Troy just wants to put on a façade and be the ‘man’—disrespecting her and her hard-earned role. But when he gives his number to a waitress, things take a turn, causing Lisa to embarrass Troy and walk out of their relationship.
It was meant to be a night of pure celebration. After six months at my new job, I had finally earned a significant promotion and was eager to share the joy with Troy, my boyfriend.
A happy smiling woman | Source: Unsplash
He suggested the new upscale restaurant in town, famous for its ambiance and gourmet menu.
“Let’s just get dressed and go out, Lisa,” he said. “We don’t do this very often, so let’s make the most of it.”
I had to agree; we rarely did this—we rarely decided to go out and indulge in anything.
The interior of a restaurant | Source: Unsplash
“Fine,” I agreed. “A night out is exactly what we need.”
And I believed that we needed it. Mainly because, as much as I wanted to believe that Troy and I were supposed to last forever, I had begun to see some cracks in our relationship. Something just felt different.
I was happy in my job, but Troy wasn’t happy in his.
A couple holding hands | Source: Unsplash
“I do so much, but nobody bothers to recognize me,” he said grimly one evening when he came over for salsa night.
Troy sat on the couch and dug his chips into the salsa and guacamole, complaining about work the entire evening.
Salsa and chips | Source: Pexels
It was because of his moods regarding work that I didn’t tell him anything good about my job.
“Maybe you just need to give it more time,” I said, handing him a frozen margarita. “You just started there a few months ago.”
“Lisa, please,” he said. “You wouldn’t understand. Let me be.”
A frozen margarita on a table | Source: Pexels
But when I had gotten news of this new promotion, there was no way that I was going to keep it to myself. I wanted to celebrate and be celebrated, and I hoped that Troy would want to do just that.
To my surprise, he seemed really excited about it, and he told me that he was proud of me.
“Really, babe,” he said when he came over to my apartment to pick me up. “This is a big deal, and I’m proud of you.”
A smiling man | Source: Unsplash
The evening started beautifully. Troy showed up with a bouquet of flowers, and he sat down and waited while I got ready. Usually, he wasn’t pleased if I was still getting ready when he arrived, but this evening was different.
“Come on,” I said. “I’m ready!”
A person holding a bouquet of flowers | Source: Unsplash
Troy put his phone away and stood up, leading the way out of my apartment to where his car was waiting for us.
We drove in silence, but for once, the silence wasn’t tense—it was peaceful, and I felt that maybe Troy was changing. That he was becoming someone who wanted to be here and be present with me.
A man driving | Source: Unsplash
The soft lighting and the stunning view of the city skyline from our table set a romantic backdrop for our evening. We toasted to my success, with Troy raising his glass of champagne high.
“To the most amazing woman I know,” Troy cheered, clinking his glass against mine. “And to many more successes to come.”
Two glasses of champagne | Source: Unsplash
“To us and to the future!” I echoed, suddenly caught up in the moment.
We went through the menu and ordered our meals while Troy spoke about the shared dreams that we had—from the Bali holiday that we had been speaking about for a long time, to wanting to move in together soon.
“I just think it’s time,” Troy said. “And now that you have your promotion, it will be much easier for us.”
A person looking at a menu | Source: Unsplash
Everything went along well, until the waitress brought our food over. Troy kept glancing at her, hoping to catch her eye—he winked at her twice.
I didn’t want to make a scene about it—Troy did this whenever he had something to drink. He behaved as though being a flirt was second nature.
A meal on a table | Source: Pexels
But then, as we neared the end of our meal, I noticed a change in Troy. His usual easy smile tightened when the check was brought to our table. He smiled at the waitress as she stepped aside.
“You should let me pay with your card,” he said, a strain of insistence in his voice.
A smiling waitress | Source: Pexels
I was surprised. On the one hand, I didn’t mind paying for the dinner because it was my promotion and I was making a lot more money than I had before. But at the same time, I had also hoped that Troy would want to spoil me for the night.
“Why can’t you use your own card?” I asked, surprised by the frown on his face.
Troy’s irritation was barely concealed.
A close-up of a frowning man | Source: Unsplash
“Clearly because you’re the one who got promoted, and I don’t have enough money for these fancy dinners, Lisa! You know that, and yet you act like you don’t.”
I was confused by his logic.
“I’ll just pay with my card,” I said, putting my handbag on the table. “It’s not a big deal.”
A black handbag on a table | Source: Unsplash
My boyfriend’s face hardened as he took a sip of his whiskey—he had switched from champagne halfway through the meal.
“It’s embarrassing, Lisa,” he said. “It’s like you’re actually trying to humiliate me by not letting me be the man who pays.”
I didn’t know how to react to Troy’s words. It didn’t make sense to me. And I couldn’t understand what the waitress had to do with who was paying for our meal.
A close-up of a slightly frowning woman | Source: Unsplash
I would have retaliated and stood up for myself, but I could feel my energy being drained by Troy.
I felt cornered. And because I wanted to avoid making a scene, I reluctantly handed over my card.
Troy smirked and picked up my card, signaling for the waitress with an exaggerated flourish, presenting my card as if he were performing a grand gesture.
“I’ll be right back with the card machine,” the waitress said.
A person holding a card machine | Source: Unsplash
Feeling uneasy, I excused myself to the restroom. I just needed a moment to be myself. Troy did this all the time. But I thought that the evening was going well and that he was changing.
Of course, I was wrong.
Before thinking it through, I pulled my phone out and logged onto my banking app. With a few swipes and clicks, I had blocked my card.
Let’s see him pay now, I thought to myself.
A woman holding a phone | Source: Unsplash
On my way back, I paused near the bar, my attention caught by Troy’s laughter from across the room.
He was flirting openly with the waitress, scribbling something onto a napkin—presumably his phone number.
He handed it to her with a wink. I was stunned. I was hurt. A rush of indignation surged through me.
I returned to the table as the waitress spoke.
“I’m sorry, but there seems to be a problem,” she said. “Your card was declined.”
Troy’s confident façade crumbled as he stammered, turning away.
A man facing away from the camera | Source: Unsplash
“What?” he asked. “Surely that can’t be right.”
Feigning concern, I suggested that Troy call the bank.
He sat back in his chair and pulled out his phone, dialing the bank and putting the call on speaker.
The representative asked for the card number, which Troy read off my card, followed by a request for the account password.
Finally, Troy hesitated. He was at a loss.
A man holding a phone | Source: Unsplash
“Okay, Sir,” the person said through the phone. “If you can verify the last three transactions, it would help.”
The waitress hopped from one foot to the other.
“I can answer that,” I said. “A lavender-scented candle, some skincare products, and a new book. And Sir, the name on the card is Lisa Simmons.”
The waitress’s expression cleared with understanding, and Troy was left floundering for a response.
A person holding gift bags | Source: Unsplash
I then pulled out another card and paid the bill myself.
“Lucky I have two cards,” I told Troy and the waitress. “But babe, since you enjoyed the service, I think you can get the tip.”
Troy, red-faced, scrambled through his wallet, pulling out only expired coupons and a few small bills.
I stood up, waiting for Troy to say something—anything, but he sat there tight-lipped.
“Hey, I didn’t take his number,” the waitress said, a smirk playing on her lips. “I just threw the napkin away.”
A woman laughing | Source: Unsplash
“I’ll find my own way home,” I told Troy as I walked out into the night.
As I walked outside, I didn’t know if I had made a mistake. But at the end of the day, no relationship should make a person second guess themselves or make them feel like celebrating themselves is wrong.
Which is something that Troy did all the time.
I think I’m finally done with him.
A woman walking away | Source: Unsplash
What would you do?
The sad reason why Meghan Markle & Queen Camilla became ‘enemies,’ revealed
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the Royal Family frustrated and angered when they decided their time as active members of the monarchy was up. Of course, things hardly got better when they launched a series of allegations against King Charles and co., sparking an ongoing feud that has no end in sight.
Charles was accused of not being a good father by Harry, while her termed Queen Camilla the “wicked” stepmother. Meghan Markle also made a bombshell claim of racism within the Royal Family. The royals have not responded to any of the allegations, and the rift today between the Sussexes and the monarchy is more profound than ever. No one knows if or when it will come to a close, but one rumored to want to protect the royals at any cost is Queen Camilla.
By all accounts Camilla has been very protective her husband where Harry is concerned. Of course, once upon a time, she and the Sussexes got along well, with it said that the Queen Consort tried to help Meghan settle into royal life. Then one event changed everything. Or, more specifically, one picture changed everything – and it prompted the beginning of the end for Meghan’s royal tenure.
When Prince Harry introduced Meghan Markle to the Royal Family, his stepmother, Queen Camilla, had already been a part of the Firm for years. She and King Charles married in 2005 and Camilla – like Meghan – underwent plenty of scrutiny.
Meghan Markle
Harry and Meghan began dating in 2016, but it only took months before the press was all over the then-Suits actress. Ultimately, things reached a point where Harry himself felt he had to take a stand against it.
In a statement issued by the prince’s communications secretary, Harry publicly claimed that Meghan had been the subject of a wave of harassment. The statement outlined how the Duke rarely took formal action over “fictional stories” published in the press but that “the past week has seen a line crossed.”
“Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments,” Harry’s statement read.
“Some of it has been hidden from the public – the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.”
At the time, BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said that there were “those in Buckingham Palace who’ll appreciate his pain.” One of those who certainly understood what Meghan was going through was Camilla, who decided to act.
How Queen Camilla tried helping Meghan Markle settling in to royal life
Camilla did her best to help Meghan adjust to royal life. Shortly before her wedding to Harry, Camilla invited Meghan to a private lunch and shared how the press treated her after Princess Diana’s death, as well as how she coped with the pressure.
According to the Daily Mail, Camilla advised Meghan to focus on the positive sides of her role within the Royal Family and “ride out the storm if negative press would occur.”
Charles was said to have offered similar advice to Harry.
However, Meghan appeared to feel differently. In an ITV documentary, she claimed people didn’t care about her well-being, saying: “Not many people have asked if I’m OK.”
“Meg was really grateful to Camilla, who was very supportive and invited her out for private lunches, particularly around the time of her marriage,” a friend of Meghan told the Daily Mail. “She listened to her and understood that it’s really difficult joining the Royal Family from an otherwise ‘normal’ life.”
The friend added: “Much like Meghan, Camilla had experienced a lot of negative press and hostility from courtiers due to her relationship with Charles when he was still married to Diana.”
“She was very sensitive to Meghan and provided her with support, advising her to ride out the storm and that it would all pass – but ultimately Meghan didn’t listen.”
“She tries very hard to make people welcome”
Meanwhile, a palace aid told the Mail that Camilla understood what it was like for one to come from a “normal life” before suddenly finding themselves in the world’s loftiest, most famous royal family.
“As a consequence, she tries very hard to make people welcome and help them find their feet, and has done so for many years,” the palace source said.
“Her consciously offering to mentor and guide is something that she really does try and do. That applies to many people, not just the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex.”
That Harry and Meghan’s future didn’t lie with the Royal Family became apparent in the year after their 2018 wedding. Some experts claim that the couple thought about possibly leaving just days after the wedding, but in any case, in January 2020, the statement that they wouldn’t stay on as senior working members of the Royal Family was released.
Meghan Markle then made several bombshell accusations against the royals in the now-infamous Oprah Winfrey interview of 2021, citing why she and Harry felt they couldn’t stay. Although the royals haven’t commented on any of the accusations made by the Sussexes, it sadly appears there were other reasons as to why their position within the monarchy became untenable.
One negative aspect of their royal tenure was that Meghan and Kate Middleton didn’t get along, but the former’s relationship with Camilla also reportedly went down the drain.
Meghan Markle ‘sparked a war‘ with Queen Camilla over pictures
But whose fault was that? One story concerns a picture that was said to have made Camilla furious, marking the beginning of the end.
In 2020, just weeks before the Sussexes left royal life behind, Camilla was scheduled to attend the 10th Anniversary of the Women of the World festival. There, she was to deliver a speech, and it was reported that Meghan promised not to stand in her way.
The Mirror wrote that Camilla and her team had planned the event for over a year. But once there, Meghan stole the spotlight, which upset Camilla.
“Camilla’s work is very important to her and her decision to highlight the scourge of domestic violence at the 10th anniversary of Women of the World was a carefully thought-out plan,” a royal insider said.
“Of course it was known Harry and Meghan would be doing engagements this week, some privately, but everyone was in agreement that Camilla’s speech should take precedence. Unfortunately some people had other ideas.”
Meghan was accused of stealing Camilla’s spotlight by releasing pictures of herself at the event on the same day. As per the Daily Mail, Buckingham Palace had urged royal correspondents to focus on Camilla and not Meghan, but that didn’t happen.
“These kinds of ‘clashes’ are inevitable”
The Duchess reportedly insisted on publishing the photos and was to blame as they were ‘hastily’ published.
Speaking with The Sun last year, royal expert Duncan Larcome said Camilla’s irritation about the pictures is understandable.
“The ‘men in grey suits’ are at pains to avoid diary clashes and the prospect of one member of the family outshining the other on the same day. Camilla would be justified at being miffed to say the least. But as Harry and Meghan continue their work without any regard for the rest of the work of the Royal Family, these kinds of ‘clashes’ are inevitable,” he said.
Camilla has become a symbol for the Royal Family, not least because she has taken on a massive amount of responsibility amid King Charles’ cancer diagnosis and recovery. Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, are still working on rebuilding their image, so it could be argued that Camilla has gotten her revenge.
Harry and Meghan signed a massive deal with Spotify years ago. However, the deal ended in a fiasco, as Meghan’s Archetypes podcast was shut down, and their entire Spotify deal canceled.
In the case of Queen Camilla, podcasts appear to be her thing.
Queen Camilla’s ‘revenge’ on Meghan Markle
In 2021, Camilla launched a new initiative called The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room, a book club about reading recommendations and more. It was founded during the pandemic, became a huge success, and eventually a podcast.
“Camilla’s podcast has been a great success. She has proven many times over she can bring in any of the big names from the world of the arts she wants,” Editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward told The Sun.
“Given Meghan’s apparent disinterest in Queen Camilla, I doubt if she has a nice word to say about her or her podcast.”
According to Denise Palmer Davies, brand expert and director of Borne Media, Camilla’s success is the “perfect revenge” on Meghan.
“After all the hurtful things Harry has said about Camilla, she has finally got her own back on them, she told The Sun. “I bet Meghan, in particular, will be livid over the whole thing and probably a bit embarrassed that hers fell at the first hurdle.”
Do you think Prince Harry and Meghan will ever make amends with the Royal Family or not? Please share this article on Facebook with friends and family and give us your opinion!
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