Let's Not Meet Again

Threatening Stranger Harasses Me At Work

For a bit of background to set the tone of the story, I'm an 18 year old female who has put off college to work in an airbrush tanning studio that is set in a mall, my best friend, who is 11 years older owns the store. I mostly man the front desk, but am also a certified spray tan tech.

On this particular day, I'd been manning the front desk as usual, still in a bright sunshiney mood, seeing as it was our first or second week of business. I flash my best customer service smile as our 2:30 appointment arrives.

The girl, Ashley, had called earlier in the day to schedule an appointment, but had not told us she was bringing her boyfriend. I noticed immediately that they had telling demeanors of people in a domestic abuse situation. I'm a bit of an empath and can pick up on people's situations quickly, and usually it really hurts my soul.

Ashley was very quiet, and one of those people who doesn't really smile when you look at them. She seemed troubled. The main character in this story though, is her boyfriend, Kyle.

Kyle was one of those men who work out their arms a lot but don't spend a lot of time on legs, so they look like an upside down triangle. He had on a too-tight polo, sunglasses on the back of his head, and a fresh buzz cut. His whole energy screamed douchebag. He looked way too dressed up for our mall, and was obnoxiously standing over his girlfriend and pacing, as if he had already grown bored. He kept picking up our products and messing with them, like a child.

So my boss got Ashley set up in the tanning booth, where the airbrush machine is. Our booths have pins on them, since they are just piling with material over it, so that we can pin the clients inside with us so nobody can see them. As SOON as he heard she would be undressing, he got up from the couch he was slouching on and tried to open the booth, to which my boss protested, since the pins could come out and get stepped on. He sulked back the couch, only after trying to go around the back and being told it is a liability for him to do that.

Kyle begins examining our beauty bar, which is a round table filled with materials for making organic body scrubs. he asks to try them, to which I respond of course, and instead of asking for my help, he goes directly into the employee bathrooms, stays in there for a long time, and leaves a mess. I hand him a paper towel to dry his hands, and he wads it up and gets uncomfortable close to me as he approaches me from behind to hand the paper towel to me in a reach-around fashion, ( I am 5'2 and he was at least 6'2) not thanking me for throwing it away.

I make my way toward our party room, which is a big inflatable tent for spray tan parties. He proceeds to ask "is this where all the girls get naked and spray tan together??" looking down at me directly in the eye with wild intent. I reply no, and try to go back to the cash register, as he follows me there, examining the lip balms.

Still trying to do my job, I say "I like those, I use them." He looks me dead in the eye saying "I have to see it in your purse." I laugh, thinking he is joking, but realize he is totally serious.

Now Reddit, please don't lecture me on how dumb I am, lol. I am only 18 and it was one of my first days. I don't want to upset the customer or my boss, so I make my way to the stock room to grab it from my purse, saying I'll be right back. i don't see him follow me down the hallway and don't realize he is there until I am bent down looking in my purse for the lip balm, and as I turn around, I see he is standing in the doorway across the room, arms blocking off my exit, staring at me.

I calmly say "I'll bring it out to you." And we hear the spray tanning machine turn off and the store go silent. Realizing his girlfriend is finished with her spray tan and we wouldn't be alone anymore, he goes back out. I bring the purse out, all while he is behind the counter with me, 2 inches away from me and behind me, and I pull the lip balm out. He watched the entire time, looking at my purse contents. He only decides to buy the lip balm after putting me through that, and takes it, waiting for his girlfriend to pay for it. He practically throws it at her as she exits the booth to pay.

The saddest thing of all was how he dragged Ashley out. One of the steps of our service is to explain how to care for the tan and extend it, and my boss got two sentences in before he pulled her out of the store, saying "she can just call." And she never did. He walked 8 feet in front of her as they exited.

Later in the week, he gave our business a nasty review in a Facebook status, stating my boss was a "bitch" because she told him not to open the booth by himself. He sarcastically told her to "watch the pins" as she exited the booth, just to be an ass, and had the nerve to leave a bad review. he also said that the color was not dark, but we hadn't even gotten a chance to tell her not to shower for 12 hours.

We later found out the two are drug addicts, and that he is a dealer. Needless to say, I wiped the couch down after he left and carry pepper spray now. Sexist immature pervert, let's never meet.