3x19: That's Not Your Picture!

[00:00:05] My name is Andrew Tate and this is season 3 episode 19 of Let's Not Meet a true horror podcast I'm 20 years old and a front-desk agent at a mid-range hotel in a small East Coast City

[00:00:30] I'm a full-time student at the university and I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment in a neighborhood made up of mostly college students At the hotel I've had to deal with my fair amount of

[00:00:43] Unpleasant or creepy people, you know since a young woman in a customer service job seems like an easy target. I was used to old ladies yelling at me or inappropriately aged men making remarks on my appearance like you have the most adorable smile or

[00:01:02] I'm sure you're a heartbreaker and I've usually been able to deflect When I work weekdays, I'm always on the 3 to 11 p.m. shift Where we handle check-ins It was a slow night where we only had 28 check-ins to deal with and by 8 p.m

[00:01:21] My co-worker Mindy and I had done all of our tasks and were leaning over the front desk chatting and watching the news Which blared perpetually from the TVs in the lobby breakfast area We only had a handful of check-ins left

[00:01:37] so we just kicked back and had our deck of cards and Chinese takeout all over the desk a Younger man checked in and I remember thinking he was cute ish

[00:01:48] He had neat blonde hair a boyish smile and a weak chin and was wearing khakis and a quarter zip fleece We had a pretty regular interaction save for him making a lot of eye contact and smiling And then he went to his room

[00:02:05] About half an hour later. He came back down and asked us if he could get alcohol We told him the convenience store was across the street and they had beer and wine

[00:02:14] And he and I joked a little about how it was closing soon, so he'd better run there When he came back, he slid a 40-ounce across the desk towards me with my customer service smile of vague Cluelessness I said, what's this?

[00:02:32] It's for you. He leaned against the desk front desk agents have to stand up so the top tier of the desk was about chest height and When he leaned over he was right in my face. Oh

[00:02:46] I can't drink right now, but thank you. I think you should be the one to enjoy that He was insistent and I agreed that I would take one drink after work Then I went into the office and put it with Mindy stuff

[00:03:01] She'd appreciate the free alcohol, but I didn't feel good about drinking a 40 from some too friendly guy We hung around the desk for a while Mindy is a type of person who can keep someone talking for hours

[00:03:16] Even if they don't want to because her brain never runs out of content and she treats everyone like she's known them for years This meant that this guy who will call mr. Hanson Wasn't leaving anytime soon

[00:03:31] They were talking about politics and I heard him throw around some vaguely Conservative rhetoric, but I pretended to be engrossed in my homework He kept glancing over at me and trying to smile But it was getting late

[00:03:46] My feet hurt and all I wanted was to be in my home and my underwear Rolling a spliff with my cats all around me instead of allowing some 35 year old to think that he could flirt with us

[00:03:59] At one point Mindy had to make a phone call. So he slid down the desk towards me. I Looked up with my customer service smile back on so Go to a small liberal arts college. Do you? He asked My uniform shirt was short-sleeved

[00:04:18] So you could see a couple of tattoos on my arm and I have a nose piercing So I assume that that in the music theory homework. I was working on Informed his guests. No, I go to the State University

[00:04:32] My city's main attraction besides its hippies and breweries was my college a pretty good state school So it was somewhat surprising he didn't assume I went there instead He was sizing me up and I prayed that Mindy would be done with her phone call soon

[00:04:50] But it was her long-distance boyfriend and she had wandered into the back office to talk to him He started talking about his experiences at his Southern University and how he was a veteran

[00:05:03] But got injured so he lived off pension or something and didn't work and he was just touring New England right now the conversation somehow Turned to his love life, but I'm pretty sure I was so spaced out by that point

[00:05:20] Just thinking about how I was going to eat at least an entire frozen pizza when I got home That I didn't pay attention to what he was saying until it was clear and he asked me a question Would you do that he asked But I do what?

[00:05:37] Get freaked out because I don't work a lot of chicks that I date think it's weird. I Remember exactly what he said Because I thought it was weird that he called girls chicks and how he spat it out. I Nervously said I don't know. I don't think so

[00:05:58] The hotel was on the smaller side and I was very aware of the fact that Mindy and I were the only employees in the building right then He began to ask me probing questions about my love life along the lines of are you single? No

[00:06:15] Well, why do you like him? Would you like him if he moved away? Do you think that you'll be with him a long time? The last question freaked me out and I wish I had asked him to stop asking me personal questions like that

[00:06:31] but I'm polite to a fault even when I'm not working, so I kept smiling and laughing and Giving friendly but impersonal answers You are very warm. He told me have you ever worked with kids?

[00:06:46] He talked about how a lot of girls he dates back wherever he was from, Ohio Maybe are shallow and materialistic and how I seemed like such a down-to-earth girl and I was such a cutie And did I know about the girl next door trope?

[00:07:05] I'm like the girl next door, but cool. He told me I Imagine he was referring to my tattoos at this point. I was physically queasy and uncomfortable, but I couldn't disengage Guest reviews are hugely important in the hospitality business

[00:07:22] So at this hotel were strictly trained to let the guests treat you. However, they want You can't upset them It would probably have been reasonable at this point to ask him to leave the front desk, but I felt so helpless and

[00:07:37] Being assertive with people at work is so against my instinct that it didn't even cross my mind to say anything Because of this I had to stay there listening to this guy and politely accept his compliments I

[00:07:51] Assumed he typically got away with it since he was attractive and clean-cut with a slight baby face I kept praying for the phones to ring and for someone to ask me to perform some sort of complicated Long task so that I could get away

[00:08:07] But the only time I did Was when a neighboring hotel called to ask if we had printer ink Mindy was on the phone in the back until eventually

[00:08:18] Sam our night auditor arrived and I realized that this guy had monopolized my entire last two hours of my shift trying to get me To sleep with him Hoping mr. Hanson would take this as a cue to leave

[00:08:31] I went into the office and got my coat and backpack when I came back out I Witnessed Sam count the drawer while mr. Hanson was still standing there Well, I hope you have a good night. I said to him are You walking out this way?

[00:08:48] He gestured down the hallway which led to all of the rooms as well as the door to the back parking lot I told him I had parked out front Which thankfully was true and I was able to get to my car successfully. I sat there for a while

[00:09:03] Responding to texts that had piled up on my phone while mr. Hanson was diverting my attention It was about a 10-minute drive from my hotel to my apartment downtown And I noticed that a car was pulling out of the parking lot at the same time. I was

[00:09:19] It wasn't Mindy's car. She always stayed an extra half hour after her shift technically ended But there was another hotel next to ours So I assumed it was either an employee or a guest there

[00:09:32] I wasn't too concerned when the Nissan was right behind me, but I noticed it had Florida plates Which a lot of cars around here do I? Take a weird way which involves cutting through the University Hospital's enormous Needlessly complex parking lot which spans about three blocks

[00:09:52] It wasn't necessarily a quicker route But I liked how there were never any cars there at this time of night and I could go as fast as I wanted In a Subaru Outback, so not in a cool way The parking lot as I said is needlessly complex

[00:10:09] Which means stoplights which all turn into blinking yellow lights after 9 p.m Medians and grassy areas placed seemingly at random and a lot of twists and turns Which all go to very specific buildings and exits

[00:10:24] I'm explaining this parking lot in so much detail to express how strange it was that this rental car Was following me this pretty nonsensical route It's not a way that any kind of Maps app would tell you to take

[00:10:41] Since there are way more straightforward streets surrounding the parking lot I Initially assumed it was someone going to the hospital since it was the only major facility in about a hundred mile radius and the only

[00:10:54] Well-funded one in an even larger area a lot of people in their families stay at the hotel Who were there for the hospital? So the monetary explanation that I gave myself seemed feasible It was maintaining a polite distance

[00:11:12] But it was one of those cars that had ultra bright LED headlights Which were blinding in my mirrors so the car was impossible to ignore It followed me around each turn and at one point just to see I went in a big circle around the south half

[00:11:29] of the lot Surely enough the other car made the same circle My explanation was already crumbling Dissolved completely when I drove past the entrance to both the main hospital and the emergency room

[00:11:46] Steady consumption of crime shows scary movies and true crime reddit pages or podcasts have made me a very paranoid person Serial killers really seem to love college aged women So at that point I picked up that something was probably wrong

[00:12:02] I figured I should avoid going back to my real apartment, especially since It's just begging to be broke into with a lot of windows and a very old front door that opens directly to the outside Obviously at this point I was relatively certain it was mr. Hansen

[00:12:20] Like I said, I'd have guests cross the line before making me come out from behind the desk to hug them Touching me when I'm straightening up in the lobby Asking the front desk to bring a towel and answering the door in various states of undress, etc

[00:12:37] but I had never been followed or particularly fixated on a hotel receptionist Even if they're good-looking is someone you have a couple brief and pleasant interactions with but you don't really think about them when they're not there I

[00:12:55] Decided my best bet would be to get back to the hotel. I Looped back through town the Nissan following at a polite distance still I'll reiterate it was trying to be as discreet as it could Keeping as far behind as it could while still keeping me in sight

[00:13:16] But wasn't trying to intimidate me as much as well. I'm not sure maybe monitor me Whatever his reasons I was still afraid I abandoned the use of turn signals and

[00:13:29] Sped back to the hotel calling the hotel along the way and asking Sam if he in possibly the security guard We contracted to patrol the property after 11 could meet me at the front door

[00:13:42] When I arrived back at the hotel, I pulled around to the front where Sam and security guard were standing under the awning While the Nissan hit the gas to the back lot I

[00:13:55] Explained the situation and the security guard went out the back door to look out for the car and its driver When he came back, he said that he spoke to a preppy blonde guy outside Who was coming inside?

[00:14:10] He said he had just been out to smoke a cigarette and he was returning to his room The security guard asked him if he'd seen a Nissan with Florida plates and he said that he hadn't There wasn't much more that we could do at that point

[00:14:27] Luckily, I wouldn't be working for a couple of days after mr. Hansen was set to check out and We were fully sold that weekend. So he couldn't extend his stay even if he wanted to All guests are asked

[00:14:43] Upon check-in to write down the make model color and plate of their vehicle on the registration card So just to confirm I pulled out his registration card Sure enough silver Nissan Altima with Florida plates Here's what he wrote on his trip advisor review

[00:15:04] Great stay room was clean breakfast was hot and all that I could ask for Lol, the best thing about the hotel was the staff though. I Had a lovely time with the two ladies at the front desk He quoted my name

[00:15:21] Especially a very sweet girl. I hope to be seeing her sooner rather than later Mr. Hansen we won't meet because my manager put you on a banned list A Story took place around two years ago. I Was driving to work, which was a five-hour drive

[00:15:53] It was already dark after about three hours of driving. I started to get tired I bought myself a coffee and some snacks at a gas station then continued my trip But snacks and coffee can only keep you awake for so long and I started to feel tired again

[00:16:11] The part of the road that I was on was nothing but thick dark pinewood forest all around me There were no other cars on the road. Nothing only insects Smashing on my windshield every now and then in an empty road. I

[00:16:26] Was now extremely tired and at one point I nearly drove off the road for almost falling asleep I have to sleep now. I told myself I can't wait for a gas station. I

[00:16:39] Need to stop as soon as I see a place where I can park my car anything When I'm tired, I fall asleep really fast And if I'm tired enough I can fall asleep in the middle of a sentence when I'm talking

[00:16:53] So it's a bit urgent for me to find a place where I can stop After what felt like an hour, which was probably just five minutes. I spot a little pocket on the road It's like a parking space for quick stops

[00:17:06] Like for peeing or switching drivers stuff like that not even a real resting area I stopped here rolled down my windows to check if I heard any weird noises There was total silence and then I roll up the windows again

[00:17:22] Nothing bad is going to happen. I haven't seen a car for 30 minutes. This road is empty If someone is checking out my car, I bet it's the cops checking on me to see if I'm alright. I tell myself this I

[00:17:36] Leave my keys in the ignition and I lock the doors just to be safe. I Adjust my seat a bit to make it more comfortable to sleep and I take off my shoes and put them on my passenger seat to the right

[00:17:50] It felt so nice to close my eyes that I instantly fell asleep. I don't know why but something wakes me up I can't really see anything Some kind of bright light hits me in the eyes First I thought it was a flashlight

[00:18:05] But then I realized that it was high beams from another car in my rearview mirror They were blinding me. I look in my left mirror and I see a man walking up beside my car Maybe he wants help with something

[00:18:21] Should I make it clear to him that I'm in here? He's right beside my left back door Should I step out to ask what he's doing? I? Didn't have to the man proceeds to jerk and pull on my left back door handle I

[00:18:39] Almost shit my pants when I realized that he was trying to force his way into my car My seat is adjusted for me to lay down and I had pushed it back Where I couldn't reach the pedals which makes it impossible for me to drive my car

[00:18:56] I slam my car horn and it breaks the silence with a roar the man jumps That gives me two seconds to push my seat to reach the pedals But it's still way out of adjustment

[00:19:11] So I'm kind of pulling myself to the steering wheel because my seat is laying flat and isn't supporting my back Anyway, I start the car and drive off With a cloud of smoke from my screeching tires

[00:19:27] It's hard driving a car with nothing holding your upper body up, but I managed as I leave I look in the rearview mirror and I can see the man standing there as he looks at me Then I can see two more guys that appear beside him

[00:19:44] What I can see in the silhouette of their beams is that one of them had something in their hand like a wrench or a crowbar I Drove as fast as I could way over the speed limit My whole body was trembling with adrenaline and fear

[00:20:02] I drove like that for 30 minutes until I stopped at a gas station to fix my seat and put my shoes on again I figured that I was only sleeping for maybe 10 minutes well, I

[00:20:14] Didn't have to sleep until I got to my destination which is surrounded by heavy-duty fencing and the building has an alarm I told my boss the next day at work and they actually have had problems with what we call in Sweden road pirates

[00:20:31] Criminals that force you to stop on the road and rob you of everything including your car In that specific area could it have been three nice guys that just wanted to check if I was okay But then why wouldn't they just knock on my driver's window? I

[00:21:03] Was 21 living with my best friend in a two-bedroom apartment in a pretty rundown area Fortunately, there was no crime. We were two broke kids and it was all we could afford Fortunately, there was no crime. I

[00:21:16] Spent my days juggling classes at the local community college and working retail I was single at the time and I would often spend that time online all night on chat rooms and usenet. I

[00:21:27] Had met this girl in a local area chat room and we had been hitting it off or so it seemed I'd email her and we would chat on ICQ

[00:21:39] She had sent me a few pictures and I was really into her. She was pretty with a curvy body pretty much my type Her name was Beth and she had told me Beth by kiss was her favorite song

[00:21:55] This one rainy night in February we were talking and she had asked me to come over She lived a few towns over maybe an hour away Like I said earlier we were hitting it off and honestly, I found myself

[00:22:09] Liking Beth a lot. So I jumped at the chance to actually meet her in person We made plans for me to pick her up and go to the Waffle House I Showered and got dressed nothing too fancy

[00:22:22] one of those long-sleeve shirts with the stripes across the chest jeans and a hoodie I Didn't want to overdo it, but still I wanted to look decent By the time I left it was almost 11 and my roommate was asleep in his room. I

[00:22:39] I headed out excited and nervous in hindsight. I should have stayed home It took a lot longer to get there than I thought it would probably thanks to the rain, but sure enough her directions took me right to her place a

[00:22:54] double wide trailer in a rural area trailer park I Walked up the stairs of the front porch and knocked on the door I've always been pretty shy when talking to girls that I liked and I was still nervous when she opened the door

[00:23:13] The door opened just a little and a little voice told me to come in. I walked in Apologizing for taking so long in a little bit of a nervous daze She said that it was okay and to have a seat. I

[00:23:29] sat on the couch and then for the first time as I looked up and at her I realized This was not Beth This was a much older woman maybe in her 40s wearing only a bathrobe sitting across from me I

[00:23:49] Don't want to body shame, but I need to point out that she was huge I'm a big guy over six foot with a big hoss type body and She was much bigger than I was I

[00:24:03] Glanced around trying to figure out what was going on. I saw pictures of the bath that I knew on the wall The same pictures that I've seen and I notice There's a guy in the pictures with this older woman. I looked back at her and

[00:24:23] Instantly noticed that she was staring at the clock nervously. I Asked what was going on and she started mumbling nervously Actually, imagine a child telling you what they had done when they got in trouble That's how she was talking like a child caught red-handed. I

[00:24:45] Pieced together that she used the other pictures of a girl around my age I'm assuming the girl was a niece or something in Her mumbling she said that it was later than she realized and he would be home soon My mind

[00:25:05] Instantly raced to a friend telling me his uncle caught his wife using pictures of their daughter To lure younger guys over for anonymous sex. I then quickly realized The guy in the pictures was her husband and I was in the same situation

[00:25:22] While I fully respect others relationships, I was instantly ready to get out of there No longer nervous. I told her I Was not going to mess around with a married woman. I told her to no longer contact me and I was leaving

[00:25:39] I was pissed not only had I been lied to But I had been cheated on before I know exactly what that felt like and refused to have part in what that person was doing to another person as

[00:25:54] I walked out the door onto the porch. She yelled to wait. I Turned around instinctively to see her coming towards me She grabbed me and started trying to kiss me. I Pushed her away and told her to stop her face turned into a mask of Pure insanity

[00:26:15] She rushed towards me once again trying to kiss me. I Tried to hold her back, but in a second she tackled me knocking me over falling on top of me She kept grabbing me grabbing my genitals kissing me and crying like a baby

[00:26:32] She kept screaming for me to fuck her. I Was trying to push her off But the fall had knocked the wind out of me not to mention

[00:26:41] Like I said, she was huge. I kept wrestling with her trying my best to somehow get my legs worked between us. I Pushed them as hard as I could to knock her off of me. She stumbled up and fell over onto her porch furniture a

[00:26:59] Journal in overtook me as I ran as fast as I could down the stairs to my car as I was sliding into my seat I saw her picking herself up at the bottom of the stairs. She must have fell down them trying to get me still

[00:27:11] I backed down the driveway and as I looked back before driving away, she was coming down the driveway her bathrobe hanging half off of her and her naked body exposed and covered with scratches and dirt from her fall I

[00:27:28] Drove off as fast as my Ford Escort would take me I don't know how I didn't wreck from constantly looking in the rearview mirror hoping that she wasn't following me. I

[00:27:38] Found my way back to the main road and before long I realized I went the wrong way. I pulled up to the first gas station Intending to turn around. I Noticed nobody was following me and the gas station was well lit and only had a few cars

[00:27:54] I felt safe and parked trying to get myself together after that insane scuffle I still can't believe how scared I was if you would have seen that face and been through that tackle You'd understand. I

[00:28:10] Collected myself and got out of the car to use the bathroom and make sure I wasn't hurt The adrenaline was wearing off and random pain started creeping in It was then that I noticed the gas station was uphill Overlooking that trailer park. I Could see her

[00:28:28] Standing at the bottom of the driveway. It looked like she was holding her head crying At first I felt bad for her. I'm a nice person to a fault

[00:28:39] I've often let myself get sucked into bad situations by feeling bad for a person that I should not have. I Remember this crazy person Crying and I felt bad Then I remembered her crazy shit and the pain creeping back into me

[00:28:57] Wondering if she seriously hurt me so I used the bathroom and left as I was getting back into my car I looked back one more time. I Saw a car in the driveway and a man yelling in the front yard, I

[00:29:12] Guess he got home while I was peeing I can't imagine what it had to be like coming home to your wife standing naked in the driveway crying Judging by her mumbling before the insanity. I figured she wasn't a good liar. I

[00:29:30] Got home and the next day told my roommate what had happened. I Didn't want to at first I felt ashamed for some reason though Like I said, he was my best friend. He knew there was something wrong

[00:29:45] Not to mention I was limping around my entire body was killing me He figured she was unhappy with her marriage or maybe her screwing around made her a little crazy or maybe She was already crazy and the situation just set her off. Maybe it was drugs or something

[00:30:05] I don't know. I cut off all contact and it's been almost 20 years since that night I've never seen or heard from Beth again I'm 41 happily married. My best friend is still my best friend, even though we no longer live in the same state

[00:30:20] We never really talk about it outside of this I've only talked about it to my therapist that I visited during a particularly hard time in my life My wife doesn't know I still feel pretty ashamed about it. The therapist told me it was probably PTSD

[00:30:37] Not to mention guilt from perceived gender roles, maybe Beth I don't know if you got help or got worse. I don't care. I hope I never see you again Let's not meet

[00:30:57] I'd like to extend a huge. Thank you to everyone in the medical field right now all the nurses and doctors out there Helping during this pandemic and this trying time

[00:31:19] There are a lot of you that are quarantined at home and those of you that are still in the workforce Like my wife and I whenever you get off you go straight home and you're quarantining yourself as much as possible

[00:31:31] It's tough right now out there, but I wanted to let you know that I'm not going anywhere I've started recording at home again. I built a makeshift Recording booth for the time being hopefully everything sounds okay. Please let me know

[00:31:42] I'm not an expert or a doctor, but I would like to just give everyone a little bit of advice Please do not panic I've seen a lot of panic ruin a lot of people's lives and cause a lot more trouble than there needs to be

[00:31:55] This is rough, but we're all gonna get through it if we work together and take care of each other That's what's important That being said there will be no break between season 3 and season 4 of let's not meet the patreon will continue as well

[00:32:07] If you'd like to gain access to bonus episodes and content head over to patreon.com Forward slash let's not meet podcast and you can support me that way this week on let's not meet you have heard

[00:32:18] I had a lovely time with two ladies at the front desk by reddit user Get erect 53 don't park on the sides of the road to sleep by reddit user plutonium horse And finally, that's not your picture by reddit user cargo ghost

[00:32:34] Don't forget to send your stories in to let's not meet stories at gmail.com Again, please take care of yourselves and everyone that you love and that you know we'll get through this and I'm here to keep you guys entertained and

[00:32:48] Spooked during this trying time. I'll see you guys next week for a brand new episode of let's not eat