The first moment

From the moment she first laid eyes on him she knew.

He was in his late 20s and fit. He was clearly from a bigger city than the one they were in that night and his urban look made her worry that the feelings she had of dread were because they were different races. That sliver of doubt that had nothing to do with her beliefs and everything to do with her fear of society thinking she was ugly inside was enough to start to crack what should have been a strong defense against this man and his charms.

And he was charming… So charming… Even though there was a part of her that felt deeply that there was something of the rat about him, or the snake?

He sidled up to her and tried to make conversation which was, predictably, about himself and about how smart and pretty she was. It always seemed the same when the gross ones were making a play for her attention: compliment her body and face, then compliment her brains. It made her nauseous every time but at least the predictability of that move usually kept her from getting herself into trouble.

Except for that night.

She knew from that first moment she wanted to spend the rest of her life avoiding him, she wished she had stayed at home and that she could have avoided his gaze altogether, but his hypnotic stare and the fear she felt around him even then were too much for her to be willing to stand her ground and she let him stay and talk.

She would regret that moment for the rest of her life.

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The prompt that inspired this was “from the first moment” and came with the idea that she wanted to avoid him for the rest of her life. It tooks all of 5 minutes from start to finish because sometimes it’s just too easy to tell the story.

What are your thoughts? Is there someone you know who from the moment you met them you knew you should avoid? Tell me your story.

Inspired by Promptarium.