** This article is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as shared with me by a friend who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. **
Relationships can be a delicate balance of two people working together to be friends or work toward marriage. My friend had been a single mom for many years and was finally exploring the world of dating. She had been isolating herself for many years and finally had decided to get out and do some things with others.
One man repeatedly asked her out, and they had gone out several times. Soon, he began to monopolize her time, and she barely had room to breathe. He called her several times each day and talked to her for as long as she would talk.
His adult children called her as well, and they, too, would talk for as long as she would talk. Soon, she felt smothered and overwhelmed. Having been a homebody for many years, she wasn’t used to being gone all the time. She wasn’t used to going out every weekend.
One particularly busy week for her, she had to be at appointments three different times in the same week. The location was 70 miles from her home in each direction, and she wasn’t staying in a motel or hotel; she was driving both ways each day to attend the appointments.
She was exhausted by the second trip when the man called her up and told her that he had booked them into a resort for the upcoming weekend. He told her that he would be picking her up at 3:00 pm on that particular Friday.
She told him that she wouldn’t be home until at least 7:00 pm that night after her appointment and that she wasn’t going anywhere with anyone; she wanted to stay home for the weekend and recuperate after driving over 420 miles round trip all weekend. She reminded the man that he had told her to tell him if she ever felt pushed or like she needed some time to herself, so she took this opportunity to tell him that she wanted a weekend alone.
Those were her only plans, but the man took it very badly. He argued with her that she needed to go to this resort and take a break. My friend isn’t the kind of person that can be told what to do, and she wasn’t about to start letting others tell her what to do on this particular weekend. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep in and relax all weekend.
Friday night came, and she arrived home at 7:00 pm as planned. She plugged a movie into her DVD player, warmed some dinner, and put on her pajamas to relax. The man called her to see if she was okay, and she told him she was fine, just watching a movie and relaxing, and he bid her goodnight.
By 10:00 am the next morning, my friend received a horrible text from the man. He told her that he had been up pacing all night long and demanded that she go do something with him or forget he ever existed. She insisted she wasn’t going anywhere, and he told her that he wanted a box of stuff back that she had of his. She told him that she’d make arrangements to drop it off during the workweek.
All my friend wanted was a quiet weekend, and this man continued to text her all weekend long, threatening her and telling her that he was on his way over. She told him that he was no longer welcome at her place and to leave her alone.
The man continued pressing her, and she had to threaten to call the police on him. True to her word, she returned his box of things the following Monday. He sent her one more threatening text, which she ignored, and then she blocked his number permanently.
I felt bad for my friend. She had come out of being somewhat of a recluse to dealing with someone like this. However, I was glad she was rid of him, he seemed a bit too controlling to me, and I was worried for my friend’s safety. Personally, I think she dodged a bad situation and probably a creep that had just been biding his time. What do you think? Did she dodge a creep on this one? Or do you think he was just really that into her?
© Lefty Graves. 2023 All rights Reserved.
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