want to get going, and I’ll meet you at work?”
She nods her head. “Sure, I’ll see you there.”
Jessie leaves, and I quickly pay the bill before going round the back to use the restroom. I’m just finishing up and about to open my cubicle when I hear the main door to the restroom open. I stop and listen to the noises of the diners outside before the door shuts, halting their voices. I cock my head, waiting for whoever it is to use one of the cubicles on either side of me, but there’s absolutely no sound.
My hand hovers at the lock, but for some reason, I’m frozen to the spot. My gut is telling me something isn’t right.
Maybe the lady’s just checking herself out in the mirror or something.
Berating myself and feeling stupid, I’m about to open the door when the sound of fingernails on a cubicle wall permeates my ears. As the scraping noise continues to each door, my heart skips a beat when it reaches mine and then stops. I step back, my heart firmly in my mouth by now as I glance down to see if I can see who is out there.
I’m about to shout out to whoever it is when he speaks.
“Ana,” he whispers, causing me to freeze in terror, my heart slamming against my rib cage.
Bile starts to rise in my throat, and I wonder if I should scream for help. Would anyone hear me? Would anyone come?
“Ana,” he says again, his words finally springing me into action.
As quickly and as quietly as I can, I take my phone out and dial 911. After two rings, I hear a lady’s voice saying, “911, what’s your emergency?”
“Ana,” he whispers again, but this time he laughs with it.
“911. What’s your emergency?” she prompts again.
As quietly as I can, I whisper, “help me,” into the phone.
“Hello, ma’am, what…”
He bangs on my door so loudly that I scream, dropping my phone in the process.
“It’s just you and me, Ana,” his ugly voice makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
He laughs again, and the sound of it makes me think he’s above me. I duck slightly, looking up, but there’s nobody there. Just a plain white ceiling. I try to peer through the tiny gap of my cubicle, but I don’t see anything. For a moment I feel paralyzed, the only sound in the restroom my heavy breathing.
Then out of nowhere, his eye appears. “Boo!” he shouts, causing me to scream again. I scream so loudly and for so long that until I hear a female voice shouting, I fail to realize that someone else has come into the restroom.
“Are you okay in there?” she asks, banging on the door. “It’s okay, he’s gone.”
At the sound of her voice, I quickly open the door, spotting a lady with thick, jet-black hair and a concerned frown on her face. In that moment, I don’t care that she’s a virtual stranger, I throw my arms around her for a hug.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
She hugs me back. “It’s okay, honey, he can’t hurt you anymore.”
I glance over her shoulder and notice that I have obtained quite the audience. One of the male servers I recognize asks, “What the hell happened? I heard screaming, and then this guy ran out of here like a bat out of hell—”
I pull from the lady’s embrace. “Did you see if he left in a car?”
“No, ma’am. Sorry. One of my coworker’s has called the police, though.”
My eyes widen.
“The police!”
Whipping around, I grab my phone from the floor and see that the call is still connected. I quickly place it to my ear. “Hello,”
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m in the restroom at Paulie’s Diner on route seven. A man came in harassing me. I think someone else may have called you about this.” Heart still wildly pumping, I let out a deep breath. For now I’m safe, but what the hell was he playing at?
“Yes, we have received two additional calls about this, ma’am. Responders are on the way and should be with you a few minutes, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Can you tell me your name, ma’am?”
Still breathing heavily, I answer. “It’s Ana … Ana Sinclair.”
“Now, do you know if the man who was harassing you is still in the restaurant?”
Even though she can’t see me, I shake my head. “No, he fled the scene as soon as I started screaming really loudly.”
“Okay, did you manage to get a description of