A Strange Encounter

There he was again, same as always. Tessa Finch peered out of the corner of her eye in the crowded grocery store to see a tall, older man with a haggard face outlined by gray stubble. 15 years and he still looked the same. The familiar shiver crept up her spine as she thought about the mysterious man’s presence. Tessa became stock-still and a cold sweat broke out on her face as she tried to will her unwanted visitor away. “Miss? Can I help you?” The cashier woman at the checkout asked apprehensively, noting the young woman’s look of fear on her face. “Y-y-y-yes.” Tessa stammered as she quickly returned to reality at the sound of the older woman’s harsh voice. Just as the man had appeared, he was gone with no trace that he had ever been there in the first place. 

Later that night, Tessa sat uncomfortably in her apartment thinking of her trip to the store earlier that day, and the figure who seemed to appear out of nowhere. The ‘figure’ in question had been a recurring terror to Tessa ever since she was a child of about three years old. Every few years the same man would show up in a crowded area where Tessa was and effectively scare the wits out of her. This may seem not so peculiar, maybe the man was just a local and coincidentally visited the grocery store or movie theater at the same time the young woman did every so often. This could be an explanation for the odd chances, except Tessa had been moving around the country with her mother ever since her father died. Even so, everywhere she went, just as she thought she’d gotten rid of the man he’d appear just to make sure Tessa knew she could never escape him. 

When Tess was young, she thought the man was just a figment of her imagination that she just couldn’t shake loose, but after years of unwanted visits it became clear this was no imaginary person. Her mom always went into a panic whenever she mentioned the man, so much so that she began keeping his visits to herself. The countless therapists Tess visited as she aged; however, didn’t seem to agree, claiming that the man was only an image that appeared to her because she had seen him when she was little and for some reason manifested him into certain situations. Clearly, they hadn’t the slightest idea what they were talking about. 

His visits were becoming more frequent than usual and Tessa knew that something big was about to happen with no clue what it could be. It was worse now that she lived alone in her apartment after moving away from her mom for college in New York city. The main reason Tess even decided to move out of state to attend college was because she thought just maybe she could be safer in the city that never sleeps. After all, if the man tried anything on the girl in the city there would always be huge crowds of people to witness it, which she hoped would deter him. 

Tessa decided to go out for a while to clear her head. Her apartment building was in the middle of Times Square and the constant hordes of tourists and alluring store fronts lighting up the night never failed to calm her nerves. Only a few minutes into her walk, though, the object of her worst nightmares turned the corner and began walking towards Tessa. She wheeled in the opposite direction and briskly half walked, half ran into the nearest crowd of sidewalk gawkers. The man caught up and before she could even scream, he shoved a slip of paper into her pocket and disappeared as quickly as he had come. Not wanting to be stranded in her apartment by herself, Tessa retreated into a small diner brimming with night shift workers enjoying a meal before their reporting to work. An older waitress with a thick New York accent and hair as tall as the Chrysler building led her to a quiet corner booth with a window view looking out onto the city. Tessa scanned the faces of all the passersby, nervously fiddling with the chain of the golden locket she wore around her neck. A few cups of strong coffee later and Tessa finally retrieved the paper from her coat pocket with trembling hands from the concoction of caffeine and anxiety. Tess unfolded the tiny slip of paper to see an address scribbled in small rushed lettering. The place listed was only a couple of blocks from the diner and Tessa felt a determination she had never before experienced grow inside of her. She had to go. 

In a matter of minutes Tess had paid the check and started on her pilgrimage to the answer she’d been searching for since childhood. What seemed like lifetimes later, the girl finally arrived at a small corner bodega with her phone in one hand and the pepper spray she kept in her coat pocket in the other. A taxi ominously rolled down the street and pulled up at the curb in front of Tessa. The back window of the car slowly rolled down to reveal her stalker. Tess carefully put her phone away to open the door, pepper spray still clutched in her tight grasp. She sat down in the back of the cab one seat away from the mysterious visitor. Before she could even let out a single breath the man began talking. 

“I’m sure you have plenty of questions, but I can’t answer them all right now. Let me start by saying this. I work for your father. “That’s impossible! My father is-``''Your father is quite alive, Tessa, and he thinks you're ready.” said the man in hushed tones. “Ready!” Countered Tessa “Ready for what?!” Just as the words left her mouth, the taxi stopped abruptly at an old theater in a less populated part of the city. The man got out of the car and Tessa followed. They walked to the entrance of the theater where the stranger opened the door for the young woman. “This is where I leave you” said the man as he dissipated into the shadows as always. Tess stepped inside the building to see the winding hallway adjacent to the lobby illuminated by dim lamps hanging on the walls. She curiously followed the path of light to a corridor of doors, one of which was cracked open the slightest bit. Tess could hear muffled voices coming from behind the intricate oak door. Suddenly a hearty voice called out “come in!” and startled the girl. She crept over and slowly opened the door to reveal a stocky older man with slicked back hair the color of midnight talking on the phone. “Don’t disappoint me Tony” the man said in a grim tone as he dropped the receiver into the cradle with a clang. A smirk grew across his round weathered face as his eyes settled in on his new guest. “I’m very happy you’ve come to visit me after all these years Tessa. Please, have a seat.” the man motioned to a cushy velvet armchair across from the desk he was sitting at. Tess sat down and took in her bountiful surroundings full of oil paintings and beautiful tapestries adorning the walls. “S-s-so, you’re really my dad?” the girl said in disbelief.

“You don’t remember your old man Tess! Well, I guess we’ve both grown a bit since I last saw you. I’m glad to see you’re still wearing the locket I gave you though.” Her father pointed at the gold necklace dangling from her neck. Anger took over Tess’s emotions as all her thoughts swirled into words and flew out her mouth like a fiery storm. “How could I recognize you! You were supposed to have died when I was three! Do you know what it was like to grow up, just me and mom all these years! Does she even know?!” Tessa’s dad answered back in a calm voice, “I can’t even begin to comprehend how difficult this all must be for you, but if you’ll just let me explain, I’m sure this will all begin to make sense.”. Flustered and speechless, Tess nodded her head to signal the explanation.

“I never wanted to leave you or your mother, you have to believe me on that. Soon after you were born, though, money got tight, and I had just been laid off. I went searching for work, but the economy was going downhill, and no one was hiring. After my friend gave me a tip on a position opening up in his-uhhh, line of work, I decided to take the job. It was pretty sketchy, I’ll say that much, and it required me to move out of state a little while. I tried keeping the details of my new occupation from your mother so she wouldn’t worry, but soon enough she caught on. She went crazy and wouldn’t let me anywhere near you. She even went as far as to fake my funeral and move away so I couldn’t find you.” said Tess’s father with a sneer and a pound of his fist on the desk. “But that’s all over now, honey. You’re 18 and we can finally be together again".

“How is working at a theater in New York ‘sketchy’?” said Tessa with a questioning look on her face as she gestured to their surroundings. Her father smiled mischievously. “This isn’t where I work, sweetheart. I have an arrangement with the owner of this theater, so he lends me this room as my office. We can get into my actual profession a little later, I want to get to know my daughter.” 

Tessa was getting frustrated. “Fine. If you won’t talk about your job and how it has split our family apart for over a decade, can you at least explain why you’ve had that man stalk me for years?!” Her father’s eyebrows furrowed, and a deep crease set on his forehead. “I had no other way of knowing how my daughter was making out. I had Joe follow you around every once in a while, to let me know how you were doing. I know how scary it must have been for you to have this man ‘stalk’ you, and I’m so sorry. But his purpose was two-fold. He was able to gather intel on you without being seen, of course, but every so often I’d instruct him to show his face, knowing you’d worry and say something to your mother. I had to send her a message. Let me see my daughter, or deal with the consequences.”

“Consequences?!” Do you realize how crazy you sound?” yelled Tessa. Her father was quick to respond. “I know how terrible it must sound, but I needed to know my daughter, and she wouldn’t let me be there for you just because I got into a tricky situation trying to provide for my family.” Tess sat uncomfortably across from her father with a bewildered gaze, hand clutching the pepper spray in her pocket. He continued with a sigh, “I might as well explain to you my line of work now. I need you to know that I did this for you, Tess. A long pause later he finally began his tale. “That friend who got me into this business, he, well, he took problems off of people’s hands for them- permanently, and like I said before, your mother didn’t like that. She moved you around the country to keep me off your scent. But I track people down, it’s part of my job description.

A momentary confusion blurred Tessa’s thought as she grasped for an answer, until finally everything clicked. The expensive paintings, the lavish office, the mysterious phone call. “H-h-how could you?! No wonder mom faked your death, better to have a dead dad than an assassin for a father! 

“I did it to save you! I never graduated high school, and no one would hire me, it’s all I was offered! Screamed the girl’s father. Tessa snapped back, “You KILL people, dad! And By the looks of it, you have plenty of money! Can't you just quit? “That’s the thing. It’s not about the money anymore, dear.” Her father said with a distorted smile creeping across his face. “At first it really was just to support you, but sooner or later I became good at my job. I almost enjoy it. Why would I quit? The people I kill are not good people, so in a way, I’m doing the world a favor.”.

 Tess scrambled to her feet. “I’ve got to get out of here! As she dashed for the door, her shoe caught on the luxurious rug and she tumbled to the ground, inches away from the office’s exit. Before she could get to her feet, her father began talking. “Go ahead and run away, darling. It’s more fun for me that way. ‘I’ve always found you before, what makes you think I won’t find you again?”. 

Tess jumped up and bolted out of the theater and all the way to the nearest subway station. She pushed her way through a large crowd of people and onto the first departing train she could find. On the subway she stood against a pole with her father’s last words haunting her memory. As the train bumpily carried on, she looked down at the locket around her neck that her dad had given her. In one swift motion she pulled off the necklace and smashed it on the ground.