She didn’t look happy at all. Some of the other patrons had overheard what the man had said to her, and the situation was escalating.
When the girl thought she was alone, a patron stepped up to help her. Standing over the table was a cop and he wasn’t happy with what he had heard.
Laura was a bright student at her college and had just become a part of the Student Government. Her fellow students seemed like her – passionate, clever, and kind. They were put in charge of managing a wide array of events for the school.
Laura thought that this was the perfect way to make some friends while she studied.
Laura found someone that was working in the same department as her. She happily got their number and was excited to become friends with them. It was only her first day after all.
Laura was unaware that the guy she exchanged numbers with was not what he appeared to be. He only revealed his true intentions much later on. She would soon be in regret, wishing she had never approached him.
Once she was done with her classes and was leaving to get home, she got a text message from her new friend. The message said: “Really enjoyed meeting you today. Care to join me for a bite to eat later?”
Laura was very new to the college and was more than happy to eat with someone who could be her new friend. So far he had impressed her, he was a gentleman.
“I’d like that a lot!” She replied. The restaurant he recommended was too far to walk for Laura so he offered to pick her up. In Laura’s mind, there was nothing wrong with this, he appeared to just be a really kind person. She showed him where she lived and they talked about a time to meet.
She got ready for dinner by putting on some nice clothes and reapplying her makeup since she had time before their scheduled meeting. The town was all unfamiliar to her as were the people. Going to a new restaurant with a new friend made her feel so happy. Her new life was going well… at least that’s what she thought.
Laura was ready for her dinner but seemed nervous. The witnesses at the restaurant assumed it was because it was her first “date” with this guy.
The witnesses soon noticed that it was more than just an anxious first meeting. As Laura started shaking and stammering, they knew it was far more sinister than that.
Once they had gotten a table to sit at, Laura felt that something was wrong. He had transformed since they last spoke. This wasn’t the same guy she chatted to earlier when making arrangements for the dinner, which she now knew he had presumed was a date.
As he kept speaking to her she felt more and more uneasy with the situation. He used inappropriate language when referring to her and she knew the other patrons could hear him.
She grabbed her appetizer like a lifeline. She felt that the only thing she could do was sit through the awful ordeal and hope it would end soon.
She finished her food as quickly as she could but the man noticed and commented on it. He could be heard by every other person in the restaurant and she was so embarrassed. She really didn’t think she just heard him say that. But she definitely didn’t want him to repeat it.
“Well, at least I know you can swallow, right?” The man had just said. Laura couldn’t believe it. Most of the patrons heard it too and shot a glance at their table. Even though they noticed, they didn’t try to intervene.
The man noticed the other patrons’ glances and decided that he wasn’t backing down. No, the man thought he’d double down.
“Oh, calm down. I was going to find out in a few hours anyway,” the man said with a smirk. He must have thought he was a crime boss that owned the restaurant with the way he was talking to her.
Laura was scared and could only utter a reply in a small voice. This didn’t perturb the man as he continued with his talk that would have a cop in the restaurant take notice.
“Sweetheart… I picked you up. I know where you live.” The color drained from Laura’s face. It was clear she was dealing with more than just a bad Tinder match. She fumbled together an excuse and went to the bathroom to compose herself, but returned to the table, not wanting to leave the safety of the restaurant.
Luckily, a young man in the restaurant had had enough and stood up.
The scraping of a chair next to their table snapped her back to reality, looking up they both are a bit lost for words. While it looked like the man was going to rescue the woman from the nightmare situation, the twenty-something guy must have had second thoughts and sat back down.
No one else dared to intervene. Laura was in seriously hot water. There was nobody she could call and she didn’t have a car to leave the restaurant.
Laura’s eyes darted around the room desperately as the man plowed forkfuls of food into his mouth. Was he just an exceptionally vile pig she’d met online – or did the “I know where you live” comment mean she was destined to end up in tomorrow’s newspaper headlines?
She was about to find out.
The shadow of a tall man fell across the table. Now in shock, Laura was reluctant to look up to see what the next chapter in this horror story had in store.
Eventually, she was relieved to see a police officer standing there. But she’d been out with smooth talkers like this before and knew he’d be able to diffuse the situation. She’d soon find herself trapped and desperate.
The cop – who stopped the young man from approaching earlier – placed his badge on the table. He was going to handle this piece of work his way. “So, I’m quietly celebrating my daughter’s birthday with my family,” The cop begins, addressing her ‘date.’ “When I distinctly hear you threaten this young lady. Would you care to explain yourself?” The cop asks without expecting much of an answer, so he continues promptly.
“Now see, we take a very dim view of that kind of thing, so right now I’m deciding if I want to have some of my buddies come pick you up.” Laura fought to keep her mouth closed at the unreal events taking place in front of her. She didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or cry from relief.
“But that would disrupt everyone’s dinner, so how about you hand me your ID because I wouldn’t want you running off on me. Then you go see one of the staff here and settle your bill… the full bill now. This young lady shouldn’t go hungry on account of your poor behavior. Or I can have some of my buddies pick you up.” Disgusted by how he had treated the woman, the man’s response was exactly what the cop wanted to hear.
“Yes, yes. Of course. I’m so sorry,” stuttered the creep. Having made a note of the man’s personal information, the cop made it clear he was never to see the woman again. After he left, the officer made a point of calming the woman down. But this was far from the end of the frightening evening for the woman.
As the officer took down the information on the card he, incredibly, apologized to Laura for interrupting, “Sorry about that miss, I hope I’m not intruding, it just seemed like you could use some help. Oh and don’t worry, if you want to pursue this further I’ll have some of the boys pick him up on his way home, we can definitely take this further.”
Maybe she just wanted this all to be over and done with, or perhaps it was just that she was so certain she was safe from this creep after the ‘talking to’ he got that she didn’t feel that it was necessary.
Then the officer offered her something she never expected “Well, I’m here with my daughter, she’s about your age, perhaps you’d like to finish your meal with us? We can run you home afterward if you’d like unless you’d prefer to call someone else?”
How could she do anything other than accept?
Mr. Nice Guy returned from paying the bill and, suddenly possessing a lot more manners, and asked for his ID back. “There you go… now I have your details right here so I highly recommend you don’t go near or contact this young lady ever again.”
It was the best thing that Laura had heard all night, explicit instruction to ‘get lost’ was the cherry on top of this turnaround.
“Yes, yes, of course, I’m so sorry!” He stuttered and then turned to flee from the restaurant without so much as a goodbye, which was a huge relief. The restaurant felt bigger, as though she could breathe again. Laura picked up her plate and joined the police officer and his family, thanking him again.
They spent the evening celebrating until almost all of the other customers were leaving, relaxed and laughing, Laura’s evening had gone from a dangerous, ugly night to one where the creepy guy learned an important lesson. Laura did enjoy her evening in the end and was happy when she was dropped off at her front door. But she still looked around to make sure everything was safe.
