The Cat and Mouse Game

I’m not sure if I’m the cat or the mouse, but that was the game I played today.

The view across the street from the Pain Cave is the market parking lot. I step out the door, look straight ahead as I walk to the car and, because that security guard parks his truck under a particular tree directly in the line of vision, I can see it.

Trainer has accused me of “stalking my stalker”, lol, but I say the truck is hard to miss and besides, it’s good to know where he is and when the coast might be clear so I’d not have to go out of my way when I needed something.

Today was that day.

With no sign of the security guard’s truck, I figured the coast was clear to just run in for three items.

Once I parked, got out of the car, walked across front of the market doors — towards a cart, I spotted him.

Dammit!

But pretended I didn’t.

He spotted me as well. Looked directly at me.

He was leaning against the wall at the exit door, opposite to the entry door where he usually stands — which was a good thing, because it was further away from where I entered.

I walked in fast, as though in a hurry and, with him at the opposite wall, it was easy to pretend I didn’t see him, especially since, by then, a worker was engaged in conversation with him, standing directly in front of him.

It’s hilarious that, whereas I go out of my way to not be noticed by him, security guard goes out of his way to be noticed by me. 

Since I didn’t look over in his direction, he all of a sudden raised his voice several octaves, in his conversation with the worker, to capture my attention.

I pretended I didn't hear, didn't look over.

THEN, as I was exiting the ice cream isle, who did I see walk nonchalky by but himself.

He actually left his post, walked the perimeters of the market, to make sure I’d notice him.

He didn’t look over at me. He just walked by and I’m sure could see, out the corner of his eye, that I came to a dead stop — because I was so surprised to see him walking by.

I don't know if anyone can relate to this, or even believe it happens, but men do strange things when they are determined to be noticed. Thinking about this later, it occurred to me he just might be crazy enough to accuse me of shoplifting which, if he did would be stupid. I'd end up owning that market but, like I said, men do strange things.

Case in point, my ex-husband, the cop.

We met because we both worked at the same station. He, like security guard, made it obvious he was interested in me. I, just like with security guard, pretended not to notice. So, what ex-husband did to get my attention was to make a complaint to the watch commander, something about my not fitting in, not being friendly, which threatened my job.

You can bet THAT got my attention, but I got the last laugh because, after giving him what he wanted — which was to date him, he fell in love with me (I fell in love with him as well). I ended up marrying his arse, fell out of love, then later escaped his mouse trap and divorced his arse.

So anyway, security guard having been successful in getting me to notice him by walking by the isle I was in, I just shook my head and then erased him from my mind, didn’t think anything else about him. Just got my items, went to the checkout line. I wasn’t even thinking of how to avoid him when exiting the market when, as I reached the casher, I heard someone call my name.

It was my friend The Archeologist. She was one customer behind me in line.

I waited for her and we walked out chatting, catching up and, once outside, took a selfie — because we always do to let our facebook friends know there’s been a sighting.

So preoccupied was I, in catching up with what the Archeologist has been doing, that I forgot to think about security guard — where was he when we left the market ... was he watching us ... and, more importantly, where did he park that truck which led me to believe the coast was clear when it wasn't?

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m the mouse because, in the cat and mouse game, the cat engages in “contrived actions” — like raising his voice to be noticed and walking the perimeter to be noticed, but the mouse is always able to “avoid capture” which, in my case, is to play dumb, pretend I’ve not noticed.

Other than that, it’s a quiet day, looks to be a quiet weekend, with a workout on Monday — irregardless of Monday being a holiday because neither Trainer nor I have plans. So why not stick to schedule.