Christmas Shopping

blonde-haired man shrugged his shoulder as he looked at the young teenager holding a large cup in her hand. She looked greatly annoyed.

  “I guess I scared her off,” the man joked.

  “What an idiot,” the teen-aged girl commented, irritated by the fact that Jilly just left without purchasing the smoothie she had ordered.

  “Uh...Jenna,” the man said, glancing at the girl’s name tag, “I’ll pay for that.”

  “Really? Cool. It’s four dollars and thirty-four cents.”

  The man pulled out his wallet and handed her a five dollar bill.

  “Just keep the change,” he said as he grabbed the drink and a straw and turned to find Jilly.

  Jilly’s heart was pounding. Had the man followed her? Why couldn’t people just leave her alone. She didn’t want anything bad to happen, she just wanted to shop and get out of there. She thought about leaving but was so close to completing her shopping. She mustered up the strength to stay. She rode an escalator to the upper level. She had wanted to enjoy her smoothie and then check out the deals at Corruption, one of her favorite clothing stores across from Banana Cabana, but now, thanks to the creepy blonde man, her plans had to be altered.

  The blonde man took long strides, careful not to let Jilly out of his sight. He had thought he lost her, but then spotted her red wool coat in the crowd nearly twenty feet ahead, just before she turned and entered a popular sporting goods store.

  Gotcha! He thought, as he began walking more slowly, leisurely. He knew where she was and the store had just one exit. When he reached the store, he paused for a brief moment before entering. A broad-shouldered male employee quickly accosted him.

  “You can’t bring drinks in here,” he said curtly.

  “Oh I’m just—”

  “You’ll have to take it out of here,” the worker insisted. He looked tired and irritable.

  “Fine,” the blonde man replied with a huff, then turned and exited the store.

  Feeling greatly annoyed, he stood just outside the entrance and waited for the girl in the red coat to emerge from the store. After nearly ten minutes, he was bordering anger and getting ready to toss the smoothie in the trash and leave. He told himself that he would wait five minutes more. He checked his wristwatch. It was 6:29. He glanced impatiently into the store. He caught a flash of red, but deep within the store and too far to make out whether it was the girl he was waiting for.

  With a heavy sigh, the blonde-haired man continued waiting. He looked around at the groups of people walking in and out of the various stores around him. His phone rang and he pulled it out of his back pocket. He glanced at the name that flashed across the screen. It was his girlfriend, Jessica.

  “Hey, Jess, what’s up?” He said, answering her call.

  “When are you coming home?” Jessica asked.

  The blonde man could sense that she was upset. When wasn’t she upset? Their relationship had taken a nose dive and he knew it was just a matter of time before they parted ways.

  “I’m almost done…I should be home in about an hour or so.”

  “I thought we were going to go shopping together?”

  “We will…I just wanted a head start. I can’t get your gifts if you’re with me.”

  He could hear Jessica’s frustrated sigh. He was pretty sure she was rolling her eyes.

  “Okay, let me hurry so I can get back to you. Love ya, Jessie.”

  The man shut his phone off before Jessica could respond. He slipped it back into his pocket then turned around just in time to see the girl in the red coat walk past him.

  “Hey,” he called out then reached for her shoulder.

  The girl turned around to face him.

  “Oh, hi,” she said with a smile, clearly pleased that an attractive man was speaking to her.

  The blonde man frowned. She wasn’t the pretty girl he had encountered earlier—the girl who had ordered the smoothie. She wasn’t Jilly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

  “No problem,” the girl said, her smile fading as disappointment set in. She turned and walked away.

  “Shit,” the blonde man murmured in frustration. He had wasted his time waiting.

  Where the hell did she go? He wondered as he looked around desperately. He knew that he should just go home to Jessica. He didn’t even know why he was pursuing the young girl who so obviously had no interest in him. Then he realized that it was because she expressed no interest in him that he felt inclined to find out why. He was a good looking man, after all. Many women and girls gladly welcomed his advances. What set that young girl apart? Did she feel that she was too good for him? He just wanted to speak to her for a few minutes, was that so bad?

  Gritting his teeth in anger, he walked around the entire lower level, peering into the shops as he conducted a cursory scan for the girl. It was amazing how many people were now wearing red. He almost took it personally—as if they were all against him and his mission to find this elusive young girl. Growing increasingly more irate, he rode the escalator up.

  Jilly’s mouth hung open when she spotted the blonde-haired man as she rode the adjacent escalator down. She turned her face away from him sharply and stared at her feet, but it was too late. He had seen her. A wide grin formed on his face. It was too crowded to quickly make his way up and around to the escalator going down, but he was confident that he would find her, even if he was a minute or two behind.

  Confidence notwithstanding, the slow-moving escalator seemed to take years to finally reach the upper level. As quickly as he could maneuver around the crowd, the man walked around to the escalator descending to the lower level. Once again he found himself unable to advance past the people and bulky bags they held. He would just have to be patient for a little longer. He would find the girl and get her to acknowledge him.

  Jilly’s heart was racing. She was certain that she had seen the man’s head turn just before she looked away from him. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach warned her to get out of there at once. She would just have to miss out on the big sale at Corruption. Her mother’s words echoed in her mind: “Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t put yourself in that position again. You remember what happened last time....”

  Jilly wasn’t concerned about being rude as she pushed and bumped into people on her way to the parking garage. She ignored the offensive comments and angry back glances. She just had to get out of there and fast. She wanted to go home. She needed to be safe.

  The blonde-haired man was likewise inconsiderate of the slow-moving shoppers as he swiftly weaved through the crowd. He had the girl in his sight and he was not going to lose her again. She was moving fast, but he had longer legs, a greater stride and unwavering determination. He was just a few feet away from her by the time she reached the elevator for the parking garage.

  Jilly pushed the button and waited anxiously for the elevator to arrive. She didn’t dare glance back for fear that she would see the man—or worse—that he would see her. Moments later, the elevator arrived and the doors parted open. Jilly quickly entered. As she turned to press the P3 button for the third level of the parking garage, she saw the man’s arm reach in to stop the doors from closing. A weak, helpless cry escaped her quivering lips.

  The blonde-haired man looked flustered and angry.

  “Why are you running away from me?”

  Jilly stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. Her lips parted but she could not bring herself to speak. It was going to happen. She just knew that it was going to happen again. Her parents—especially her mother—would be so angry, so disappointed in her for not being careful.

  “You do know how to speak, don’t you?” He aske
d agitatedly.

  The elevator began ascending. Before it reached the third parking level, the man reached over and pulled the red emergency stop button. The elevator screeched to a halt and froze in place. Jilly let out another high-pitched sound as she began trembling.

  “You look so scared,” the man said. “Don’t be afraid, I just wanted to give you the smoothie you ordered.”

  The man held the smoothie out to Jilly, but she did not attempt to take it from him. With all of the bags she was holding, it would have been impossible to do so without releasing one of them, even if she had wanted to.

  “I don’t understand why you’re acting like that,” the man shouted.

  Jilly could see the vein on the side of the man’s forehead bulge and begin to pulsate. There was no doubt that he was enraged. It was past the point of no return. Still, she did not answer.

  Suddenly, the man began laughing, in stark contrast to his incensed demeanor.

  “You know I’m just messing with you, right?” He asked as he pushed in the emergency stop button.

  Slowly, the elevator began rising again.

  “Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a prick. I just wanted to talk to you. Can I make it up to you?”

  Jilly stared down at one of the bags in her hand. She knew the man wasn’t going to let her leave on her own accord. It was just a trick.

  “Oh my God, your silence is killing me...say something,