Let's Not Meet Again

Creepers at Two Different Malls

Although this happened more than 20 years ago, it remains one of the creepiest encounters I've ever experienced (and that says a lot), and I relate this story often to serve as an example to always be aware.

I was 21 and had recently moved to the area and gotten my first job and apartment. One Thursday, one of my regular days off, I decided to head to the mall to find some things to decorate my apartment. I decided to go to the one 15 miles away, because it was bigger and had more stores.

I parked outside of Macy's so I could check out my favorite makeup counter first. Then I walked out into the mall and checked the directory. The first store I wanted to go to was Deck the Walls. There are very few of these stores left, but in the 90s you could find one at just about any mall. They sold posters, wall hangings, framed prints, etc., as well provided framing services. Unfortunately, it was on the complete other end of the mall.

I get to the store and start flipping through a stack of prints, but suddenly I felt like I was being watched. I looked up and to my left, and there's an older man flipping through some prints perpendicular to me, about 20 feet away. His head was down, but his eyes were on ME. As soon as he noticed me looking at him, he went back to flipping through the prints. This happened a couple more times - I'd see him looking at me and he'd go back to what he was doing. I moved to another part of the store, and it continued. He was obviously watching me, and now I'm uncomfortable, so I left.

I walked a little ways down and decided to stop into the CVS for some toiletries. I glanced behind me - and he'd followed me into the store. Okay, asshole, wanna play? Even though I didn't need anything there, I purposely headed to the feminine products aisle, just to see if he were really following me. And he was. I tried not to laugh as he got flustered upon seeing that he was now looking at tampons.

I made my way through the store, getting the things I needed, and then headed to the cash register. At this point, he was several aisle away, but seeing me headed to the front of the store, he made a beeline up front. Trying (!) not to look too obvious, he pretended to be looking at the selection of gum and candy - but because of this hesitation, it was just his luck that a woman stepped into line behind me. As the cashier was ringing me up, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and could see that he was fidgeting and impatient.

His behavior was starting to worry me, so when I exited CVS I quickly ducked into the first dark store I saw, which was a couple doors down. It was a clothing store, and had these tall columns that had mirrors on them throughout the store. I hid behind one and peeked around it, out into the mall, to see when he came out of CVS. And when he did - now I knew something was wrong. He had practically run out of CVS and stopped right in front of the store I was in, and looked left and right, trying to find me. Then he put his hands on his hips, and quickly walked away.

Very scared now, I went to the back of the store where the registers were, and told the worker there what was going on. Mall Security was called, and when they arrived, I gave them a full description of this creep - average height, in his 50s, brown hair, longer on top like in the 70s, gold framed glasses with large, tinted squarish lenses, tan shirt, brown pants, tan trench coat. I'll never forget him. They asked if I wanted an escort to my car, but honestly, I wasn't finished shopping and said I thought I'd be fine - but I'd keep an eye out.

After another hour or so, not wanting to go all the way back to Deck the Walls and not having found anything, I decided to leave and headed back to Macy's. I was keeping my eye out for the creep the whole time, but thankfully, he'd disappeared - or so I thought. There were two sets of doors out to the parking lot, with a waiting vestibule between them. As I walked through the first set, I ever-so-courteously looked behind me to see if I should hold the door open for anyone. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. It was him! He was right fucking behind me!!! Where the hell had he even come from?! Somewhat stupidly, I walked through the second set of doors. This was a very desolate part of the mall and lot, and there were very few cars parked, so he easily could have grabbed me and no one would have seen unless someone were in the store and looking out.

Thinking quickly, I did an about-face while saying, "Shit! I knew I forgot something!" and went right back inside, to the first manned register, and asked for them to call Security. They arrived 10 minutes later, I filled them in on all that had transpired, and had Security escort me to my car. I sat in my car for a few minutes just gathering my thoughts and thanking God nothing had happened. As I pulled out of the lot, I saw him again. He was walking near the other exit of Macy's, and now he was with a woman. I saw them from the side, and this woman was older, short, portly, with glasses, and had an interesting hairstyle for an older woman. It was long for her age and blonde, with thick curls that you get from rollers, and styled more like a little girl's, with the sides pulled to the back and held with a barrette. This is what made her stand out to me. I hightailed it out of there and home.

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't file a police report. As I mentioned, I was new to the area and didn't know anyone other than my coworkers. Also, I didn't live in an apartment complex - I lived on the first floor of a duplex, on a corner and across from a park. So I didn't want to risk this guy getting my address somehow through a report.

Unfortunately, this story doesn't end here. At the time, I was working for doctors, and they started doing shady shit, which is a whole other story. We butted heads because I refused to be a part of it, and we came to a mutual agreement that I would no longer work there. It didn't take long to find another job, a fun one this time, but it wasn't available for another six weeks. During this time, my well-off grandmother (who frequently gave all six of us grandkids money and gifts), offered to send me to Italy for two weeks - which she knew was my dream trip. Off I went. I became obsessed with the country and talked about one day moving there.

I started my new job, which was at a department store cosmetics counter at a mall about 15 miles from my apartment, but in a different direction from the first one. This is now six months after the first incident. One night, I was at my register when a woman came up to the counter. I began showing her the products, and we somehow started chatting about Europe, as this cosmetics company had originated there. I mentioned that I'd just returned from Europe and how I would love SO MUCH if I could live and work there.

So this woman says to me, "Well you're in luck! The company I work for has offices in Europe, and we're hiring! Why don't you give me your number and I'll call you with all of the information!" Excited beyond belief at walking into this opportunity, I reached for pen and paper as I asked what kind of work she did. She said she'd tell me all about it when she called me, and at that point she pulled her glasses out of her purse and put them on. And that's when I took another look at her.

She was short, and portly, with long blonde curled hair, the sides pulled back and held with a barrette. My blood ran cold. It was HER! The woman I'd seen all those months ago with the creep in the parking lot! I continued some chitchat as I wrote down my number and told her how much I looked forward to speaking with her. I'll never know if she called, though, because I had written down the number of a local Chinese takeout :)

In retrospect, as an adult now, I probably should have notified the authorities. Who knows if they were a part of some kidnapping ring or what, but it didn't even cross my mind then. I really thought it was just a coincidence. And I never saw either of them again.