9x11: Subway Stalker - Let's Not Meet

[00:00:00] It's time to mark your calendars again, Lets Not Meet's live Halloween stream will be airing on October 27th at 7pm Pacific over at twitch.tv forward slash cryptic county. A bunch of our favorite guests will be returning along with a handful of brand new ones.

[00:00:16] All of our stories will be told on camera and it's going to be an entire episode packed with creeps and Halloween scares. So if you weren't able to make any of the live dates this year, join us live on Thursday

[00:00:28] October 7th at 7pm Pacific again that's at twitch.tv forward slash cryptic county. And as always, this podcast contains adult language and content. If you'd like to hear your story on the podcast, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show.

[00:00:45] My name is Andrew Tate and this is season 9 episode 11 of Lets Not Meet, a true horror podcast. I've worked in customer service for my entire adult life, nearly 7 years now. So odd occurrences don't faze me much at this point.

[00:01:37] On top of this, I work alone for a majority of the time due to slow business. Now this isn't ideal, but I'd like to say I'm comfortable in my place of work, alone or with company, but in 2019 one instance really put me on edge.

[00:01:56] At the time I was 22 years old, working a night shift at Subway. At this point business was excruciatingly slow and I worked alone from 3 to 10pm. As I am a creature of solitude, I actually preferred these shifts.

[00:02:13] I could put on a show or listen to music, anything to really keep my mind busy while I cleaned, stocked and prepared to lock the doors. It was nearing 8pm and a young man came into the shop.

[00:02:27] Out of routine I asked him how he was and what I could get started for him. He answered normally enough, but had an oddly enthusiastic smile on his face. I'm not really sure, I haven't been to Subway in a while, but I work right up the

[00:02:43] road and this is the closest place to grab food on my break. I agree with him, stating that the only other option in the area was McDonalds and let's be honest, that can get old after a while.

[00:02:58] We made small talk while I prepared his sandwich and he sat down to eat, making sure to keep the conversation going. He tells me his age, where he works, how he spends his free time, etc.

[00:03:12] The conversation was casual but I noticed that he wasn't eating, even though he said he was on his lunch break. Also as I said before, I'm a solitary person and I was ready to get my cleaning done so I could go home.

[00:03:26] I'm going to get to work on my closing stuff so you can eat since you're on a break and you have to head back soon. I said this as I went back to doing what I was doing.

[00:03:36] Okay, but I'll be here for a while and I have an hour break today, he says with an easygoing smile. I go to the back of the store, where I should mention does not have a view of the lobby whatsoever.

[00:03:52] As I'm cleaning up the back I realize I need to clean the front line soon, meaning I would be forced to make small talk again with the customer, who now knows that I'm alone in the store.

[00:04:04] After doing everything I possibly can in the back, about 15 minutes of work, I head to the front. Immediately I notice him looking at me and he hasn't touched his food at all.

[00:04:15] I try to avoid eye contact and pretend that my work is way too intense to have a conversation but obviously it's not at all. I thought you'd never come back up here, he says with another grim smile.

[00:04:30] I'm a bit startled by the sentence but I explain that I have a list of tasks to do in the back every night before close, mostly to make it seem like I wasn't avoiding him even though I definitely was.

[00:04:43] He comes up to the register where he begins to ask me about myself. I keep my answers brief, this man already knows that I work here and that I'm alone. The last thing I wanted to do was offer up any more information about myself.

[00:04:59] Aren't you going to be late for work? I ask, obviously not caring if he was going to be late or not. I can be late, they won't say anything to me, he retorts.

[00:05:11] But if you need me to go because you need to get back to work, I can. I'd like to get your number first though. I'm quite obviously not into this man but I had been single for a while, didn't have

[00:05:24] many friends and if giving him my number would allow me some free time, I was willing to do it. I could always just block him later on. I gave him my phone number and he told me that he would be talking to me later.

[00:05:38] I didn't think too much of it and I got back to my work for the night. As I was on my way home that evening, I got a text from an unknown number. He introduced himself as Darren and we made small talk.

[00:05:51] He said he was in the National Guard and would be heading out of town for a few days for the following week. I chatted with him a bit here and there for the next few days until one night when I got a phone call from him.

[00:06:03] I answered and immediately noticed his hushed tone. It was an awkward conversation. He stated that he was hiding in the bathroom to talk to me as it would be weird to talk to me in front of his National Guard buddies.

[00:06:18] Since I grew up in a military household, I understood this because my dad would only call us when his roommate was out. We talked for maybe 10 minutes and then he told me he wanted us to go hang out when he got back in town.

[00:06:33] I'm not only socially awkward, but also not that interested in him. I tell him that my work schedule hasn't been posted yet and that we would just have to wait and see. Fortunately he understood and we ended the call.

[00:06:48] I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but there was something. I started to feel a bit off-put by Darren. Having only known him for a week or so, I really couldn't tell much about him.

[00:07:01] He continued to text me daily, making it very obvious that he was into me. I on the other hand was working every day and I didn't feel like conversing with him. I thought Darren would get the hint with my short responses and maybe back off, but I

[00:07:16] was dead wrong. A night or two later I was working the closing shift again when the front door chimed. I walked around the corner to see Darren standing at the register. I put on a fake smile and said hi to him. You haven't messaged me back, he begins.

[00:07:32] I'm sorry, I've worked almost every day and I don't have much free time between school and this place. He shook his head in agreeance. Do you want to hang out after you get off of work? He asked.

[00:07:47] I must have had this shocked look on my face because he immediately followed up with, It's only if you want to but I haven't gotten to see you outside of work.

[00:07:58] I tried a few excuses to get out of it, one being that it would be late, another being that I was tired. And the way that the conversation was going I had to tell him multiple times I wasn't interested sexually in him and that I barely knew him.

[00:08:14] He looked offended and said that we could just play video games, that's all, he promised. I thought about it for a few seconds and realized that I hadn't just hung out with someone in what felt like forever.

[00:08:27] In a moment of stupidity and loneliness, I agreed to go to his place after I got off of work. Darren smiled from ear to ear, obviously over the moon that a girl agreed to come over to his place. Awesome! I get off at 11.

[00:08:43] Come up to my place of work and find my car, you can follow me from there. Darren left and I was sick to my stomach. What did I just agree to? I'm a 22 year old girl with no real way to defend myself against any kind of potential

[00:08:57] threat, then again he did seem genuine and I needed friends. It was a decision I would soon come to regret. 11 o'clock came and I was sitting in the parking lot of Darren's work wondering why I was there debating on going home.

[00:09:12] Unfortunately, Darren came out and he waved at me as a way to tell me to follow him to his place. I stupidly followed him and after we parked, we walked up to his apartment.

[00:09:24] We lived in a set of apartments that had four roommates to each place as it was a college town and that was the cheapest option for most people our age. Oddly enough, this made me feel a bit more at ease knowing that there was a good chance

[00:09:39] that if I were in danger and yelled for help, his roommates would likely be able to help me settle my nerves a bit. He led me into his bedroom. There was nothing more than a bed, a gaming chair, a shelf full of video games and consoles,

[00:09:55] and a door to the bathroom. I sat on the bed while he started up the Xbox and asked me which game I wanted to play. I told him to pick, to which he responded, do you like scary stuff?

[00:10:07] I do in fact love horror stories, scary games, creepy encounters, not including this one, etc. I told him that would be fine and he starts up a horror game. He hands me the controller and shows me how to put on the tutorial.

[00:10:23] Beginning to believe that this would just be a hangout session where we innocently played video games, I was able to relax. He stood up in that moment and walked over to the light switch where he flipped off the overhead light. Let's make the game scarier, he said.

[00:10:40] I nodded and started to play the tutorial. About five minutes into me playing, he sat down on the bed next to me and put his hand on the small of my back. I immediately shot him a look, to which he removed his hand and apologized.

[00:10:55] Because I was playing the video game, I needed both hands on the controller and my eyes on the screen. I hadn't thought about this before and I began to notice every little thing that Darren was doing next to me.

[00:11:06] After a few minutes I realized my back was sore from being hunched over the sandwich bar all night and now being hunched over the edge of his bed. I got up and repositioned myself to where I could lean against the wall behind his bed

[00:11:18] to relieve some of the pressure on my back. He followed in suit next to me. About thirty minutes went by without incident. I was innocently playing the game and he was telling me tips and tricks to help me out. That's when he started touching me.

[00:11:36] He placed his hand on my thigh then on my neck, then on my chest. I felt frozen for a moment. I got my bearings about myself and looked at him. Listen, I told you I just wanted to hang out. I'm not going to sleep with you tonight.

[00:11:53] I know, I know. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and I don't expect you to sleep with me. He apologized and removed his hand. I didn't want him to touch me like that again so I laid back down on my stomach and continued playing the game.

[00:12:10] That's when he started rubbing the small of my back. I'm not pulling any moves, he said. I just noticed you stretch your back earlier before you leaned against the wall. I'm just trying to make it feel better.

[00:12:23] I was put off by this yet I guess I'm just too nice and too afraid to upset him. I didn't say anything but continued to play the game. A couple of minutes later I noticed his hand drop down below my waist.

[00:12:38] I dropped the controller and say, it's your turn to play now. He grabs the controller and I sit up on the bed. As he was playing I thought, how do I tell him that I want to leave? Will he get angry?

[00:12:51] Is this my fault for agreeing to come over? Just then I remember I had a small pocket knife in my bag so I got up, faked a few stretches and sneakily grabbed the pocket knife and slid it into my front pocket.

[00:13:04] If anything I felt safer having it on me. I sat back down on the bed and he told me he was going to pick a different game to play. I said, okay but after that I need to go since it's almost 2am.

[00:13:18] He agreed and I proceeded to play the game when I noticed him touching my back again and bringing his head closer to mine as if he were going to kiss my neck. I moved over and he pulled back before standing up.

[00:13:30] He stood at the corner of the bed and put either arm on each side of me. He leaned in close to attempt to kiss me. In an act of sheer fight or flight I pushed him back and told him, stop. I don't want to.

[00:13:45] He got offended and began pouting before moving to sit in the gaming chair on the floor. I stood up and told him that I was going to leave. As I was grabbing my bag he insisted multiple times that he could walk me to the car.

[00:13:59] I agreed as not to stir the pot any longer and also as I had no idea how to get out of this building. We walked to my car and he began asking very odd questions, sexual questions about being

[00:14:12] a virgin, why I wouldn't kiss him, what my last boyfriend was like. I answered them to the smallest degree possible and when we got to my car he opened the door for me.

[00:14:23] I sat down and when I reached to close the door I realized I couldn't because he had one arm on the frame of the door and the other on the hood of the car. Immediately I realized I made a mistake allowing him to walk me to my car.

[00:14:39] He leaned into the car to push his face as close as he could to mine without actually touching me. I pulled back and once again reiterated that I did not want to kiss him. Why won't you just kiss me? He questioned.

[00:14:55] Because I don't know you and we aren't dating. He seemed offended by the answer and backed up a bit. I'm a good guy and I wouldn't do anything you aren't comfortable with, he stated. At this point all of my inner alarms were going off.

[00:15:11] No good guy would have put me in this situation to begin with. I need to go, it's late. I live with my family, they're going to get worried, I said. I could tell that Darren thought I would give in with his good guy comment as he furrowed

[00:15:25] his brow. Okay, but you have to text me later, he said. I said some generic response like yeah for sure and shut the door. My entire body had chills. I waited until he was out of eyesight and headed home.

[00:15:43] The entire drive I prayed that this man would never contact me again but I was wrong. I woke up the next day with a message from Darren telling me good morning. I ignored it not wanting to engage with him anymore.

[00:15:55] I got dressed for work and went on my way not thinking too much of it. About halfway through my shift I began stalking the chips. To paint a picture I'm barely over 5 feet tall and when I'm behind it I can't see anyone who walks through the front door.

[00:16:12] As I'm stalking the doorbell rings. The manager and a new employee were both behind the bar so I didn't bother to stop what I was doing. Out of nowhere I hear, hey how's your day been from directly behind me.

[00:16:27] I turned quickly to see Darren right in front of me. I know it was the middle of the day and it was a public space but my blood still ran cold in that moment.

[00:16:38] Hey it's been busy, I lied to make it seem more reasonable why I hadn't responded to his message from the morning. I came to see you because I got worried when you didn't text back.

[00:16:51] He attempted to give me a hug and I pulled back towards the wall hoping that he would get the hint. I'm fine, I'm trying to work. I said plainly. I'll let you get back to work but I want a hug. That sentence itself made my skin crawl.

[00:17:07] Who says these things to someone they barely know? Right as I was about to respond my boss walked up behind me and said, I don't know who you are but you need to leave her alone. She's working right now and we have a new employee.

[00:17:21] I had never been so happy to have my boss at work before. He immediately turned around and headed to the door. I was almost in tears. Who is he? My boss questioned.

[00:17:32] He won't leave me alone, he came in here a couple of weeks ago and got my number. He hasn't left me alone since. I didn't want to explain the situation from the night before because I knew that she would scold me for going to a stranger's house.

[00:17:48] You need to tell him that he isn't allowed back in the store. I completely agreed with her and immediately wrote out a very long message to him. I told him that I wasn't interested in seeing him, that my boss didn't want him back in the store.

[00:18:04] I sent it and put his messages on silent. For the next few weeks I didn't see him, not until I went to the store where he worked at. I typically wouldn't have been to that store to begin with but it had slipped my mind that

[00:18:19] he worked there and it was right next to where I worked. As I was walking to the soda section I noticed him breaking down boxes. Luckily I was able to move before he saw me and I booked it to the front door.

[00:18:31] I left my items and didn't look back. To my knowledge Darren has since quit his job there and hasn't attempted to contact me either. I realize how lucky I am in this situation, it could have turned out way worse.

[00:18:43] But to Darren, the creepy subway stalker, let's not meet again. For reference I am a female in my early 30s. My boyfriend has very specific cravings when he is sick or he has a cold.

[00:19:08] Yesterday he was having a bit of a cold and I decided that I would go to the store for him. When I was walking back from the grocery store I saw this little chihuahua dog walking alone without a collar.

[00:19:21] I'm very much a dog person and I hate to think of this little dog being lost or even getting injured. So I approached him and he started barking but immediately after warmed up to me and started sniffing me and following me.

[00:19:35] When I was almost back to my apartment a guy yelled, Hey thanks for bringing him back. So I looked to where the voice came from and I saw this average looking guy, a bit taller than I am with another little dog but this one was on a leash.

[00:19:52] I said to the little dog, hey you go to your owner. But the dog wouldn't leave me. I said to the guy, I'll walk up to you so you can grab him. So I walk towards the guy and he starts making small talk about the dog following me.

[00:20:10] When I get to the guy, the dog does a step forward and as soon as this man takes a step forward towards the dog, the dog dives behind me, ears low. This was an indication for me to be on alert. This dog is scared of its owner.

[00:20:28] This man might be unpredictable. So I step back a little and I ask if he has a leash. He says that he doesn't. The dog is still glued to me so I feel obligated to stay and try and let him get his dog back.

[00:20:44] So this is when the man decides to say, Have you seen Dommer on Netflix? Now this is strange but it's not the strangest question given the popularity of the series. So I politely answered no, it's not really for me as I crinkled my nose to say it was

[00:21:03] too gruesome or something. I did tell him I liked true crime, just not those kinds of adaptations. Now alarm bells were going off in my head when he said, Yeah, it's crazy stuff.

[00:21:17] Why don't you come back to my house and I'll give you something to drink and you'll sleep. This is where my body took over. I smiled and fake laughed as if to say, Oh that's a silly joke. Trying not to offend him for my own safety.

[00:21:33] But my body took over. Dog or no dog, I turned around and started to walk back to my place. He walked behind me and kept talking. The dog was still by my side as if it were mine. Then he said, So you live here alone?

[00:21:53] You'll have to move soon. What the fuck? I thought. Is this a threat? I kept walking normally, not trying to give away that I was startled. Not reacting to his words. When I reached my apartment, I managed to lock the dog out before the guy could reach me.

[00:22:13] It was actually hard because the dog was so determined to stay with me. The man waved through the glass and I waved back and got to my apartment as quickly as possible. So to that creepy Dahmer fan, let's not meet again.

[00:22:47] I'm 29 now and I started listening to this podcast just a year ago. I thought that I would share this weird experience that happened to me a few years back. I can't remember the exact year but I want to say it was 2013.

[00:23:03] I worked in mid-midtown Manhattan in New York City. After work, I would usually take the train to ride uptown and see my cousins or best friend to hang out until about 8 or 9pm.

[00:23:17] We'd go to the park, chill outside on the steps, or sit on the wall overlooking the park while eating snacks or pizza, whatever we were in the mood for at the time.

[00:23:27] After all of that, I would usually take the bus home across the bridge to the Bronx or a cab if I felt like splurging. I think Uber was definitely out around this time but I honestly never used it at that point.

[00:23:43] Around where I live, we have these cab bases. You would just call a number and tell them your pickup address and then they would give you an estimated time of how long it would take a cab to get to you or you could just

[00:23:56] go to a corner and hail a random cab yourself. I decided that night to hail one. I got picked up by this guy, he looked young, maybe in his late 20s, early 30s.

[00:24:09] I told him my address and he didn't even know where it was, which I remember thinking, that's kind of weird. So he passed me his GPS and I typed it in. This was weirder. I just had these vibes the whole way.

[00:24:27] Anyways, he starts driving and me being paranoid, I sit up looking out the front windshield. From the backseat, making sure that he doesn't miss any turns or that he doesn't decide to take a different route.

[00:24:41] I had my cell phone in my hand ready to call whoever just in case. The whole ride, he didn't say a thing, neither did I. He just kept looking at me through his rear view mirror. Also weird.

[00:24:56] We finally made it to the Bronx and he took this strange route. One that most cab drivers don't usually take. I've taken cab rides home all the time so I knew that this was weird, but then I thought maybe he's new.

[00:25:12] He didn't even know my address in the first place. I did know the area though and it would get me home. I just don't understand why he took that way and I was too shy to ask.

[00:25:25] I felt really weird but I kept trying to tell myself maybe you're just overthinking it. At the same time, my heart literally felt like it was going to come out of my chest. I guess I was just so paranoid.

[00:25:39] We got stopped at a red light and a car pulled up next to us on the right side. I can't remember the car type, just that it was a black sedan.

[00:25:48] There was a driver and a passenger who both came out of the vehicle at the same time to switch seats. Completely random. But as they got out of the car, the driver looked at my driver and did this slight head nod to him and my driver nodded back.

[00:26:07] Then as the person from the passenger seat was coming around to the driver's seat, he looked inside our cab, then at me, then at the driver. It was such a creepy look. It's like he was making sure of something. Maybe that I was in the back seat.

[00:26:26] I don't know but I felt like all of this was happening in slow motion. At the same time that this all took place, my eyes were shifting left to right, trying to read this guy's body language or expressions.

[00:26:41] But man at that moment my mind and gut were telling me to get the hell out of there. The light turned green and the car drove in front of us, in the same direction that we were supposed to be heading.

[00:26:54] But I told my driver to just leave me where we were at. He asked, are you sure? Now when I'm nervous or scared I kind of laugh so I just kind of half smiled and said yeah it's fine.

[00:27:08] I gave him the money and walked fast up a different street going to the left knowing that he couldn't go in that direction. I honestly don't know if anything bad was going to happen to me that night but my mind and body weren't letting me take that risk.

[00:27:26] I've had so many strange encounters with cab drivers, whether it be old men trying to flirt or a driver taking the wrong exit mistakenly, or even creepy sounds coming from the trunk. Yes, that really happened and I jumped out of the cab within one block.

[00:27:44] I'd like to say I saved a crap ton of money by riding the bus and train home after this experience. But to that creepy cab driver and the two men in the other car from back in the day, I hope we never meet again.

[00:28:09] For context, I'm a female and this happened when I was around 24 years old back in 2015. I've never told this story to anyone due to the sheer embarrassment of how desperate and lonely I was at this point in my life.

[00:28:26] I dated some pretty toxic men back then, so this story is for anyone thinking that they have to put up with emotional abuse because they believe no one else will love them. This is false.

[00:28:39] Anyway, I was brought up in a pretty sheltered home by what we recognize now as too emotional immature parents, so I was a loner kid with too much free time to fantasize about love and grew into a hopeless romantic young adult with low self-esteem.

[00:28:57] I had just finished college on a very small island and moved to a famous city in the US for a good entry level job. Since I didn't make much to afford my place then, I moved in with a friend whose girlfriend was always over.

[00:29:14] Not that that was the issue, the issue was that they were abnormally inseparable and I felt so lonely that I wished I had someone to spend time with like that. So I downloaded Tinder. Back then, it was the only dating app I knew about. I then started swiping.

[00:29:33] That's when I first came across this European guy's profile. We'll call him Rowan. I remember thinking he looked exotic, with green cat-like eyes, a black fitted shirt, and shaggy blonde hair. One of his pictures was of him walking towards the camera through a crowd of people on a

[00:29:53] dance floor. It was a black and white picture. I remember thinking that he looked like a rock star or something. He happened to swipe right on my profile as well. He only had two images though, plus nothing in his bio, which should have been my first

[00:30:09] red flag, but I was very naive and I knew very little of the online dating do's and don'ts, but I was homesick, alone all the time, and tired of hanging out with my love bird roommates as the third wheel. So I messaged him.

[00:30:24] I sent him a message and we randomly started talking. I remember he was older than I was and went to law school in the city. We texted for days and the conversations were enjoyable after a week.

[00:30:38] He was sarcastic, bold, and funny, and we seemed to hit it off via text as well. After a while, I asked if he wanted to talk over the phone, which was more fun.

[00:30:49] After talking on the phone for a few weeks, I asked if he wanted to come to my place to watch a movie, you know, the old Netflix and chill. I first noticed that he didn't want to come over at all.

[00:31:01] When I asked him for a reason, he said he didn't want to get up from his bed. A red flag as well, I know. But I was determined, even if it were just to see if this guy was real. I convinced him to come over.

[00:31:16] When he did, he came over late at night and looked nothing like his pictures. I mean, it was the same guy because I recognized his voice and eyes, but he looked nothing like the rock star god in the photos.

[00:31:32] He was wearing the same shirt from that black and white picture which ran far too tight on he was smoking a cigarette on the way up to the apartment complex to greet me.

[00:31:42] At this point, I should have said, sorry, my roommate just called, they need me to pick up their girlfriend, so I have to leave unexpectedly by. But my self-esteem was far too low.

[00:31:54] I believed this was the best I could do, and at least I wasn't lonely anymore, so I greeted him. He flicked away his cigarette, and I let him in. I also noticed how his eyes flickered nervously, almost as if he couldn't look me in the eyes

[00:32:10] for more than a few seconds. He also never smiled with his eyes, which I've heard in many of these true crime podcasts is something to look out for. That night I was determined to make him like me to the point where he'd be interested in coming back.

[00:32:29] I even ignored that one of the first things he did was ask to see my ID. When I asked him why, laughing, thinking that he was joking, he was dead serious. He said, because I want to make sure that you're not lying to me about your age.

[00:32:44] I said, okay, and I didn't give it another thought. So after a few hours, we made out and I remember him being so surprised that I felt so comfortable around him. Deep down, I didn't. I was just so lonely.

[00:32:59] I wanted someone to talk to and keep me company, but eventually he left at 3am. The visits and texting and calls continued until a month after we were in a relationship. That's when I first started to notice the strange treatment.

[00:33:16] First, he rarely kissed me, especially if I were eating food. He would prefer that I brushed my teeth first. Second, he only came to see me past 9pm but texted me all day, which I thought was weird.

[00:33:32] When he came over, all he wanted to do was lie on my bed or couch, watch TV, or play a video game on his laptop that he had brought. Whenever I asked for us to go out and watch a movie or have dinner, he replied, that's

[00:33:46] all a big waste of money. Who made you think that to have a successful relationship with people, you have to go on dates or to movies and grab food at expensive restaurants? That's just a mind game to make people waste money on superficial things that aren't important

[00:34:02] in life. I then asked once if we could go for a drive somewhere. Mind you, this guy had a Mercedes. He replied with, sure, I'll take you around the expensive area of town and drive you around for some fresh air.

[00:34:19] Thinking back at my stupid self excited to have this man I barely knew drive me around as if I were a dog that needed a walk or a car ride is so degrading, but I overlooked those red flags.

[00:34:33] Rowan never took me to dinner nor accepted any invites from my roommates and I to join them on the double dates. He only met them at my apartment, and they didn't even stick around much when Rowan was over.

[00:34:48] Finally, I started asking questions about his family and he lost his temper telling me those were rude questions since they were so personal. The only information I knew about Rowan was the make and model of his car where he supposedly

[00:35:02] went to school and that he lived with his mother. I asked him about his friends and he only responded with yes or no answers. I even asked him if I could come over to his place since we had only met at mine.

[00:35:16] He said that the only way he'd let me come in is if I came through the window of his bedroom or balcony of his apartment, and he was on the second floor. After months of talking, I could not understand why this guy was so secretive.

[00:35:31] Even when we ordered food he gave the employees fake names. Red flags everywhere. One night I tried making a move on him and he shoved me off, not even playfully, and I asked why we hadn't had sex, which he mostly avoided unless it was phone sex.

[00:35:48] He said it was because it was a very serious thing to him and he didn't think we were that committed yet. Then one day I convinced him to at least do some other stuff with me to see if he was at least into me at all.

[00:36:01] It turns out he was into me, just very bad with what he did. It was awkward because he would call my genitals Helen. He would talk to me down there, randomly. I was creeped out, but I thought this was something everyone in relationships did.

[00:36:21] I had no close friends to talk to about this. If you're wondering why the name Helen, he said it's a reference to the princess who caused the fall of the Roman War. I know, I know. What the hell was I doing?

[00:36:38] Anyway, I started to feel caged and bored in this so-called relationship. We didn't go out hiking, sightseeing, partying in the city, shopping, or anything remotely close to what I thought that couples liked to do. He even made me change my Android to an iPhone after a while.

[00:36:55] I found out that it was so that he would be able to use the Find My Friend app on me. Also on Valentine's Day, I decided to surprise him outside the metro stop. I arrived after school with his Valentine's Day gift in hand, looking cute and everything.

[00:37:13] And I was excited to see him in the daylight for once. We had been dating for months at this point. I saw him walking out of the metro train station and I called his name out loud, Rowan, with a grin on my face.

[00:37:29] He looked at me, smiled awkwardly, and kept walking without giving me a second look. He took out his phone and looked like he was texting while walking away. I instantly got a text from him saying, I'll meet you back at the apartment. I thought, what?

[00:37:46] Why can't he just walk towards me? Granted, his apartment complex was just minutes from the station, but I had driven there. I was hoping that he'd have no choice but to invite me over to his place for once to

[00:37:58] meet his mom while he showered and changed or something. Instead, he sent me that weird text. I was feeling like an idiot. When I arrived at the apartment, he saw on the Find app I was home, so he called and insulted me.

[00:38:16] He told me, why would you do that? Someone from his college could have seen, and that he doesn't like having to share details of his life with anyone from his school. I asked, why? Are you embarrassed by me or something?

[00:38:29] He yelled, I just think it's unfair for you to blindside me. What? Did you think I was going to invite you to my place unannounced? No, that's rude and you should know better. I was mortified. I felt like I had done a horrible thing, and I apologized.

[00:38:46] After that, our no sex, no dates, no nothing except an internal Netflix and chill buddy without the chill for 5 months, and we kept fighting a lot and making up over the phone every time. I was honestly creeped out by him, and I figured out why.

[00:39:04] But shit hit the fan during the 6 months of us dating when I decided to go out with my roommates and their friends, and this is where things went from depressing to aggressive. He as usual didn't want to come with us, but told me to share my phone's location

[00:39:21] with him and to call him whenever I was ready to head back home. We went to a party downtown. After the party, my roommate and his friends, who all worked as security at the nearby expensive

[00:39:32] retail store, decided to walk to the store, unlock the back door, and hang out in the basement. They were my ride back home, so I had no other choice but to go, plus it was just a group

[00:39:44] of couples and I was the only single person, so I wasn't that worried. There was no phone reception in the basement, and we were laughing and being goofballs for an hour and a half.

[00:39:56] When we finally left the basement and my phone reception came back, my phone was flooded with numerous calls, voicemails, and text messages from Rowan. From slightly concerned texts like, Okay, where are you babe? Are you safe? Call me. To, Where the fuck are you? Did something happen?

[00:40:14] Are you cheating on me or something? And finally, I should have known I couldn't trust you. Why the fuck aren't you answering me? Do I have to drive there? Are you even where you said you would be?

[00:40:29] When I got to my apartment, I immediately called him in a panic. He was livid. It was like talking to a different person. He used to speak to me so sweetly, and now he sounded so spiteful and mean.

[00:40:42] He didn't believe my story and said that he wasn't that stupid. He said I could have left the basement at any time and given him a call or text. I then got furious back saying,

[00:40:53] Well, this wouldn't have happened if you would have come with me, but I feel like you're embarrassed to even be seen with me in public so maybe you're the one with things to hide. Me saying that felt great, but it only made things worse.

[00:41:06] He asked why he needed to be seen with me. To prove something to my stupid friends who were all morons and degenerates? I explained for hours the same story until he finally seemed convinced to believe me, but for what? I was emotionally drained.

[00:41:23] I felt like I was having a relationship with somebody that had been made up in my head. I think the reason I was okay with him treating me like that was that deep down, I didn't even want to be seen with him either.

[00:41:38] He was awful, a complete slob and acted like I was the one who wasn't good enough. To the point that if I were to talk about having children together, he would tell me

[00:41:48] that if he had to choose between my life or the baby's that he would keep the baby over mine 100% because that's what I was meant to do. After that, I started asking him questions about his past relationships to see who on

[00:42:03] earth dated this monster and what I had gotten myself into. He began saying horrible things about an ex that cheated on him and how he ruined her because her family was from a strict religion. They would have killed her if they knew she was impure, he said.

[00:42:21] It brought him pleasure and closure, revealing his ex-girlfriend's private deeds with him to her parents as vengeance. Then I asked about his friends and he talked about how they would help him hide a body if he asked them to.

[00:42:38] After hearing that story, I wrote an email to myself with his number, information, name, address and everything that I knew about him in case I went missing so the cops would have a clue as to my disappearance.

[00:42:49] I even told Rowan this once thinking that he would laugh but he got so mad that I did that and forced me to delete it. Thank god for the deleted folder though.

[00:43:00] Thinking back now I have no idea why my alarm bells weren't screaming at me to cut him off. Still, I was ignoring my gut because being alone to me was much worse than being poorly accompanied. That's when I started asking questions about his family.

[00:43:16] He was always so standoffish and private. Anyway after 6 months with this guy, my mom out of a sheer miracle told me that she was going to visit me with my aunt and uncle. She knew I was in a relationship with a European guy.

[00:43:32] Still, I never gave her details since my mom never approved of me dating even past childhood so I spared her the details of what was going on. When they all visited me per usual, Rowan wanted nothing to do with my family's visit

[00:43:47] and didn't even make an effort to meet us for dinner, even when invited multiple times. So realizing I had family surrounding me, I finally felt the support that I needed to cut this monster out.

[00:44:00] Realizing how happy I was with my family and going out into the city doing everyday things was what I loved doing. I wanted to share that with someone, or even just be by myself.

[00:44:12] That short time with my mom who raised my sister and I primarily by herself made me think about how much I was putting myself in danger because of my fear of being alone.

[00:44:23] I decided right then and there, after having dinner with my family to call Rowan and break up with him. I did. He called me a coward, he called me stupid, he said that there wouldn't be anyone else

[00:44:35] in the world who would put up with me and my crazy, stupid self. At first, I did believe him. And after breaking up with him, I'm not going to lie, I wanted to get back together with him out of fear. But thank God, he ended up blocking me.

[00:44:51] So after insulting me that night, I went to therapy. I worked hard on my abandonment issues. I guess I'm sharing this story for anyone out there who's ever used a relationship as a confidence booster or to feel happy or accompanied.

[00:45:05] I'm now 30 years old, and to this very day I can still remember Rowan's dead stare, his creepy touch, and the awful emotional abuse. But it doesn't affect me anymore. I learned to speak up, become happy in my own company, and discover my own self-worth.

[00:45:22] That gave me the confidence to make better lifelong friends and do things that I love with awareness. Plus, I met and married the man of my dreams who loves me unconditionally. So Rowan, wherever you are, I hope you become a hell of a criminal attorney, and not somebody's

[00:45:39] manipulative boyfriend. Don't forget to stick around after the music for your extended Patreon version of this week's episode with zero ads, and if you want to get access, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today.

[00:46:08] Don't forget about our live stream episode. That's October 27th, a Thursday night before Halloween. We're starting at 7pm Pacific time at twitch.tv forward slash cryptic county. Remember you can always find the links in the show notes. Thanks for listening.

[00:46:23] This week you have heard subway stalker by Melanie. The dog kept following me by Hester. Creepy cab driver by Jennifer. And finally, nightmare boyfriend by a listener that asked to remain anonymous. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission

[00:46:41] of their respective authors. Let's not meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. As always, if you have a story to share, send it to let's not meet stories at gmail.com.

[00:46:53] And don't forget to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts, odd trails, my true paranormal podcast and the old time radio cast. You can find them at cryptic county podcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:47:05] I'll see y'all next week for a brand new episode of let's not meet. Stay safe. I'm a 19 year old female. I've always thought about how lucky I was.