Why was he staring at me?
Well, not really staring, but more like giving me shifty looks. Whenever I was looking out of the window of the rocking bus, I could feel his eyes on me. But every time I looked at him, he looked away.
Suspense novels, thriller movies, the internet and my overactive imagination had given me an unhealthy dose of paranoia. I could think of at least five different reasons why this dude would want to mug me, and not all of them deserve mention in polite company. Needless to say, I was very uncomfortable throughout the half an hour long bus ride. I was hoping he got off before or after me, so I could put my mind to rest.
In any case, I went over every scenario that could unfold in my head. I revised my Blue Belt katas in my head, confirmed that my pocket-knife was accessible easily. You see, said paranoia had ensured that I was somewhat prepared for any emergency. Now, I hadn't ever had the chance to test my self-defense skills in real life, and, being the peace loving personality that I am, didn't even want to test out said skills, but if this dude wanted a fight, I would totally show him a fight.
My fears were magnified at the end of my journey, when he got off the bus at the same stop as I did. As I started walking away from the bus-stop, he was following me at a distance of a few paces. I kept an eye on him using reflections off the glass-paned buildings and passing cars. By the next ten minutes as I navigated through the crowded city streets, hoping to lose him, I became fairly certain that this incident was going to come to a violent end.
As I stepped into a deserted lane, en route to my office, I made up my mind to end the torment. Without the support of the reflective surfaces surrounding me, I had no way of knowing whether the footsteps behind me were his without looking back, and I was determined to not do that. I slowed down, and waited for him to catch up. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, and my heart was throbbing. I half shut my eyes in anticipation...
As the footsteps came closer, he went past me, turned around, and said to me, "Dude, I've been noticing since the bus.. Your fly is open.", and walked away.
As I walked into my office, my breathing had calmed down, and I had relaxed to the point of the whole incident being funny in retrospect. The HR chick came up to me and reminded me of the interview I had scheduled, and that the candidate had just arrived moments ago....
This my fifth flash fiction story.