It was totally an accident. I didn't even know I was "following" the guy until we were almost at our shared destination after leaving our shared departure building. It wasn't until then that I actually went into stalker mode mostly out of curiosity.
Let me back up.
After punching the "down" button one morning last week, I stepped onto the elevator of my apartment building in Arlington Heights next to a good-looking guy about my age dressed in business casual clothes. Never having seen him before - which isn't unusual, as I've only lived in this apartment building for two months or so - I nodded an unspoken hello, and then busied myself with checking my mail from my cell phone.
I then speed-walked to the train station across the street from my apartment building and went to join the group of people I always stand with at the usual time to wait for my usual train. After grabbing my book from my bag, I glanced around and noticed Elevator Guy standing right next to me.
This might seem a bit weird, I thought as I moved a little ways away from him so he didn't think I had been following him.
Elevator Guy was then promptly forgotten about as I lost myself in the second installment of The Hunger Games. In fact, I didn't think about him again until the last leg of my mile-long walk to work, when I spotted the khaki pants, brown loafers, and pink-and-blue-striped shirt belonging to Elevator Guy walking just a few steps in front of me.
That's really weird, I mused to myself. I didn't even see him the entire way here. I wonder where he works.
Turns out, I needn't wonder too long, as Elevator Guy walked across Michigan Avenue and right into the entrance I always use to get to my building.
Now this is getting weird, I thought, as I hadn't ever seen this guy before, and here he was leaving from my apartment building, getting on the train, and going into my office building 30 minutes away from where I (or we, I guess) live.
Maybe he even works in my building, I thought, as I followed him from one of the three connected buildings that make up my office complex to the other two. I'll be really weirded out if he gets in the same elevator bank as me, given there are three in my building alone.
But instead of turning right toward my building, Elevator Guy continued to go straight to a neighboring building.
Hmm, I wonder where he's going, I thought, as I continued to follow him past the McDonald's toward Houlihan's Restaurant at the end of the corridor in the third building of my complex.
And just as Elevator Guy turned 180 degrees to hike up the stairs that lead to that third office building, I spun the same amount to walk back toward the way I came, having my curiosity somewhat satisfied.
OK, so we work in the same office complex. That isn't that much of a coincidence, is it?
I haven't seen him before or since, and probably don't have a private investigator career calling, but it was fun to have something to occupy my mind before work, and even more interesting to play detective for awhile.
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