The Man Who Stalked Me Through Walmart

So this happened to me tonight. I've never had anything like this happen to me before. I've been following this sub for a while and I thought this would be a funny place to post, but I'm not laughing. I'm honestly still really scared.<br><br>I'm 22F and I live alone in a new state. It's a pretty small town and nothing ever happens here. Tonight I was just going to Walmart to grab some stuff for a recipe I'm making tomorrow. I parked my car near the cart holder thing, and walked on in. It was a quiet night and not many people in the store. I grabbed the stuff I needed and was going towards the checkout, when I noticed a guy following me. Like, I could literally see him watching me in the reflection of the windows in the cases. He was behind me, like he was walking towards the checkout as well. <br><br>I saw him kind of lurking around the corner each time I stopped at a shelf to grab something. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans, he was probably in his mid-twenties. He looked relatively normal.<br><br>I was kind of freaking out in my head, but I thought that I would be safe if I went over to the employees at the checkout and told them. Plus, I had nothing to be afraid of right? So I walk up to the counter to pay, and I notice he's still following me. He goes to stand behind me again, like he's waiting in line. I look up at the camera above the checkout and pretended to fix my hair so I could get another look at him. <br><br>I go to pay and tell the lady working the register that the guy behind me in line was following me around the store, and she told me it was okay, and that if I felt unsafe to go tell someone. I thanked her and went to find someone. This took me to the self checkout, and I went to talk to the lady who was monitoring it. <br><br>I told her the same thing, that there was a guy following me around. She said "Oh, okay, I can call someone for you." and she walked away. I thought that she was going to get security, or someone in management. So I waited. About 5 minutes passed and no one has come. I'm getting really impatient, so I go check again. She's not at the self checkout, so I ask another lady working nearby. She asks me what she looks like and I describe her and she says she went to go eat dinner.<br><br>I was really freaking out at this point. I was 5 minutes away from calling the cops. I further ask her if there's anyone else I can go talk to about this, and she tells me to wait here. She goes to the deli counter to tell the lady who works there about my problem. The lady at the deli counter says she'll find someone and the other lady comes back to me and tells me that they're looking for someone. <br><br>At this point, I'm terrified and there's still no one here. I go to the deli counter and the lady asks me what I would like to be done. I tell her I don't want to talk to anyone else, I just want to go home and feel safe. She says she'll have someone walk me to my car. I tell her thank you and I wait. <br><br>I look around and I don't see the guy anywhere. I ask the lady at the deli counter if they're still looking for someone to walk me to my car, and she says yes, they'll be with me in a minute. A gentleman walks up to me and asks if I'm the girl who had the problem with the guy following her. I say yes and he says that he will walk me to my car. I thank him and we go towards the checkout. <br><br>I go over to the checkout and pay, and then we walk to the exit. He asks me where I parked and I said I parked near the cart holder thing. He said okay, he'd walk with me. On our way to my car, he further asks me questions about how long I've been in the store, and what I was doing when I noticed the guy following me. We get to my car and he asks me to wait here, and that he would go look for the guy. <br><br>He leaves for about 10 minutes, and comes back. He asks me to tell him everything that happened, and I did. He said the lady at the register didn't call anyone, and that the lady at the self checkout was lying about calling someone. He said that it looks like the guy left, because his car is not in the parking lot. <br><br>He told me his name was James and he was one of the store managers. He said that Walmart doesn't have security cameras in their parking lots and that I should be careful. He walked me to my car, and waited until I drove away.<br><br>So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, be careful, and watch out for each other. I'm really glad that James and the lady at the deli counter helped me tonight. I really don't know what would've happened if they didn't. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>EDIT: Thank you for all the awards, and the kind words. I didn't expect this post to get much attention, but thank you for the support and for following this sub.