Some call it stalking. But Simon says it’s walking… just extremely close behind. He just wanted to see where you were going. It was Thursday afternoon and this was not part of your usual routine. On Thursdays you would always stay home, watching a new episode of your favourite TV show. He followed you all the way from the apartment building, and now observed you walking into a café. He crossed the street, and sat on a bench that was directly across from the café. He pulled out his phone, pretending to scroll and stare down at the screen. But his eyes were on you the entire time. Through the windows, he saw that you were meeting with a date. A pang of jealousy bloomed in his chest. You were his. You just didn’t know it yet.

It started six months ago, when you moved into the same building, to the apartment right next to his. He first saw you out on the balcony. You chatted briefly through the little fence between your balconies, exchanging neighbourly pleasantries. And since that day, Simon knew you were the love of his life.

He meticulously learned everything about you. He stole the mail from your mailbox, looked through your trash bags, sneaked into your apartment through the balcony a couple of times when you left the window open. He learned your routine by observing you coming and going, and by listening through the wall, or lurking through the windows. He may have also installed a little camera in your living room, when you let him inside one day under the excuse of borrowing some sugar. Thanks to all that, he could ‘accidentally’ bump into you in the elevator quite often, so you two could talk. And he cherished those lovely little moments you shared. He often hoped that the elevator would break and trap you two inside for a couple of hours. Wouldn’t that be romantic?

But now, Simon was sitting alone on the bench, staring through the café’s window, and seeing you, his beloved on what was clearly a date with someone else. That was… unacceptable. But he was going to fix it.