An encounter with a stranger..

I regularly visit the park near my house for evening walk. I usually observe the people coming for walks as we cross paths. It's strange how a few familiar yet strange people becomes a part of our everyday lives. I was once stopped by a lady to be asked if there are any benefits of walking and what needs to be done to reduce weight. I returned home that day feeling accomplished because I felt people looked up to me for some advice or motivation. I will reveal a story now about another encounter with a stranger. Day 1: I am walking fast with my headphones like every other day. A guy stops me to ask same kind of question about benefits of walking. But this guy added compliments saying that he has been seeing me since he started walking here and that I seem to have lost a lot of weight. Compliments are always flattering, no matter who it comes from. I thanked him and told him to be consistent with exercise . As we kept talking ,this guy suddenly said "ok mam let's walk and talk". He started walking in my direction with me and we exchanged a few conversations about nearby gym and about wat forms of exercise is good. Much before completing the round when there was a blank space after a conversation, he quickly said bye and left. When I came home and told the story to my husband,he said winking " looks like we have some secret admirer". To be honest, I did not feel he was flirting. Day 2: I see the guy again but looks like he has started walking in the same direction in which I walk unlike before when he used to come opposite to me. I could see that he was walking slowly. As I started approaching him ,I was in confusion whether to acknowledge his presence or just walk past by. I thought I will just leave a comment as I pass by saying "you seem to be too slow today". Only later would I realise how a few words can invite serious trouble. Those were the only words I spoke to him that day. The rest that followed was a one sided conversation with him saying stories about his cholesterol,asking me about my food habits and me trying to race past him only to realise he is catching up. That day I continued the round with him because I thought I will get past him,after all why should I change my path when he is the intruder here. But I had to, because one line that he said about how I look ,raised a red flag and I had to take a step back. He said I look fine except for little stomach that I have. Clearly, I am not sure why I took the amount of time I took to understand that he was just flirting. That day I came home, guilt ridden. Guilty because I initiated the talk and I thought may be he took that as some positive sign from me. Let me tell you the reason why I didn't give him the benefit of doubt. Number one, I have seen him with his family, a wife and kid . I never thought married men try to hit on married women. My friend says thats the trend these days.Number two, since I am a regular person ,may be people just notice me and its just a casual talk, like the one I had with the lady before.Number three, I am mostly like a train which stops only long after its brake is pressed. I take my time to realize what just happened. Day 3: I couldn't believe that a place like the park which I considered my safe haven , suddenly turned out to be a place where I couldn't feel the same anymore. Actually its not day 3 , I skipped walk for a few days owing to some other reason. And I was back ,fully prepared to faceoff this guy. I suddenly see the guy dressed in formals wearing a red shirt. He is waving at me with a smile. The fact is, I really couldn't recognize him, though I did seconds later only to give him a cold face. I said "oh I didn't recognize" and walked fast ,past him. I could see the utter confusion in his face. He kept waiting at that side of the park while I kept avoiding that area. He understood that and left. I came home that day feeling happy and relieved. Day 4 : The guy is in the park walking in the same direction as mine. I took the opposite direction. I tried my best to avoid him because whenever I walked past him ,I felt I was being scanned through his eyes. The reality was ,the more I tried to avoid him the more he came in my way. I would like to believe he was deliberately doing this, because it is a big park and there is a very good chance for people to miss another, if they take different paths. Anyway, the cat and mouse chase ended when it was time for me to get home. That day at home I kept thinking how to solve this ,as I felt I cannot keep doing this every day. Day 5:I changed my time. I started going for walk a bit early. And while I had some more time left, I saw him entering the park. As he saw me, he was moving to take opposite direction. I kept walking and I tilted my head a bit to see if there is anybody and I saw him a few steps behind me. I got irritated,took a U turn and exited the park. I never saw him after that day. I changed my timing and return home early. With the grumpy face I carry ,encounter with strangers doesn't happen with me much. I remember once a guy being friendly with me during my flight to Texas. But that was some harmless conversations about weather in Texas and where I belong in India. It is difficult to gauge people's intentions and may be we all learn a bit with each experience and then there are some that helps us realise we were wrong all along. I didn't want to write about this and give this guy so much importance but I believe the lesson I learned is important and hence I must. The lesson is however friendly or flattering strangers might seem, give them the benefit of doubt first and your confidence later.