The first woman he ever stalked was an instinct. He was bored and wandering the isles of a Wal-Mart that was almost forty five minutes from his home. He had gotten in the car and drove without considering a destination. After an hour and a half of wandering the night time streets he meandered into the Wal-Mart for fruit and a drink. He could have stopped at any of the gas stations he had passed but he wanted the freedom of choice the Wal-Mart afforded him.
He was looking at boxers and trying to find the ones with the snap button on the front when she walked past him the first time.
He only saw her from the back and thought her a little too thin, and her cheeks looked fat. He frowned at first thinking she was older, say, in her early forties. He ignored her until he saw her pass him again in the produce section. She came by him close enough that he could smell the sweet flowery scent of her perfume. He let the scent of her linger in his mind while he held the can of pineapple he had been looking at to see if it had corn syrup. In this passing he got a good look at her. Her face was round yes, but her eyes were sharply almond shaped, almost Asian. Her skin was a butterscotch color. She had on a light tan shawl over her round shoulders. He was struck by her beauty and had to tell himself not to stare.
He passed her again in the electronics section. It was here that he noticed the contents of her cart. She had a small jug of laundry detergent and a round thing of Clorox wipes. It wasn’t the sort of thing you had to leave the house at ten at night to go get for yourself.
She had the air of someone who was not quite in the mood to go home. He tried to stay out of her sight while keeping her in his. She perused the DVD section with abandon, she had no where to be and no one waiting for her to get home. If there was someone she was definitely in no hurry to see them.
He had given up on her when he thought she saw him looking. She had turned to him rather suddenly and he hadn’t time to look away. He decided to give up on the idea of approaching her and instead go to the counter with the few things he was buying. There were only two counters open and the lines were long. She dawdled around a corner and got in line at the rear, behind a couple that followed him. He wanted to find a way to get her attention, but before he could think of something clever the lady two isles over opened a new register and said “I can help someone over here.”
His dream girl made her way to the other counter and possibly out of his life. He paid for the three items he bought, the boxers, the can of pineapple and a pack of rechargeable batteries for his digital camera. He paid with his card and attempted to leave. He was stopped by a large man near the door and asked to see his receipt. He complied and carried on. As he walked out to the lot it was drizzling. The dark pavement glistened slick. He saw her as he reached his car, thinking that he should have waited a few more seconds at the door, maybe acted like he was a little worried about the rain. He could have brought an umbrella and escorted the beautiful women to her car.
his mind threw out all the different ways he could have initiated contact with the girl. The one idea that quieted it all was that he should follow her.
He did not know why he had this notion. It was not anything he had ever considered before. Sitting in his car he thought of knowing where she lived. He figured that if she lived close he could get a chance to meet her again. Knowing where she stayed might make it possible for them to run into each other somewhere. It occurred to him how creepy it was for him to be following her, but it didn’t matter. There was a beautiful woman not a few feet away from him about to go home tonight and he could find out where that was and maybe parlay that into a chance encounter with her. He had no misconceptions about how startled she would be to see him at her door. He figured that he could maybe find the place and then establish her circle of places. If she lived close to here he could possibly hang out in Wal-Mart until she returned. There were always the other stores in the plaza that she might frequent.
He pondered these possibilities and how he could make the forced encounter into something magical and spontaneous. He was crossing the large parking lot when he saw her car. It was a reddish Toyota, the smaller model with a fin on the back. Her left headlight was out. He wondered how he could let her know that without revealing himself too soon.
While he trailed her he wondered who she was, and what kind of person she was. He wondered if she was clingy or needy like some of the girls he had dated in the past. It occurred to him that he had no idea what kind of person she was, and she could not be very nice at all. He wondered if she had family or friends and what they thought of her.
She sped through a light and he had to push his little Maxima to keep up with her. She stayed on the main road, so he did not have to worry about getting lost. He was not over on this side of town often but he had a good idea of how to get back home. He made the mistake of going a little too fast and he was right beside her. She had tinted windows and he wondered if she was in the car at all. Maybe he had followed the wrong person from the Wal-Mart. There were other cars leaving at the time. With her windows it was not way to tell if she was in the car or not.
He kept his speed as she slowed a little. This caused him to pass her but he kept her in his rearview. The car with only the left headlight stayed in view until he crested a hill. He took the next street as an opportunity to turn around and get behind her. There was only one street on the drag and he almost absentmindedly made a left turn instead of a right. The left turn would have meant waiting for the light to change to make another left to catch her, but he could always turn right on red. He U-turned in the middle of the side street and made it back just in time to see the little Toyota pass him. He quickly bust a right and caught up with her. He was glad he had made the move because she turned directly into the next set of apartments. He saw her take the first left into the row of buildings as he passed her again. He pulled into the next gas station and turned around. He wondered for a moment if she had made him. Maybe she had turned off because she knew she was being followed. Maybe she was going to sit in the lot for a minute and then go. He waited there for her car to pass.
When it didn’t he pulled back out into the street and found the apartment buildings. He turned down into the lot and took the turn he saw her take minutes ago. He pulled down and around the corner without seeing her car. His heart skipped when he saw her emerge at the next set of apartments. He drove past again, hoping she did not recognize his car in the rain. She quickly ran to her building and he noted which one it was in the row. He continued around the row of apartments and drove back to the street. He worked his way back to the Wal-Mart so that he could best find his way home.
His drive was filled with ideas on how to meet and acquaint himself with this mystery woman. His heart fluttered with the small victory of tracking her in the dark of night. He heralded his skill as a hunter and considered what his next move could be. His mind was abuzz with fantasies of how he would invite her to dinner, or ask for her number. He felt confident that meeting her would be the easy part now that he knew where to find her.
