I met my stalker at a bar (and I didn’t even know it)

I worked as a bartender at a little dive bar. The kind where everyone knows everyone. <br><br>One night I had just opened up and was cleaning and prepping for the lunch rush. I always wore headphones at work. I’m a little OCD so it helps me focus and block out background noise. <br><br>Anyway, around 11am this guy walks in. It’s not weird to see people drinking at 11am at a dive bar, especially on a Friday, but he stuck out because he ordered food. I dont know why but I remember specifically asking him if he wanted his beer before or after the food and he said after, which I thought was strange, but I moved on with my day. <br><br>I get busy fast on Fridays and I completely forget about mr strange order. I take a short break to grab a bite to eat in the back, still wearing my head phones. I hear the door shut, but I don’t think anything of it, figuring it was the cook grabbing something from outside. <br><br>Until I saw him. Right behind me. In the alley. Standing in the doorway to the back room where all the employees were. He was just staring. No smile, no anything. And he seemed shocked when he saw me looking at him. He mumbled an excuse me and walked out. I thought it was weird, but I still didn’t think much of it until I realized I still had my headphones in and hadn’t heard the door open or shut, or him walking in. <br><br>At that time I still lived with my parents. They had a room for me in the basement with my own exterior entrance and everything. It was perfect for a college student trying to have a shred of privacy. But the one downside was no one could hear me scream from down there. <br><br>Around 11 that night, after work, I’m walking to the exterior basement entrance and I hear gravel crunching. I turn around and it’s the food guy. Only this time he’s standing in my driveway. I’m frozen in fear. My brain isn’t working. I fumble with my keys and manage to unlock my door without taking my eyes off him. As soon as I shut the door behind me I call 911. They tell me to stay on the line. I hear the police knock on my front door and when I go upstairs I see them talking to my dad. <br><br>I go outside and it turns out the police had pulled over food guy about a block away from my house. They said he matched the description I gave them (which wasn’t much considering it was dark) but they didn’t have enough to hold him. They told my dad to get a gun and I didn’t go to class for two weeks. <br><br>But the weirdest part of it all was when I went back to work the following Monday, and the cook asked me what was wrong. I told him what had happened and he told me he saw the guy from my description, walking around my house at around 6 that morning, but he didn’t think anything of it because the food guy told him he was my ex boyfriend. <br><br>I didn’t know until then that my stalker had met me at the bar, and that was just a test run.