Wife discovers 'celebrity' actress sent her husband a Rolex after a work trip together. AITA?
"I'm losing my mind over a recent 'celebrity' friendship my husband made. AITA?"
So my husband went on a recent trip a month ago for work. He works for a large company and is in marketing. Trying to keep this vague as possible. But provide the details to see if I should have real concerns.
This trip took him to NYC and he ended up working on a project with an actress. She is semi famous as in been on a bunch of popular tv shows. Well they went to dinner with a few others from his work and some other people. He was gone for around a week.
When he got home he seemed the same and brushed off the trip as nothing serious or even fun. Very nonchalant in his attitude and when I pried he just well didn’t say much.
We were in the living room watching tv like we do sometimes and he of course had his laptop out. He sits the laptop down and partially shuts the screen but not all the way. I heard several dings going off and I couldn’t help myself and had to open it.
Well her name and last initial was the sender on his messages app (Apple). I looked because I had to know. She was saying how she couldn’t believe what a great time they had and that she was looking forward to his next trip. On top of this she said she hoped he enjoyed the gift she sent to his office.
When he came back from the bathroom I just straight up asked what that was about. He got mad that I was snooping which I was and said regardless I wanted to know more. And what gift. He said it was nothing but a watch.
When I asked where it was he said at his office. He didn’t bring it home and when I asked he said I would make a big deal out of it because it was an expensive watch. After 2 hours of arguing he finally confessed it was a Rolex.
Who does that who sends someone they just met a Rolex. Should I be concerned is this normal we haven’t talked at all today and I don’t know what I should do. I guess am I overthinking or overreacting just being a nosy b-word?
Edit: this is a bit overwhelming I didn’t expect such a response. I’ll try to read and answer what I can. If I can I might tried to figure out more and I’ll update you. He isn’t home right now.
Update:
My husband just told me he was staying at a hotel tonight as he said “I need to think about what is going on and I don’t feel like we’re in a good place of trust.”
Here is what readers had to say in response to the OP’s post:
Online, the obvious conclusion is Cheating. And I can't promise you that it wasn't. But in business, the obvious conclusion is Business. Big company hires no-so-big actress for not-so-big money - at least by Fortune 500 standards. But for most of us - actors included - it's quite a payday. Of course, she'd like to work for big company again.
Shakespeare it was not. But actress still puts her skills to good use. Makes a good impression - acts like she had a great time doing marketing with Husband and his travel team. Emphasis probably on the higher-ranking members of the team, but who knows?
Think of the Rolex as a kickback. "Thanks for doing business with me. Keep me in mind next time you need the kind of services I offer." Costly, but that big payday covered it many times over.
Kickbacks come in many forms. As OP suspects, actress could have locked lips with Husband, or even circled the bases. On the other hand, had she done that, I doubt that she would have felt the need to give him a Rolex.
Except his reaction betrays EVERYTHING. If it was genuinely innocuous then the husband wouldn’t have reacted by being ridiculously cagey about the interaction and instead used it as an excuse to prove there is nothing going on. If it is actually a professional interaction only then you show your wife the messages. DUH. That is literally the only rational decision in that scenario to avoid conflict.
Obviously a significant portion of this man’s interaction with the famous person is highly inappropriate - even when removing the factor of the watch. There is literally no other logical explanation for his reaction of getting mad and then escalating the situation further by opting to stay in a hotel room.
Agreed. Him trying to turn it back on her and attack when he was obviously hiding things and seems interested is a huge red flag. And then has the audacity to blame her for not trusting him.
Late to the comments, but I also work in marketing. Every time something interesting happens, say a minor celebrity sent me a Rolex, I would immediately tell my wife! Not because I thought she would be suspicious, but what a great story to tell! "OMG, you won't believe this but the team has dinner with XXX and she sent me a Rolex!" Feels like he's hiding something.
I’d want to know what the hell happened during this week that led her to buy him a Rolex?! Call me insecure idc I would shut that relationship right tf down.
You should be werry concerned. Not only because of the Rolex, which is a very strange gift for someone you've known for a week, but also because he's mad that you looked at his messages. Have you seen all the messages and have any been deleted? Do you know anyone who works with him? Maybe they all got Rolexes, for a job well done.
Yeah, I wanna know if he was the only one that got a gift like that. At a minimum that’s at least five grand and probably more like double that.
throwaway339786 (OP)
I asked if anyone else from his team got one! He said no but he is the lead for his firm and was the one mostly talking.
Get your ducks in a row. This happened to a friend of mine and the guy ended up with the actress, which blindsided her completely.
throwaway339786 (OP)
Omg how did she handle it or find out? I just can’t believe this would be real. I just don’t want to think they “slept” together especially after only being with her for a few days. And it would be so risky for her career.
She's single so there's no risk. He's the one who's married. The risk is his but if he can land a rich actress he might just take that risk. I'm so sorry, OP. You might consider getting a job so you are financially independent.