Observing…

I’ve mentioned several times that my characters are not based on any real people or real events, although I do use observation, actual things I really have seen, changing everything about whatever it is that inspires me. I also mentioned an idea I have for a story which is just that, an idea, although I have written a few paragraphs, trying out various things… and my idea is of a person who observes, but the observing becomes watching, and the watching becomes a harmless fascination, which progresses to something darker and more serious. I did originally think that the stalker character might be a woman and the object of her interest a man, but supposing they were both women?

I wrote a true story a couple of weeks ago about someone I know very well who has – at the moment! – a harmless fascination with someone… here is something else which she laughed and told me about:

She had to buy a card, a get well card for someone she wasn’t  close to but who was very ill; she went into the card shop and was looking for just the right one, with the sort of design which was interesting  but neutral, with no message other than hopes for a full recovery… not as easy as might be imagined.
She became aware of a woman a little way down the stand, looking at diaries and notebooks, and he  was with her, showing her what they had in stock. The woman wanted a leather-bound journal, but there were none, and nothing in the store quite fitted what she wanted. Although the woman stood between her and him, she was able to surreptitiously look at him; he looked neater than last time she’d seen him, his beard trimmed and short. As usual he was wearing a black shirt with the store logo, black jeans, and black Nike trainers. They moved away, the woman going to look at something else, and he returning to whatever he was doing behind the counter.
She found a card, just something simple but pleasing, something neutral and she moved round the corner of the stand to look at the books. She became aware that from where she was standing she could look through an empty rack which had held calendars and see him. She felt foolish and moved further down the store.
Deciding it was time to go, she went to the counter, her money in her hand ready to pay – last time he had served she got so flustered she had walked away without her purchases and he’d had to call after her. There was no-one behind the counter, the other assistant was arranging something in the shop window… suddenly he arrived from wherever he had been and she managed to converse quite normally. There was some problem with the till and while he was peering at it, she was able to look at him…

This is a perfectly innocent episode, but when I come to write about the progression from observer to watcher to stalker, my character will be much more focussed on her ‘target’, will notice every last thing about him – or her, the shape of fingernails, the hairs on the arm, the perfume she wears…