005: Coworkers

There's this guy at work who always stares at me. It's storming and he offers me a ride. I take. I think I shouldn't have... (Horrorish)

    I see him looking at me again.  It’s rather unnerving.  He does it almost every chance he can.  I was told before I started here that he’s creepy, but this is beyond the normal level of creepiness.  He sits at a desk with a perfect view of me.  Maybe that’s why he’s looking – I’m all the view he has.  It’s a crappy view if I do say so myself, but beggars can’t be choosers, right?  And if I did chose, I wouldn’t have picked this desk.  Well, maybe I would have.  It’s a good desk for someone like me - back to the wall and all that.  It’s better than being out in the open, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s doing it again.  I hate catching him looking at me.  I usually look away quickly or pretend like I was looking at something else.  Sometimes I wonder if I should smile at him, but I don’t want to encourage anything.  I have to work with him; the last thing I want to do is go out with him.  I mean, I guess he’s nice and all…just creepy.
I get up to refill my coffee cup, taking a bit longer than is needed.  I ran out of things to do at work about two hours ago so there’s no need for me to rush.  There’s an hour left before I get to leave.  I sit back down; he looks at me.  I busy myself with my computer.  Solitaire is a fun game sometimes.  I lose a game.  It starts to storm.  The hour crawls by; I lose more games than I win.  It’s 5, time to go.  I shutdown my computer and get my stuff ready to leave.  I forgot my umbrella at home today, so the walk home is going to suck.  I reach the elevator and he comes up beside me.
“It’s raining out; do you have an umbrella?” he asks with that strange look in his eyes.  I reply with a no.  He’d know soon enough if I lied.
The elevator comes.
“How about I give you a ride?” he asks with a smile that somehow creeps me out.  I tell him it’s okay – that I don’t live too terribly far away.
We get out of the elevator.
“It’s no big deal.  I’m going that way anyway.  Come on, you’ll get soaked and catch a cold if you walk home in this weather,” he says.  Just then, lightning flashes outside.  Before I can give a reply, thunder crashes.  I give in to his request.  A thunderstorm wouldn’t be safe to walk in.  “Good, wait here while I get the car,” he says and he dashes out.  I wait less than a minute for him to pull up.  Shrugging my bag higher on my shoulder, I run out and into his car.
I thank him for the ride.  “It’s really no problem.  I’d hate to think of you walking home in this.”  He puts the car into drive and we’re off.
We drive along in relative silence for a few minutes.  Jazz is playing softly from the radio.  It’s not really my stuff, but good in its own right.  We stop.  I’m confused and a little fearful.  I ask why we’ve stopped.  “Sorry, it’s getting a little dangerous to drive,” he says.  I have to admit that the rain has gotten heavy.  I could see how it would be dangerous, but I still wished be go.
“So,” he started, looking at me.  “You’ve been here for about six months, how do you like it?”  I reply with an ‘It’s nice,’ and smile.  He leans towards me.  I freeze.  “Excuse me,” he says as he opens the glove compartment.  I lean back in the seat as far as I can, trying to create more space between us.
“You’re kinda cute when you’re scared,” he says as he pulls a knife out of the glove compartment.  I don’t even have time to scream as he draws the blade across my neck.  If I knew it’d end like this, I would have called in sick today.
 

Reviews

[Casper Cross]

Good creepy story... great imagery. I think most women who have ever worked in an office environment have experienced something similar to this. You tell the story very well and sucked me in from the very beginning. I have nothing I could add or take away.