It wasn’t the first time that Samantha had voiced her concerns about Dex.
Dex always called during our lunch break and monopolized my time. But that one day, Sam wanted me to explain why he needed to know exactly where I was, who I was with and even what I was eating if I went out of the office for lunch.
When I told her that he was just always attentive and interested, she gave me a frown followed by a “WTF” look.
“Don’t you feel…smothered Cara? It’s like he’s always around… even when he’s not!”
Sam’s words made my stomach ache but I pushed aside the feeling of uneasiness. Instead, I got defensive and a little angry.
“No! He just likes to keep in touch and nothing is wrong with that! Sam, you’re always complaining that men don’t communicate and now that Dex is doing just that, you have an issue with it. That’s just the way he is!”
Sam shrugged her shoulders. “If you say so. But I still think that it’s a way overboard.”
Her words festered and gnawed at me for days until Dex asked what was bothering me. Looking back, telling him what Sam had said was the beginning of a long line of stupid mistakes I made. Visibly pissed, Dex quickly brushed Sam’s attitude off as jealousy because she was still single. He strongly suggested that if she kept trying to bring him and our relationship down, I should spend less time with her.
The more Dex talked, the more he managed to convince me that maybe Sam was really jealous. Maybe she didn’t like seeing me in a position where I was finally happy and coupled up when she was usually in that position.
“El que con lobos anda, a aullar se enseña“….
Yes, maybe I had learned a thing or two from Sam about being “boyfriend-worthy” and now she was jealous.
But it wasn’t true.
It was the farthest thing from the truth but I realized it way too late into the game. I should have listened to that ache in the pit of my stomach…
Cara
Continuation: E is for “Eggshells”
All Rights Reserved ©2018 Marquessa Matthews.
Marquessa 
She really should have listened, but I guess love (and often lust) is blind
Debbie
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Love is blind when you think that you have truly found your soulmate…
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Love can make us deaf, dumb, and oh so blind. Throw in good sex and things can turn ugly and quick! I love where this is going though. It seems Dex knows how to throw in the magic, just enough to win over his potential prey…
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Men like that know exactly how to work women over. 😦
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Scary 😒
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Very scary.
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First he charms you.. then he isolates you.
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That’s the textbook pattern..
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Oh now this is sounding very creepy and suffocating; why do we resist out intuition? I hope she gets out from under his thumb soonest .
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Miche #atozchallenge
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Women often second guess themselves…
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Someone on the outside looking in can see so much more clearly than you can see from inside… I’ve learned that!
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Why is it always like that? That we refuse to see what side is really up?
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Living in our dream world… trying to make reality into what we want. And convincing ourselves that it really is what we want… so we’re blind to what truly is real. This describes my own real life…
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It describes a lot of our lives, even the ones who won’t admit it out loud.
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I admit everything. It’s either a strength or a weakness… not sure which…
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I think that its usually a strength!
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It’s just the way some people are. Manipulative and toxic, cutting you off from everyone else. She really should have kept her eyes open.
Cheers,
Deepa
2018: A-Z
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In Cara’s defense, she knows nothing about the redflags. Oftentimes, we realize what they were after the fact…
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So Dex is that kind of guy, a coercive controller. Subtle but still its abuse. I think this story is going to get dark soon. Enjoying the read 🙂
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Thanks Iain. Trying to shed some light on the Over-evaluation – Devaluation – Discard phases of this kind of abuse. I”ll be catching up on your posts soon! 🙂
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This sets the dark mood in. Interesting pace. Would love to know what happens. Although, I’m curious, are you going to paint the lady all white and the guy all black? Curious because I keep wondering if the lead in my story has some serious flaws, would they be looked up to as the lead still?
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Lakshmi, I won’t be painting Cara “all white” because she will need to get some kind of justifiable retribution for all that she has gone through.
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The plot is thickening…the charming gentleman is gradually beginning to look flawed and manipulative now.
Love the way you’re building this story.
All the best for the A to Z Challenge. Do drop by mine.
Cheers,
CRD
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Thanks for dropping by CRD! After the challenge, I’ll stop by and catch on your participation! Unfortunately, I’m falling a little behind in my alphabet!
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It is so easy to fall in a trap. Charm, lust desire everything packed into one.
Loving this story line!! 😙❤
Cheers,
Dream
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Thanks TDG! You are always great with the support and feedback!
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Any time 😙
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Well written with that dark mystery hanging in the background.
https://moondustwriter.com/2018/04/05/education-children-atozchallenge/
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Thanks Moondustwriter! I’ll take a spin over to your place soon!
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Oh dear. Red flag! Red flag!!
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🙂
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Yes, we’ve all ignored the flags. I’m loving this.
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Yeah, ignoring is never good…
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