My (27M) girlfriend (26F) thinks I didn’t get her anything for our anniversary, but the reality is way stupider (and worse) Hey everyone. I’m writing this from the bathroom because I am literally hiding from the shame. I need to vent because I feel like I’m losing my mind. We’ve been together for 3 years, and she is the most thoughtful person on earth. She remembers everything: dates, my distant friends’ names, exactly which foods I love and which ones I hate. I, on the other hand, am a disaster with memory. My brain is like a web browser with 50 tabs open, and half of them are frozen. Knowing this, I wanted to do it “right” this year. TWO MONTHS ago, I bought the perfect gift. It’s a vintage, first-edition copy of her absolute favorite book (The Princess Bride), which was incredibly hard to find. I was so proud of myself for being so ahead of the game. The problem is, because I bought it so early, I hid it in a “safe place” so she wouldn’t accidentally find it while we were cleaning or looking for stuff. I told myself, “Obviously, this spot is perfect. There’s no way I’ll forget this.” Well, the day arrived (yesterday).
We had a romantic dinner at home. She gave me my gift: an incredible watch engraved with our initials. I teared up a bit; it was beautiful. Then it was my turn. I went to the bedroom to get the book… and my mind went blank. Total white noise.
I checked the closet. Nothing. Under the bed. Nothing. In the toolbox (why would I put it there?). Nothing. I even checked the freezer in a moment of pure desperation.
Nothing. I spent 20 minutes “in the bathroom,” but I was actually silently tearing the apartment apart trying to find the damn book. The panic started rising in my throat. I couldn’t walk out there empty-handed after the amazing gift she just gave me. So I went out… and I lied. I told her: “Babe, your gift is something really special that I had to order from overseas, but there was an issue with the shipping and it arrives next week.” She was super understanding.
She told me not to worry, that the intention is what matters. But now I feel like absolute human garbage. Not only did I “forget” to give her the gift (which is physically inside this house, I am 100% sure), but I lied to her face. Now I’m on a countdown. I have one week to find where the hell I hid that book before she realizes there is no tracking number and no pending shipment. I’ve checked places in my own house I didn’t even know existed. The worst part is that this happens to me all the time with small things (where I left my keys, the name of a restaurant someone recommended, my mother-in-law’s birthday), but I’ve never screwed up on this level before.
I feel like my mental disorganization is starting to affect my relationship, and I’m terrified she’s going to get tired of having a boyfriend who seems like he doesn’t care, when in reality I care too much—my brain just refuses to cooperate. I need advice on how to handle this with her. Should I come clean now and admit I lost it inside the house, or should I use this week to tear the apartment apart? How do I explain this without looking like I don’t care? TL;DR: I bought my girlfriend a rare copy of “The Princess Bride” months ago for our 3-year anniversary and hid it too well. I completely forgot where I put it, so I lied and said it was delayed in shipping. Now I have one week to find it inside my own apartment before I’m exposed as a liar.
