When I was in High School there was a girl named Edith who played Daddy against Mommy. She bragged about it. I recall her telling us;
“So, Dad was going away with his girlfriend and I threw this Oscar winning performance of how I would die without him, and so he didn’t go.”
I can hear the sound of Edith’s laugh when she said, “So his girlfriend went off with another guy!”
Another time Edith said;
“My mother was seeing this guy who wanted to marry her, and so I told her that he interfered with me! She broke up with him, wanted to call the police! Oh it was so funny!!”
After Edith’s performance my friends and I were creeped out.
When Daniel and I divorced I was more than alert to the Edith Style. Gabi’s first ‘performances’ were amateur enough to alert me.
When I married Brad, Gabi knew that I would put him first. I didn’t have to announce it.
She also knew Daniel would put her first. Which is why she wanted to live with him.