“Do I know you?” I asked the man sitting across from me.

  We were on the train heading into the city. Very few of my fellow commuters looked directly at me when I called out the man who had been staring at me since the moment I sat down. Experienced commuters knew better than to engage with anyone or anything on the train unless absolutely necessary.

  “Huh?” the man across from me said. He was so incredulous at my confronting him. Surely I was another passenger who minded his business, right?

  “I don’t know you and you don’t know me so why the fuck do you keep staring at me?”

  “I wasn’t-”

  “And why the fuck do you keep licking your lips? You think I like that? Tired of these fucking creeps on this train. Goddammit.”

  He stared at me for a half a second more before looking away. Looking anywhere but in my general direction.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said after a beat.

  Still no one dared look in my general direction. No one wants to get involved with anyone’s business but their own in this type of environment. Your best bet is to ignore any commotion and hope it doesn’t find its way toward you. But sometimes you are patient zero and the chaos starts and ends with you. I’d fucking had it with creepy men staring at me on the train. Any woman will tell you thousands of stories of some man eye fucking you on the train and the terrible thing is that’s getting off easy. Had he been standing this man certainly would have been rubbing his dick up against some poor lady just trying to get to work so she can pay her bills and live her life without too much hassle.

  There is always hassle. I can’t stress that enough.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  When I got off on Monroe street that little fucker got up too. I just knew he was following me. His precious ego couldn’t handle being told off by a young woman in a crowded train. As soon as I stepped off the train I doubled back a bit to make sure he was in front of me as we exited the train station. Once he stepped onto the escalator heading up towards daylight I was certain he wouldn’t see me so I got on as well.

  I quickly lost him in the crowd once we were outside. I could see his gray hair heading west on Monroe but the early morning Chicago rush was my friend that day. I finally could relax and listen to some music on the fifteen minute walk to work. All I want in this life is an easy going morning where no one bothers me before work. It’s the time of day I feel most zen. Hard to be zen when these perverts won’t leave me alone. But alas, I move on.

  I got to work and scanned my key pass to get past security. I could feel myself get into work mode and the man from the train was already behind me. The elevators took me and a few other people up to the nineteenth floor where I got off. This is where I work, where I may work for the rest of my life if they pay me enough. I wasn’t sure I liked the thought of that. Plenty of people where I worked had been here for their entire careers. That was unfathomable to me. But I doubt they expected to be here as long as they have either. Time just sneaks up on you.

  As I entered the office and started walking towards my desk my heart sank so hard it would make the Titanic blush. Two people stood next to my desk. The first was Janet Yellnen, my old supervisor who was transferring to a different department. Next to her was a man who I could only assume was her replacement and my new supervisor, as she had made clear to me yesterday that I would be meeting him on this very day.

  It was the man on the train. The man whose perverted gaze could only be broken by shaming him in front of dozens of people. The man who licked his lips at me just for existing on the same train as him. I hate hate hate this man with all of my being. If I hadn’t frozen at the sight of him I would have loved nothing more than to walk up to him and spit in his face but he probably would have liked that though. I was in hell.

  Janet hurried me over with a big smile on her face. The man, my new supervisor, looked like he wanted to find the nearest open window and see how far down nineteen stories really is.

  “Aubrey!” said Janet. Her excitement was dreadful. “So glad to see you. Rich, this is Aubrey. Aubrey, this Rich! Your new boss!”