James was having the worst day. He’d planned to try to hit the stores early to avoid the worst of the last minute shoppers—all the other men he knew finally could not put the dreaded chore off any more. But it was still too late. He blamed Black Monday. Stores were open 24 hours a day to try to compete with the internet.
He’d only gradually become aware that someone was shadowing him. Actually, given his rather morbid turn of mind, he wasn’t sure it was a someone at all. He’d kept an eye on the mirrors that were ubiquitous in the store, but he’d never managed to spot anyone. It put him to wondering. Were vampires the ones you couldn’t see in mirrors? Or was it zombies?
So once he’d turned around suddenly to see a face framed by a red hood, kind of like Red Riding hood, he thought to himself, but it disappeared instantly, and he wasn’t sure he’d seen it at all. Male? Female? He’d has a sense of femininity. He trusted his intuition on these things. Women loved James’ intuition. He would tell them things about them that they never knew up until then, and it always made them love him more.
He thought of Shippy and their assignation that night, and he turned back to his shopping. He wanted to really astonish her with the necklace he would give her. Something unusual. Not Zales. Not even Tiffany. Something unique from a designer. And he realized, he was shopping in the wrong place.
But as he headed out the door to head to Jeweler’s row, he got that sense of being shadowed again. He quickly turned into an alley, feeling foolish, yet, he trusted his intuition. He stopped and turned around, only to be smothered in a large, heavy, vermilion cape.