Chapter 2. Why Are You Stalking Me?

“Yes, how do you know me?” she croaked with fear. The man smiled and held out her handbag to her, making Brooklyn gasp with horror. Her handbag! It might have fallen off her shoulder when the bald man had picked her up last night. She had completely forgotten about it in her haste. She snatched the bag from his hand and checked its contents. They were intact!

“Sir has sent it. Have a good day, Miss Brooklyn,” said the man, climbing down the stairs carefully. Brooklyn blinked twice at his words. Sir? Who was his ‘Sir’? Was it her hot stalker or the bald man? Before she could ask him, he had disappeared. Sighing, Brooklyn closed the door and stood perplexed against it.

She could only make out one thing from it. Whoever his ‘Sir’ was, he knew her name and where she lived! Suddenly Mia’s words from yesterday echoed in her mind. The man at table number 50 knew everything about her! Was the hot stalker the same man? Was he the stout man’s ‘Sir’?

Brooklyn didn’t want to think anymore, knowing she would go crazy if she thought so much. She had to get ready for work. Her stomach grumbled, and she quickly took a shower and walked into the kitchen to check what she could eat. There wasn’t anything other than a little milk and cereal, so she gobbled it up and walked back to her bedroom to get ready.

Her mind went back to the hot stalker, and she wondered what he might have done with her handbag! It only had her uniform, her identity proofs, her old broken mobile phone, her wallet with only 10 dollars and her mom’s photograph. Nothing interesting!

Taking out her soiled uniform, she washed it and hung it in the washroom to dry. Quickly getting ready, she stuffed another uniform into her bag and walked out of her apartment. Locking it well, she walked down the stairs, dreading the way to work. She took the roundabout way to avoid the bald man in case he was around.

She arrived five minutes late and, to her horror, Mr. Foster summoned her to his office immediately. Thus, her day started with a blast and a warning. Brooklyn dragged herself the whole morning, working relentlessly till it was lunchtime.

“Brooks, I’m treating you to lunch. I’ve kept your lunch in the staff room. Grab it before it turns cold,” said Claudia, keeping her promise.

Being always overcrowded, they didn’t get a proper lunch break and had to accommodate ten minutes from their schedule and eat turn by turn. It was inhuman, but it was Foster’s rule and no one could protest.

“Thanks, Claudi. I have a request. Can you pay me for the extra shift I did yesterday? I need it to buy some food items for home,” said Brooklyn, remembering that she had nothing to eat at home. Claudia looked at her with sadness.

“Of course, dear,” she said, taking out the money that she had collected all morning as tips and handing her the amount.

“Thanks,” grinned Brooklyn. She could now buy food items and have a proper dinner after days. The tips and the money Claudia paid her would be enough to last her a week. With two months’ rent due, she was in a dilemma whether to buy food or save it to pay the rent.

She walked towards the staff room to eat her lunch. Claudia had left for her a hamburger and Brooklyn’s mouth watered seeing it. She hadn’t eaten such delicacies in years!

Although the restaurant wasted a lot of food, Foster ensured the servers didn’t get any of it. Although it was a mean rule, they couldn’t protest. So, for Brooklyn, lunch was usually a bun and water, as that was all she could afford to buy.

After ten minutes, she emerged from the staff room, feeling happy and content. Mia shot her an excited look. “What happened?” asked Brooklyn, seeing her bright eyes. Mia took out a 100-dollar bill and waved it in front of her eyes.

“My tip!” she exclaimed, making Brooklyn’s face pale considerably. There was only one person who gave her a 100-dollar tip. Her hot stalker! Did that mean that he was here?

“Was he here?” Brooklyn asked with dread, as Mia nodded vehemently.

“Yes, he asked for you and then ordered a cup of coffee. He looked around for you and then he received a phone call and disappeared, leaving me this,” she said, doing a happy dance with the money.

Brooklyn gave her a forced smile and sighed. How could she be happy to know that her stalker was back again? What exactly did he want? The rest of the day went by with no incidents, and finally Brooklyn completed her duties for the day. She would buy some beef, eggs, bread, milk, cereal and rice to last her a week and save the rest of the money for rent.

Determined, she went to the departmental store but everything was so expensive! Still, she looked for discounts and could afford to buy only half of the stuff. Carrying the stuff, she walked down to her apartment, taking the longer route.

A light drizzle started, and she pulled the cardigan closer, walking as fast as her legs could carry her when she again had the eerie feeling of being followed. She looked behind her shoulder and, to her horror, the black Porsche from yesterday skidded to a halt right next to her.

It startled Brooklyn out of her wit’s end and the packet of food fell from her hands and scattered around the pavement. It suddenly started drizzling, the icy water droplets made the people rush around and hurry to take shelter.

Some pedestrians walked over the food items in their haste to get away. Tears stung at her eyes seeing her week’s food all gone to waste. What would she eat now? The sound of a car door opening made her whirl around with anger.

Her blood boiled when her eyes met a pair of cold hazel ones of her stalker. He emerged from the car, wearing an expensive black suit that might have cost him a fortune. He slowly approached her, like a predator on the prowl, his eyes fixed upon her.

There was a cold ruthlessness in his eyes, as if he was angry. Big, fat tears fell from Brooklyn’s eyes as she glared at the man accusingly, as it was because of him she lost her food.

“Why are you stalking me, huh? Why don’t you kill me if you want to? I lost my food because of you. Now, what will I eat this whole week?” she sobbed, her voice breaking a little while her words echoed around the almost deserted place.

The man looked taken aback by her outburst, but Brooklyn didn’t wait a second longer for his answer. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, drenched, hungry, broken and completely exhausted.