Until the hunter

I come sit at the bar and it’s already the bottom of the first, but I couldn’t get away from the office in time. It’s the Tigers @ Seattle elimination game of the ALDS. And as much as I am into the game…I see it.

As a birder, my mind is trained to see a break in pattern. As a woman, my mind is trained to find an exit and never blink.

Someone from across the restaurant was watching me.

The lady next to me, her husband and I talked while we watched the game and I discreetly watched the stranger not-so-discreetly watching me. When the room would get crowded, I’d lose sight of him and in one of those times, he was in front of me trying to get my attention: “I just came to tell you that those glasses look really good on you.”

“Thank you.” I said going back to my game, but no longer able to fully concentrate because I was watching him going back to his table and resuming his dinner. I noticed the seat next to me opened up and I thought, ‘someone come sit here before he does.’ But no one ever came and when he finished his dinner he came to sit next to me.

He wasn’t a bad looking guy at all, but kind of young…thirties maybe. I wanted to watch the game and he wanted to know all about me. And to everything I said, he would say, “it’s all perspective.” And I kept looking at him wanting to say, ‘I don’t know what the fuck that means in this context, but it’s stupid.’

He said, “are you a cat lady, huh?” He wasn’t guessing, he knew because he stared at all of me so intently when he thought I wasn’t noticing. I know he saw the cat scratches when he touched my tattoo, “do you have any more ink?”

He had one more beer and left. I was glad that had been that. But when I got up to leave some ten minutes later and came out I noticed he was lingering in the parking lot.

As a birder, my mind is trained to see a break in pattern. As a woman, my mind is trained to find an exit and never blink.

I casually walked back toward the hotel as if I needed the light to see my phone. But he intercepted me. “Hey, can I get your number so we can go to dinner sometime.”

These days, you have no out when they ask for your number because they always call it in front of you and make sure it’s ringing. When he put me in his contacts, he spelled my name correctly. Of course he did, I saw him looking at my credit card committing my name to memory when I was paying my tab.

Driving home, I kept checking my rearview mirror.

When I got home to watch the rest of the game I thought I should have been more rude and made it clear I was watching the game. I should have made it clear I wasn’t being shy or coy, I was just not interested. I should have made it clear I only like intelligent men. I should have hid my accomplishments as a single independent women and pretended I was married to some hot firefighter my age and that’s why he wasn’t there. I should have gotten up to leave when I noticed the seat next to me opened up. But why should I change who I am and what I’m doing because of some fucking man I don’t even know?

I went on to watch a crazy 15 inning game where Detroit was finally the one to blink first and lose the ALDS to Seattle, allowing a single from Polanco which brought home the winning run 3-2.