Let's Not Meet Again

I Just Wanted A Job

Three years ago, when I was nineteen, I had just gotten hired at my local mall. Even though I've always hated the mall and have had lots of weird experiences there, I was desperate after quitting my previous job, and figured with co-workers around, I'd be safe.

It was about 6 p.m. on a winter night and I was asked to come into the store to fill out paperwork before I started working. I was seated on a bench near the back of the store, next to a boy who had also just been hired. We made some small talk about the job and how the piles of paperwork were easily the largest and most ridiculous we'd ever seen. I thought he seemed cool. We quickly got to work and started filling out the forms mostly in silence.

At first I was so absorbed in the papers that I didn't realize I was being watched. I looked up to see a tall man, about 6'5", maybe 45 years old, standing about five feet away, eyes locked on me. I stared right back at the man and after a few seconds asked if I could help him. He asked some very vague question about the store. I gestured to the huge pile of papers in my lap and told him that I hadn't started working yet and couldn't help him. He just continued staring. I'm a small girl at 5'1". I've been creeped on plenty of times and learned a long time ago not to be too polite about it (though I had just gotten hired and didn't want to be too rude about it either).

"What?" I asked impatiently.

"I... uh... do you have a boyfriend?" he stuttered.

"Yes," I lied, looking back down and continuing writing.

"How old are you?" he persisted.

"Sorry, I'm busy," I said, not looking up.

He stood there. He asked when I start working and if I live close by. He asked if my boyfriend was good to me. I ignored him. Finally he walked away. The boy sitting next to me ignored this whole encounter. I decided he wasn't as cool as I thought. A few minutes later I noticed the man wandering aimlessly around the store, occasionally looking back at me. I wondered if my new co-workers would think I was dramatic if I asked to be walked to my car.

The next time I looked around, he was gone. Relieved, I finished what felt like the millionth written form and peaced the fuck out of the store. I scanned around as I made my way towards the mall's exit and I saw no sign of the man anywhere.

I couldn't see anything outside through the glass doors, but I could see that it was dark. I walked outside and as soon as the door closes behind me, I am literally lifted off my feet. The man from the store is PICKING ME UP, kind of rocking back and forth in what was the most terrifying "hug" sort of thing I had ever experienced in my life. He put me down (THANK god!) to tell me that I'm everything he was looking for in a girl (yikes) and how nicely he'll treat me. He said he could tell as soon as he saw me that I was the one. Of course I didn't see one other person in the parking lot.

At first I was stunned. Then he reached for my hand when FIGHT OR FLIGHT finally kicked in. Before I knew it, I was (stupidly) booking it to my car, keys already in hand, not looking back. I looked up for a split second as I was unlocking my door and sliding into my car (and immediately re-locking my doors) and I saw...

Nothing. I didn't see him anywhere. What the fuck? My first thought was "he's in my car" and I looked in the back seat even though I saw when I entered my car that it was empty. I didn't know if he was hiding behind a car, hiding behind MY car, getting in HIS car, or if he never followed me at all, but I was 100% mentally prepared to run him over should he come running from somewhere. I didn't know if he took a lucky guess which exit I'd come out of, or if he saw which way I'd entered. I got out of that parking lot real quick.

I was frantically looking in my rearview mirror as I sped home, half-expecting to see the dude pop up from my back seat. I didn't see anyone following me and started to calm down when I see a huge black truck ripping down the road behind me at top speed. It was a pretty good distance behind me but I noped out of the situation without a second thought and pulled into a hotel parking lot that I was luckily next to at the time, turning my headlights off and parking amidst the other cars in the lot. I lowered myself and watched the truck continue down the road. I had no idea whether the car was him, or just a person driving fast, but I didn't move for probably five minutes, on high alert, ready to poop my pants at the drop of a pin. Never seeing the truck return, I decided to continue the drive home, taking a detour from the road I was on.

No one followed me the rest of the way. I quit my job before I even started. I cried on the inside for a couple of hours. And that was that.