Okay, today I could almost swear E was stalking me. Not in a bad way, but it was certainly odd.
I came in to work at 6:30am like I've been doing since last Friday, and he knew I was working today because we had a schedule-tag conversation about when we'd see each other next as I left on Saturday: he said he'd see me tomorrow (Sunday), but I said I had that day off. Then he said he'd see me Tuesday because he had Monday off, and I said I had Tuesday off too. Then he said he'd see me Wednesday, and agreed. That's when I went home. As the opening routine goes, I go to the back of the store to get a cart, cleaning supplies, etc to clean the bathrooms and empty out trashcans in the whole store.
When I had collected my supplies and went back into the store, E was right in front of the door doing something at the shelf. I told him "Good morning, E" and he responded "Hey, you doing alright?" -- at this I still believe he's referring to my well-being in extended relation to the conversation we had a few weeks ago, because he's been overly concerned about me since then. I told him I was fine, and headed to the front where the bathrooms were. After finishing that, I went toward the front of the store where the registers are, and there was E again. Huh, he's conveniently around me today.
I started emptying the trash from the registers, and he asked me to do him a favor. I went over to the clearance section where he was at, and he wanted me to clean the shelves. Okay.. weird. Except he had me stop after I was done with one shelf because he didn't realize I hadn't done the parking lot or trash outside yet. He told me to do that first, so I went outside with a broom and dustpan.
Guess what? Moments after I was outside, E came outside and started talking with me with work-related stuff and what I needed to do, etc. Okay, he's particularly chatty today.. so he went inside and I continued sweeping the lot. He came outside again and talked with me some more, but joked that I didn't need to be in a hurry today since our store manager wasn't coming in until 10am (2 hours later), and went back inside. I finished outside, and he walked into the lobby from inside and started talking to me again, and (#2) asked me if I was doing okay. Of course I said I was fine, but at this point I felt he was starting to be around me more than necessary.
I ended up doing random tasks and got pulled in different directions from different coworkers/managers/random tasks, then things calmed down and I had finished my opening routine. Then I had almost nothing to do, and went to the restroom area to get a drink from the fountain. E was talking with the female cash office manager (whom I'll call S) and asked me if I was good with numbers. I said "yeah, definitely. I've done closing manager duties with bank deposits and cashiering in the past, and I do computer programming with 3D math." He told me that the cash office and possibly another job that involves doing calculations/list processing/dealing with money that need help. S told E that I hadn't been working there long enough, and his response was "That doesn't matter." A pause occurred after I gave a weird look, and he told me "Just something to think about. Now get back to work" then he smiled and then laughed, then I went to get my water and wash my face in the bathroom. What the fuck is going on?
A short time later I was heading outside to the parking lot to check it, and stopped to tell the starbucks employees (one whom I'm a good friend with; previously mentioned as "G", the other is the manager who is a younger girl) that E was 'vulturing me', and explained what was going on since they didn't understand. Then A (the manager) said "He must really like you
" and G said "Maybe he'll buy you some flowers for V-day!" That kind of pissed me off, but I resisted showing it, and apparently my face got red. Then they joked about me blushing and I walked off irritated.
An hour later, I went on my break and got a fountain dr. pepper drink, and went outside to sit on the bench like I always do (despite it being 30-40F outside - I love the cold). A was there smoking a cigarette, and we started talking about E after she joked again about E liking me. I told her that I liked him too, and that I'm also gay. She started to talk about how it would totally make sense if he were gay based on what he does, how he acts, etc. We talked about how he probably transferred to that store a year ago because of his divorce, having to move out to an apartment (down the street from the store, and also down the street from me; multiple coworkers have casually informed me recently of this since one of them lives in the same complex as him), and transfer to that store. She also added that he didn't seem to be bothered by his wife divorcing him, and joking that she probably divorced him because he might be gay. And A has known E longer than anyone else in the store I work at because she used to work with him at his old store.
We ended our conversation and she went back inside, but I was still on my break. Almost immediately after she went back in, E came outside and walked past me to get a cart on the side of the building, (#3) asked me if I was okay, then asked what was going on down the street [there was several cop cars and an ambulance down the street; not sure what was going on], and went back inside. Um, random.
After this, anytime I was near a register, he was behind the register at the aisles, always within eyesight, but he never looked at me. He'd disappear in the store and reappear nearby within eyesight during this period. Odd? Maybe, or maybe just a coincidence... right?
A short period later yet again as I came back inside, I had a task given to me by a random coworker to clean up a spill of coffee grounds on the floor near the lobby/starbucks. I went to the Floral back section to get a dustpan and broom, and as I walked toward the lobby doors where the spill was at, E walked past me from behind and my right. It shocked me because I didn't think he'd sneak up behind me, but even moreso because the only direction he could have come from behind me was the floral section: he was following me. He started bagging groceries at the nearest register to the front door, again within eyesight, and he glanced at me. Again.. odd, but could still be coincidental.
Again, when coming back in from outside, I believe from doing a carryout, I was walking toward the registers from the lobby, and he was walking with S talking about something and he had some folders in his left hand (S was to his left, and they were walking to my right). As they walked past by me, E raised up his thumb in his right hand where S couldn't see it past the folders he was holding. We were about a foot apart from each other when walking past, so I could easily tell he was giving me a thumbs up. What the hell?
At 12:04pm (noon) I clocked out for my half-hour lunch, and went to buy a protein bar and gatorade. I looked toward the Starbucks to see if E was there or not, he wasn't. After I checked out and bought my quick lunch, he was sitting at the corner of the Starbucks lounging area talking with S at a table. Um, okay.. he took his lunch at the same time as me? I later found out he took his break because he was only there for about 10 minutes. I went outside since they were busy talking, and I talked with A a bit more. A seems to be pretty confident that E likes me but is essentially toying with me. I'm not sure what to think, but I'm intrigued.
I didn't see him for most of the afternoon after that; he wasn't anywhere near the front end unless there was a flood of customers that we needed backup cashiers for. Which, I did bag groceries at his register at one point, and had to do a bunch of particular things for the customer, like grab the 24pk cokes that were on sale from the other end of the store. He's usually chipper when with customers, and rings out items very fast. Except he didn't go that fast when I was there, and he seemed.. off. Like he was nervous around me, but he was still talking to me. When I came back, he finished the transaction, but forgot to scan the coupon for the cokes, which was sitting right in front of him. So he had to perform a refund for the difference, and I was there the whole time. He seemed nervous again, I finished, and he thanked me for helping him. Did my presence make him forget to do the coupon? No, must be coincidence..
Time flew by like crazy and I found myself clocking out for the day at 3pm. I was exhausted (and felt a bit sick; around 2pm I injured my finger when doing a carryout for firewood, one of the stacks fell on my finger and sliced open a chunk of skin; I bled a lot, got it covered with antiseptic and a band-aide, but the pain made me feel sick), so I had a bottle of orange juice and another protein bar and lounged at the Starbucks for a bit. When I actually left the store, he was in the lobby and asked me if I had tomorrow off, but I told him I opened at work the next 3 days; he replied by saying "see you the next 3 days, then." Then he began to instruct me on a few things about the parking lot and calling for assistance since the lot was packed with carts and hadn't been checked in the past hour, then he told me that he'll let me head out and that he'd see me tomorrow.
He interacted with me today, as much as he has in the past 2 months - COMBINED. And at times I felt like he was stalking me, because he was always within eyesight of me. I'm really, really trying not to think that he's interested in me, because he might just be an incredibly weird guy. But my thoughts and analyzation of today's occurrences are making my brain shit itself.
