Nothing of consequence

A couple of months ago, I asked someone why her boyfriend didn't like me and she replied that it was because we were once involved.

I responded with something like, "What? When were we involved?"

She came back with, "We were involved and I treated you like s**t."

I am thirty five years old. I have been in relationships for more than twenty years.

I never thought that I would forget being involved with someone. Seriously. Not that I did not want to be involved with this person, but...it was never there.

I am thinking about this because I am thinking about how all my relationships (romantic and otherwise) work. This thing has been sticking in the back of my throat like peanut butter for three months now, and I still don't know how to address it. More so than anything my ex-wife ever said to me, this has bothered me.

I would not realize that I was "involved" with someone? What does involved mean? Dating? In a relationship? Sleeping with each other?

I suppose one of the reasons that I am having problems processing this is because I am bad at relationships (again, romantic and otherwise) and I distrust the very nature of interpersonal discourse.

Going forward, I am going to try to realize when and if I am "involved" with someone, but for now, I am still looking at the situation and shaking my head like an Irish Setter with a gnat in his ear.