He stared at me.
“Shall we take our first call of the morning?” I smiled.
Ben reached over toward the phone lines on the control board. “Yes—let’s take a call.” He pressed line one. “Matthew, you’re on the air with Dr. Tough Love.”
“And Lori Martin,” I said.
“Good morning,” Matthew said. “I’m having a problem with my girlfriend.”
I leaned into the microphone. “Sorry to hear that. Tell us all about yourwoes.”
Ben narrowed his eyes at me, but I didn’t respond.
“She gave ourHamiltontickets away to her sister,” Matthew continued. “I’ve been waiting two years to see the show and paid a ton of money for those tickets.”
“Did she tell you why she gave them away?” Ben asked.
“Yeah and the reason is crap, if you ask me. Her sister went through a bad breakup and my girlfriend said she needed some cheering up.”
“Well, I think it’s good to look at the positive side of things,” I said. “Your girlfriend cares about people and family. She loves her sister and wants to make her feel better.”
“I’m pretty sure a pint of ice cream would’ve done the job,” Ben said.
“There’s nothing wrong with her generosity and a kind heart.”
“Unless she didn’t ask Matthew first if it was okay to give away the tickets.”
“She didn’t,” Matthew answered. “I didn’t even know they were gone until I saw them missing from the kitchen counter.”
“And you paid for them, so technically she gave away your tickets.”
I wagged my index finger at Ben. “In a relationship, everything is fifty-fifty.”
“Including communication. They should’ve discussed it and then have come to a decision together. I have a bad feeling about your girlfriend, Matthew. She’s a controlling person. I think you need to sayadiosto her.”
I held up my hand. “Wait just one minute! Let’s not be so rash. Maybe there’s more to this story.”
“Or maybe there isn’t. I’m willing to bet this isn’t the first time she’s done something like this. Am I right, Matthew?”
“Sure are,” Matthew answered. “She does it all the time.”
Ben gave me a smug smile. “Give us another example.”
“She tossed my favoriteSeinfeldT-shirt in the trash because it had one tiny hole in the sleeve. And she threw away my favorite tennis shoes. She said they smelled.”
“Sounds like you’re going out with your mom. Does she tell you to wash your hands before supper?” Ben chuckled. “By the way, what did you do when she threw away those things of yours?”
“Nothing. What could I do? They were gone.”
Ben nodded. “And here lies the real problem. You’re letting her walk all over you. You either need to fix this so you can be part of all the decision-making in your house, or you need to walk away from the relationship. Either way, you need to grow a pair. Thanks for the call.”
What a monster.
I held up my hand. “Wait a minute! Matthew, you stay right there.”
“Uh . . . okay,” Matthew said.
Ben looked up. “What’s the problem now?”
