Belatedly annoyed

An ex-boyfriend of mine came up in conversation with my Mum last night, and she told me that he'd phoned her up to tell her how awful M was. This was years ago, but the first I'd heard of it.

Now of course, this fellow's behaviour is somewhat explicable, given I rather brutally dumped him for M and had treated him rather badly throughout the relationship. I was a great practitioner of the Wonder Stuff's "don't let me down (gently)" school of break-ups.

Apparently he said M was a druggie and a sexual prevert "contaminating our precious bodily fluids" [/Dr Strangelove] and a nasty piece of work and a terrorist and a deadbeat and a fraudster and a whoremonger and a ... well, you get the picture...

...and I may be exaggerating slightly.

But honestly, what on earth did he think he'd achieve? I was an adult, living away from home. The only thing he could possibly have done was create a rift between me and my Mum, had she not had the sense either not to believe it or keep schtum anyway. You can give advice to your kids once they've grown up, but it's best to be wary of interfering in their relationships. Picking up the pieces afterwards is usually all there is. As if my Mum didn't have enough to worry about!

Anyway, over a decade later, 'though it hasn't all been plain sailing (but then what ever is), M and I are happily married with two kids and no drugs or semtex in sight, so I'd like to respond with an
"in your face!"

and some vigorous v-signs.