A Glimpse From Afar

I knew a glimpse from afar was the only look I would get of Chad.  I knew this would be my last look before I had to leave.  To disappear.  To never see my friends and family again.  If I stayed, I knew Chad would pull me under his spell just like all the women before me.  I had waited long for this moment, prayed hard for this moment, only to be bitterly disappointed at the outcome.  I had been in love with Chad since I was a freshman in high school and he a junior.  Though my fourteen-year-old ‘love’ had been more of an obsession from afar as I watched him discard through girlfriend after girlfriend 

I had though at twenty-seven, I would have learned my lesson.  Learned the important lesson that he didn’t have much to offer.  I thought it had been my fault for not attracting him sooner and going on a date as soon as I had wanted, but now I knew.  Knew his secrets and his misdeeds and why each previous girlfriend had ended up leaving.  Or in some cases disappeared.  I knew if I didn’t leave first, he would follow me relentlessly until I gave up or gave in.  I knew the mob would soon be after my family if I didn’t disappear.