In the beginning he holds the door as I walk in before him. When I go to sit down he scoots the chair out and then back once seated. When we walk to the car he opens and closes the door for me. Our eyes meet just for a second, but in that second feeling as if we’ve known each other for a lifetime. A lifetime full of laughs and love. A lifetime full of nothing but happiness. He’s the kind of man that with a simple touch sends chills throughout my body.

A man who holds my hand ever so slightly it makes me feel like we’re the only two in the room. A man who with a gentle kiss makes me feel so much love and passion. A man who puts my needs
before his own because he says he’s simply a “man in love.”

A few months later a man that looks the same but is strangely different takes over. His eyes a bit darker and his face more stern than before. A man whose touch makes me jump. A man whose voice makes me crawl under my skin and cower. A man who holds my hand firm and tight and never lets me out of his sight. A man who kisses my bruises and says he’s sorry and he won’t do it again. A man who hurts me and then says its because he’s simply a “man in love.”

A man so sweet and charming turned to evil and destructive. A man thought as to be the best for me, “a perfect match,” turned to my worst nightmare. A man that I truly loved and thought would never hurt me to a man who nearly killed me. A man who puts women beneath him, so far beneath him that they don’t exist. A man who believes that women are an object and that men are superior. A man who tears you away from everything I loved and cared for, all because he says he's simply a “man in love.”