She could’ve been living at her boyfriend’s house and didn’t have to work. I’ve seen it happen. When I ran into this woman, everything in my body was screaming she was Maizyn. But no matter how many times I scour over the facts, the conclusion remains the same. It’s not her, and while I’m disappointed that it’s not, there’s nothing I can do about that.
I check the time on my computer and realize it’s already four in the morning.
Tomorrow is going to suck. I need to be at work by eight o’clock, and with my current lack of sleep, it’ll seem to drag on longer than normal.
Chapter 6
Emily
Morning is here before I know it, my alarm blaring way too fucking loud for six in the morning. I quickly turn it off and climb out of bed, tripping over the blankets wrapped around my legs. I don’t remember the last time I willingly woke up this early for anything. My brain refuses to function correctly until at least nine in the morning, and that’s being generous with at least one cup of coffee. That’s another reason I know I’m already screwed when it comes to Atlas.
The fact that I’m interested enough to wake up this early means it’s pushing more along the lines of obsession. Let’s not even add in the fact I’m only up this early so I can stalk him. But I got it completely under control. There’s absolutely no need for a therapist. I’m perfectly sane. Stalking someone is a completely normal reaction to my feelings, nothing to see here.
I throw on a pair of black sweat pants and a matching hoodie. Today’sgoing to be a long day, so I might as well dress as comfortably as possible. I quickly throw my hair up into a messy bun as I head into the bathroom to brush my teeth. There’s no point in dressing up. It’s not like he’s going to see me.
That would defeat the purpose of stalking. Slipping on my black sneakers, I grab my phone and keys then head out the door. This is a smaller town, so his office isn’t too far from where I live, it should only take me fifteen minutes to walk there.
Nothing unexpected happens on my walk. The sidewalks are mostly empty at this hour. I only pass a few people who are heading to school or into work. It’s almost peaceful. I round the corner and continue towards Atlas’ office. I checked the company website for the hours of operations, so I know they don’t open to customers until 8:30am but I have no idea what time employees, or the boss I should say, arrive to work.
As I approach the building, I’m relieved I don’t see any cars parked here yet. I’m hoping that means I beat him here. I pull my hood over my head and walk over to sit at the bus stop across from his office building. I figured if I hide in plain sight I’ll draw less attention to myself. Plenty of people dressed like me sit and wait for the bus all the time.
I plop down on the bus stop bench a little too hard and hit my elbow in the process. Note to self, hitting your funny bone doesn’t feel funny. The tingling pain in my arm finally starts to fade when I notice my first mistake. I scowl at my offending feet. Can I never do anything gracefully? I couldn’t even manage to put two matching shoes on my feet this morning. It would’ve taken me only a few seconds to double check I had matching shoes on.
It’s honestly laughable.
I walked around with mismatched sneakers, yet not a single person noticed me. It only adds to the ever growing pit in my stomach that tells me I’m invisible. I almost wish I was a ghost. That’d at least explain a lot of things and I would feel less empty. All this stalking will probably be pointless.
There’s no way someone like Atlas would ever have an interest in someone like me. I’m scared I might be too broken for most people. I’m not that delusional. I know whatever I think is going on between us won’t lead to anything, but I still can’t help myself.
Well, I guess I could end up in jail, or a nice padded room if I get caught, whatever, it would be worth it. I may not know much about that man but, there’s something undeniable about him. I can’t put my finger on it, not sure if I ever will, but something about this man calls to me. Running into him the other day altered my brain. He looked me in the eyes for three seconds, and it was the most seen I’ve felt in my entire life.
I pulled my phone out to check the time and noticed my inner ramblings lasted for almost an hour. At least time flies when you’re slightly manic. Talking to myself makes me feel better though. I start to get slightly antsy when a car finally pulls up. It’s a black Audi RS6. I jot down the plate number, in case I ever need it.
The car pulls around to the side of the office building and parks towards the back of the lot. I’m hoping that means they work in one of the offices, the only thing I can do is wait to see who comes out. After a few minutes, a man gets out of the car, but it’s not Atlas.
This man is similar in height to him though. The hair cut is a similar style but instead of black hair like Atlas, his is chestnut brown. When he gets closer to the main door I’m able to get a better look. I watch him a little longer and I recognize him as the man Atlas works with. I scroll back through my notes app to look for his name. It was Gavin. As he opens the door to walk inside, another car drives past. Gavin throws an arm up in acknowledgment before closing the door behind him.
My attention shifts to follow the vehicle as it parks next to the RS6. This one’s also black, but it was a Supra. I’ve always wanted to drive one of those. The windows are tinted too dark to see inside. This has to be Atlas, but I wait just to make sure. I glance at the time on my phone to make a note of it, 7:45am.
They don’t arrive until almost opening time. That’s good to know, that means I can sleep in a little longer tomorrow before I head over here. Maybe with a little bit more sleep, I can remember to make sure my freaking shoes match.
He’s unmistakable when he finally climbs out of the car, my heart skipping a beat when he comes into view. His messy black hair is long enough on top to fall into his eyes. The sides tapered around his ears, and the back is almost as long as the top. Speaking of his eyes, they’re an odd mix between pure blue and gunmetal blue. I haven’t been able to get the color of his eyes out of my head since yesterday.
They’re mesmerizing, almost hypnotic.
He’s dressed in a fitted white dress shirt and black slacks. You can see the faint outline of some of his tattoos when the sun hits his shirt just right. I have to wipe my mouth because I swear I’m currently droolingover this man. I’m not shallow, but that man is yummy. I can’t help but watch his every step as he makes his way inside. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice me sitting here and vanishes behind the main doors.
My stomach growls. Right, I might need some food if I plan to be at this all day. I need to be able to plan better if I want to keep at this. Books make stalking sound easy, I either suck at this or books lie. I leave my spot long enough to get a coffee and bagel for breakfast before coming back to my recon spot.
This may be boring but I needed to figure out his schedule, and the only way to do that is to sit here all day and follow him. I didn’t have the right skill set to hack his phone or anything like that. I had no other way to track him. I should’ve brought a book with me to give myself something to do while I was here. If I wasn’t worried about draining my phone battery I would read an ebook on my phone. I’ll get a portable charger next time.
I keep an eye on the entrance as people come and go. Everyone seems like other workers or clients. I don’t notice anything worth making a note of. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Some people sit next to me on the bench as they wait for buses to pick them up, it’s all pretty repetitive. No one bothers me or asks me questions. Hell, they act like I’m not even here. That’s fine though, it works out better for me that way.
It’s right around noon when I spot Atlas walking out of the building. I hide my face the best I can to make sure he doesn’t spot me. Once he’s a comfortable distance away, I stand and follow after him. He walks with purpose, carrying himself with a confidence I admire. If I walked like he did, would I still be invisible?
We walk for almost a block before he stops in his tracks, making me also stumble to a stop. Can he feel me watching him? Does he already know that I’m stalking him? He starts glancing left to right and I panic. I quickly dash behind a trash can before he’s able to turn around. My heartbeat pounds in my ears as I wait for him to find me hiding here.
This is not my brightest idea. What was I thinking? I’m not cut out to be a stalker. I wait for my heart rate to return to normal before I peek out from my hiding spot. He’s gone, he must’ve kept walking. At least he didn’t notice me. I take off in the direction I think he headed.
