Content & Trigger warning – r*pe
When I was 18 or 19 I was a regular at Esoterica, often going up there to see my good friend who worked there. I sort of knew Ale at this time, but only in passing at the salon. I had been living with my boyfriend but when I discovered he was cheating I immediately left. Heartbroken and depressed with nowhere to go, I posted on facebook about my situation. Ale reached out to me and asked if I needed a place to stay. He said I could stay at his place for a day or two while I got stuff figured out. I thought he was a cool and respected guy in the community, so I accepted.
Soon after I got to his place he wanted to go down to a bar. Since I was underage he had to buy my drinks, which he happily kept doing. I got drunk pretty quickly. I was a lightweight, and I was drinking straight tequila. We hung out for a bit before he wanted to go back up to his apartment. It’s easy to see the obvious in hindsight. An older man inviting me to stay at his apartment and buying me drinks isn’t a good sign. I was young and vulnerable though. I also trusted him. We ended up messing around and having sex, and I’ve regretted it since. It didn’t feel right at all, but I didn’t really speak up and tell him to stop. I was drunk, heartbroken and uncomfortable in his home. I’ve always felt like he took advantage of me. Who wants to sleep with a girl who was just drunk sobbing over their ex and is 10 years younger than you?? Not someone with good intentions.
I never told anyone about this because I was embarrassed, and thought that I put myself in this situation. I think it’s inappropriate and unprofessional that he’s comfortable sleeping with his clients and employees. I won’t even date someone I work with, or even text work related things after 8PM because I think it’s inappropriate.
About two years later I was at another salon on Magnolia, and my stylist and I ended up talking about Esoterica. I hadn’t even brought up Ale before she said “wow I heard the owner is a creep and you have to sleep with him to even get a job there.” That was the first time I ever heard another person have a bad feeling about him.
One last gross thing is that he kept talking about how he liked zombies and lesbians. He even had a few weird paintings of it. The art might’ve been cool, but all the context ruined it.
I just wanted to share my experience. Thank you for listening.
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