Geeta was on her way home from work, when she decided to stop by at her favourite fast food restaurant and pick up a cheese and meatball sandwich. She hadn't eaten lunch and was starving.
Barry, the young employee took her order. He and Geeta had interacted often, and on one occasion he even asked her out. Geeta had turned him down as gently as she could and he had taken it well. Their interactions remained pleasant and Barry always greeted her with a smile.
Today was no different as he handed her her sandwich to go and told her to have a lovely evening.
Geeta took a shower as soon as she got home, before she proceeded to eat her sandwich while watching a YouTube video. Once she had eaten, she decided to head to bed.
As she climbed the stairs to her second floor bedroom, she thought she saw movement in her kitchen. However, on entering the kitchen and turning on the lights, she found there was no one there.
She figured she was just tired and headed to bed.
Geeta was just about to fall asleep when she was startled by a crashing noise from downstairs. This was followed by the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps climbing the staircase.
She immediately bolted from her bed, grabbed her phone and went into the closet.
She could hear the intruder, a grown man from the way he sounded, entering the guest bedroom which was right next to the stairs. He was also calling out to her, "WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BITCH?"
Geeta knew it would only be a couple of minutes before he entered her bedroom and looked in her closet. Thankfully, her closet led to an attic space.
As Geeta reached up to open the attic door, she recieved yet another shock.
Barry, the friendly fast food restaurant employee was in the closet with her.
She had the wherewithal to not scream and before she could say anything, Barry said to her, "please don't scream. I just watch you sleep..... but he... he's gonna kill us both!"
There was no time for questions. Geeta pulled down the attic door along with the ladder leading to it, and both she and Barry climbed into the small space. Their legs were lifted into the attic and it's door was closed, just as the bedroom door opened.
The man sounded enraged he flipped over the bed, tore down shelved and threw around other articles, all the while shouting "WHERE ARE YOU?? WHERE ARE YOU??".
Both Geeta and Barry sat in fearsome silence as the man entered the closet. He pulled out a whole bunch of clothes, bags etc looking for her. They could see through the gaps in the wooden door that he was carrying a claw hammer. He then left the bedroom to check the rest of the house.
Geeta regulated her breathing and tried to think straight.
There were two intruders in her home, and as far as she knew only one of them was armed. Barry had just admitted to "watching her sleep". But at least he wasn't acting violent. Not at the moment, at least. The other guy however, was not only tall and well built, he was clearly here with the intention of doing her harm.
Geeta looked at Barry. He looked as terrified as she felt. She was still holding her phone and after a she heard the intruders heavy footsteps going downstairs again, she decided to call emergency services.
"I'm gonna call for help.", she whispered to Barry, "Stay quiet, OK?"
Barry simply nodded.
Keeping her voice as low as possible, she told the helpline operator her address and that she was hiding from a home invader. She didn't tell him about the other home invader who was sitting right next to her. The operator told her to stay on the line and that cops would be there soon.
The whole time, they kept hearing sounds of things being broken and smashed as the man ransacked Geeta's home. He also kept calling out to her "I'm gonna find you! I know you're in the house!".
Barry had been cooperative so far, but there was no telling how he would react if she acted hostile towards him. This man had been breaking into her home and watching her sleep. For all she knew, he might give away their location if she angered him. She needed to pretend that they were allies. For the time being.
At long last, they heard the police sirens approach. This was soon followed by the sounds a struggle and the armed intruder screaming as the cops tackled him to the ground.
An officer came upstairs to let Geeta and Barry know that everything was OK now. They were safe.
The cops explained to Geeta that the man they had just arrested was a violent psychopath who had broken into the homes of several single young women. He had killed all of his previous victims.
Barry saw this as the perfect opportunity to claim "hero" status. He put his hands on both side of Geeta's face and said "Don't worry Geeta. I would never let anything happen to you."
He didn't know what hit him as Geeta's fist connected with his face and knocked him to the ground. After realizing what she had done, he had the audacity to look shocked.
Geeta then proceeded to tell the cops how Barry too had broken in and was watching her sleep. And that he had admitted to have done this before.
Barry tried to deny it, but after a few questions from the police, he broke down.
"But ..... I was just watching her.... I didn’t hurt her. I was just watching!! Geeta, I saved you! I'm your hero! How can you do this to me?"
Geeta restrained herself from kicking this pathetic lowlife repeatedly in the groin. And simply settled for a "rot in a hole, you pitiful creep!", as the cops took Barry away.
