c/attachment·Posted by u/theo_ramirez·12h ago
Why do I feel jealous when my partner laughs on the phone with a coworker?
She took a work call on the balcony Tuesday around 6. I was making pasta. I heard her laugh, the real one, the one I get on good weekends, and my stomach did a mean little drop. I know the coworker. I have met him at a picnic. Nothing is happening. I still stood at the stove rehearsing a joke I could make so I would not look small when she came back in. She came back in talking about a spreadsheet. I said 'sounded fun' in a voice I did not like. Then I spent the rest of the evening being too helpful, which is my disguise. I hate that a laugh through glass can turn me into a detective. How do you let a normal work laugh be a normal work laugh?
Peer discussion on askDr.app. Not therapy and not a substitute for professional care.
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u/elena_v11h ago
Mine is when he uses a nickname for someone at work. Totally ordinary. My chest still files it.
u/sam_whitaker11h ago
I tell her the drop happened, not a story about the coworker. 'I got small when I heard you laugh.' Ugly. Cleaner than the detective bit.
u/hannah_brooks10h ago
Does it happen with friends too, or only work calls where you cannot see the face?
u/malik_j10h ago
I keep my hands busy on purpose. Stirring, wiping the counter. If I freeze I start writing a novel.