Tick. Tick. Tick.

The pointers of the clock moved painfully slow, each "Tick" announcing the slow arrival of Jayden's awaited hour.

8:00 pm. The time for him to close the store.

In retrospect, it's not great that the nursery he worked at didn't have many visitors. Jayden hadn't realized how little people were interested in plants and flowers ever since he moved to a more urban area; he didn't even see that many trees around, quite a sad sight for a plant enthusiast like him.

But at that same time, that meant that the opportunity for a client jumping in last minute to buy something or ask questions about their dying cactus was low, unlike when he used to work in fast food or retail—God, he hated those jobs—in which he would have to stay later or clean up a mess. Now, Jayden could easily close down the store at exactly 8:00 pm and go home. He even had everything ready since he cleaned up a bit while waiting for the door chime to ring.

Tick.

Jayden sighed, running his fingers through the gaps of his cornrows in exhaustion. At last, it was time to close down. He arched his back and stretched his arms until he could hear pops all around. He had already told himself many times to fix his own posture, but he always forgot, or maybe... his mind was too preoccupied with other stuff to focus on mundane stuff like a stiff back.

Really, what had him on edge and looking at the clock fixated wasn't the desire to go home; he actually liked being here, surrounded by well-kept plants and colorful flowers, and he didn't mind staying a minute or two if his boss asked.

No, what had him tensed up wasn't that.

It was you.

Jayden groaned at the mere thought of you; to say that you were a creep was cutting it short. A stalker, just what he needed.

His life has changed in many ways for the worse. His calm walks in the park had stopped altogether since he got tired of looking over his shoulder. He was always worried about going out without having a picture taken of him, being harassed, and being followed. Late walks at night? Forget it, he was not going to give you the opportunity to do something worse. Damn it, why hasn't he bought a taser or something? He used to look forward to getting home and watching a movie or taking care of his orchids, but now he feared stepping outside of the safe place of the nursery.

He had gone to the police, of course, but the officers were straight up useless. Not only did they say you hadn't committed any crime, but Jayden could see the slight smirk on their faces, mocking his paranoia and fear. He didn't stick around to hear the "man up" comments on his way out of the station.

With rapid footsteps, Jayden got everything ready and stepped out of the nursery, locking the door and letting out another sigh. He tried calming down, but he could already feel his heart rhythm pick up. No earbuds for listening to music or anything, screw that, that would be risking you to sneak up on him.

He walked towards the bus stop, just about a block away... a dangerous distance.

Especially considering you were right around the corner, waiting for the clock to hit 8:00 pm with more eagerness than he.

He doesn't seem to notice you now...

He still needs to work on his awareness skills.