She wanted to buy a ticket to go up the tower and take in the views of the world's most romantic city. Her "cheap-ass" ex-boyfriend refused. But that wasn't the end of it. Photo / Getty Images
We've all been there: in a relationship where everything seems to be going swimmingly until a single action leaves us realising we're dating a dud.
For Wellington woman Angela Creet, it was a ticket to the top of the Eiffel Tower that was the beginning of the end of her rose-tinted view of her "first love".
The first part of the above sounds plenty romantic indeed, but as Creet has explained in a hilarious post to Facebook group, Kiwi Corona Bar, that ticket didn't exactly involve her.
Beginning her post by asking, "What's the most unromantic thing your ex ever did?" Creet, 42, shared that back when she was "a sweet young 20-year-old off to see the world with my first love", their adventures took them to Paris and the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
While Creet wanted to buy a ticket to go up the tower and take in the views of the world's most romantic city, her "cheap-ass" ex-boyfriend refused.
"I'm heartbroken", writes the portrait photographer, before continuing to perhaps the worst part of the story:
A few months later, Creet has returned home to Wellington and is "on a break" from her former flame. But he has decided he misses her and comes back to New Zealand too.
"He feels bad about what happened in Paris. He gives me a ticket. Of the trip HE took up the Eiffel Tower as a memento for ME to remember.:
She tells the Herald she remembers thinking "wow" but shares that she "didn't really say too much to him because I was a little bit more reserved back then".
"But I was thinking, 'You d**k'. I was blown away to think that he thought that was a romantic gesture. The way he handed the ticket to me, he thought he was being very sweet and I just was like, 'I can't believe you're doing this.'
"It was just insulting."
Creet goes on to write "we did not end up getting married". She tells the Herald that the incident was "the doozy" in their two-year relationship and things didn't last much longer after that.
Eventually, Creet made her way back to Paris on her own and "had the trip of a lifetime", including going up the tower herself.
"I bought my own ticket and rectified that pretty quick," she says, adding that as she took in the views of the Seine and the pretty "City of Light" from that special vantage point for the first time, it felt extra special.
For readers who may be thinking the crux of Creet's tale feels a little too familiar, she says while it took her some time to realise, she's learned: "don't let some guy stop you from doing what you want to do. If it's going up the Eiffel Tower, go up yourself and don't give a stuff about needing a man to take you up, sort of thing. I missed my opportunity at that point because I was too shy and didn't want to go up by myself. Looking back, I felt very stupid and should've just done it and thought, to hell with him.
"The longest relationship you'll ever have is with yourself. Make sure you make yourself happy - never settle for someone who doesn't think you're worth it."
Today, Creet is happily married with two children and while she's been back to Paris a few times, she's planning to take her son, daughter and her husband of 12 years on her next trip soon.