Once upon a time, a young and social princess lived the life of other princesses her age. She worked by day and played by night and weekend. Then one day, she happened upon someone she knew only by name. Introduced by a friend, they began a no risk relationship that lasted for one month, at which point the princess thought the cost of the relationship too steep.

It was less than a year later that they met again by accident. This time, the princess was not strong enough to resist the knight’s charms. In their time apart, the knight gained more knowledge, was funnier, and could expose her to many things she’d missed, but longed to see. But their relationship became toxic. Before the princess noticed, the knight was controlling her life. Through the winter, they were close and there was no need for either of them to go out. However, even in warm months, the princess spent much of her time with the knight. With her new job, she was able to go home earlier and thought only of the extra time she could spend with the knight. And so it went for months and months. Outings with friends fell to the wayside. Phone calls were a bit more scarce. It seemed nearly impossible to bridge the gap between the princess and her knight and the rest of the world.

Until the princess was informed of the impending departure of a friend to a far away land. The princess mustered the strength to escape the now claustrophobic embrace of the knight, met up with her trusty sidekick, and journeyed out to say her goodbyes. It was during this farewell that the princess realized that her gallant knight and beautiful home had become a prison.

And she vowed she would not continue to let it be so.

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Since then, I’ve been indoor rock climbing twice, went to a baseball game, bowling, lunch and dinner with friends, hanging out with family, and I’m doing a 5K this month. All while maintaining a less ridiculous relationship with the knight – Sir Netflix.