About two months after I moved to a city for university, I met a man who was 54 and I was 18. I began working for him (retail stuff) voluntarily, with the promise of added perks. Looking back, from the get-go he was manipulative, by not paying his staff and being sneaky with taxes/sales in the shop.
He first began to feel me up about the second or third time of me working there. I was so young, and part of me enjoyed the attention he was giving me. I soon felt uncomfortable, however. This man was married and had children older than me from previous relationships. He tried to pressure me into performing sexual acts in public spaces, which i refused to do, but over a few weeks we got more intimate. He had a ridiculous level of faith in me and promised to open lots of doors (afterwards I realised he had no power/position to do this) and he swore I was special, unique, that he had never done this before. He also said his wife was horrible, trying to give excuses to excuse his behaviour, which I naively believed and was convinced he was in a marriage that was breaking down (they are still together several years later). I soon realised this situation wasn't right, and put a stop to it about three months down the line. Those three months seem to have lasted a lifetime, and within that time he would switch, get angry sometimes and I would feel the need to diffuse his feelings -the only way I really knew how to at that age with him, by physical contact.
I think back to that time without the rose tinted glasses and honestly feel disgusted that a man like that was able to make me feel like I owed him things because of the 'perks' he would give me. He knew I was naive, had never been with a man, was young - and he used those characteristics to manipulate my feelings and actions. The very notion of someone that age being with a barely adult is horrendous in itself, but with his manipulation, lies and anger he really damaged me.
In the years that have passed, I have heard about other women who he has felt up or entered relationships with, both before and after my incident, and I have met up with one of them. These women are always young and have a very specific appearance.
I have been going to therapy for the past few months for treatment for PTSD from this time in my life, which has helped me on my healing journey.