I’m meeting a friend at a small coffee shop about halfway between our respective houses. I’ve never been to this coffee shop, so I message my friend as I enter to see if she’s already there. A brief check and I don’t see her, so I figure I’ll order and grab a table.
As I’m heading to the counter, someone reaches out and grabs my arm. I realize it’s my friend; she has her back to the door so I didn’t immediately recognize her. Sitting across from her is a guy I don’t know.
Friend: “Hey, [My Name]! Glad to see you.”
Me: “You, too! Did you get your coffee?”
Friend: “Yeah, I’ve just been chatting with…”
Guy: “[Guy].”
I sort of acknowledge him and realize my friend isn’t quite panicking, but she’s sort of starting to dig her nails into my arm.
Me: “Ah. Well, sorry I’m late. I’ll just go get some coffee.”
Guy: “Oh, do you mind if I hang out with you guys?”
Friend: “You know, that’d be great. But she and I haven’t seen each other in a long time, and we want to catch up.”
It has only been a couple of months if that since we’ve seen each other in person, and we text all the time. Plus, her brother and my brother are best friends. But I get the idea.
Me: “Yeah, sorry, just been a while. Lots to catch up on.”
Guy: “Cool, cool. All right, thanks for the drink.”
He finally gets up and leaves. I slip into his empty seat.
Me: “So…”
Friend: “Sorry about that, I—”
She’s interrupted by one of the baristas coming over; I think he might be a manager.
Barista: “Did he bother you at all? I tried to keep an eye on him, but we got really busy.”
Friend: “Oh, no, it was fine. I was waiting for my friend anyway.”
Barista: “He comes in occasionally and tries to get people to buy him coffee. We haven’t had issues yet, but he’s made a few people uncomfortable. If he comes back, let me know. In the meantime, can I get you some coffee?”
Friend: “I still have mine, but she might want something?”
I went up and ordered, and the barista didn’t let me pay because my friend had bought the guy a coffee. She told me that he’d come into the coffee shop right behind her — not following her but the next person in the door. They’d started chatting while in line, and when she mentioned meeting someone, he’d wormed his way into getting her to buy his coffee and then sitting down with him. He wasn’t outside when we left as far as we were able to tell.
It’s been almost ten years, and I wonder about him occasionally. From my friend’s discussion, he didn’t have any obvious issues, but we didn’t want to assume. We didn’t meet at that coffee shop again, although that was more due to relocations and it no longer being in the middle than outright trying to avoid this guy.