Sneak by along the ground

After a few moments consideration, Jen ruled out going up the ladder. If the structure wasn’t strong enough to hold her, she’d be stuck standing on the ladder and hoping the manager didn’t notice her feet as he passed by. And if her was going to put the ladder away before he left…

Shaking her head, Jen decided it was mildly safer to take her chances going out the front of the store. Having nowhere to hide in the stock room left her feeling nervous, and it would only be a matter of time before the man got up from his chair.

She returned to the door leading to the main store and peered through it again. The manager remained seated, staring at the computer monitor, occasionally moving the mouse around or typing at the keyboard. The screen’s glow confirmed he was still wearing his ear buds.

Jen eased the door open wide enough for her to slip through. As she stepped through the gap she crouched low. From this angle the manager’s peripheral vision shouldn’t catch anything, and Jen stepped to the side, further behind him, so she could ease the door closed.

Lowering herself to the ground, Jen first moved to the counter on her hands and knees before laying down fully. Then she began the process of inching her way forward, the wooden base of the display cases tight against her right side. Pulling with her hands and pushing with her feet, she began creeping along.

Staring straight ahead, she was able to see out the front of the store. The large glass door had a crash bar in front, like most of the doors, allowing for a quick exit while keeping the door locked from the other side. She saw no one moving around beyond the exit, no janitors or security guards in view.

Occasionally the manager would start typing, the sudden change from silence to noise making her jump. Her heart was thudding in her chest now that she was right alongside him, separated by a few pieces of wood and glass. If he looked to his side he might not see anything, but if he stood up and looked… Jen **** herself to stop thinking about it and kept moving.

She started to feel a slight rug burn sensation along the front of her body as she kept sliding along. The carpet was starting to abrade the skin along her bare breasts, abdomen, hips and thighs. It wasn’t painful, but the distraction didn’t make help her frayed nerves.

After several minutes of slowly slithering forward, she reached the edge of the counter. Her first reaction was to peek upwards at the manager, but she knew from this angle he might notice her head cresting the wooden base of the display case.

She lay still for several moments as she debated whether she should move to the front of the counter. She wasn’t going to be able to move until the manager left his position and she felt he would probably go head to the stock room if he did. He was likely on his last tasks of the evening and would leave once he was done. Even if he went through the front of the store, he might just walk past her if she got out of the way. If she stayed here and the man decided to exit that way, he would certainly see her. Maybe even trip on her before doing so. She was going to have to chance getting to the front of the counter.

Returning to her creeping method, she began slowly creeping her way forward again. Her head passed the corner of the display case, followed by her shoulders. She paused for a moment, listening for any sign that the manager noticed anything, but she heard nothing but the occasional clacking of the keyboard. She started working her way to her right, trying to keep her hip firmly against the counter as she did so. The front of her body twisted along the counter. Chancing a quick look up she could see the shoulder of the manager, but his face was obscured by the monitor.

She slid herself another few inches ahead and was able to get her upper body flat against the base of the counter. Now as she moved her legs and feet started to creep away from the other side of the counter. Jen pulled herself slowly along, knowing that her feet would certainly come into the manager’s peripheral and avoiding any fast movements while praying to avoid drawing any attention.

Finally Jen shifted her legs straight behind her and pulled herself forward a few inches. Still hearing no sign of any reaction from the man she managed to slink to where she felt her whole body was out of sight, tight against the display case.

Now she had to settle in to wait. The occasional unannounced typing at the keyboard still startled her as she lay on the ground trembling with nervousness. As she lay on the ground she looked out the front of the store, seeing no signs of movement.

The manager hummed to himself in boredom and resumed typing. Through the large windows Jen saw a security guard walk by. Initially she felt her muscles tighten, worried that he might notice her; even though the store was dark some light from the mall’s main commons might be illuminating her body. But the guard continued by, staring straight ahead and never glancing towards the store.

Jen let out a quiet sigh of relief but immediately tensed again as the manager suddenly moved his chair back. Hearing him moving she could tell he was now standing up. He let out a light hum and Jen could imagine that he was stretching after sitting at a computer for so long. This was shortly followed by footsteps moving away from her.

He’s finally leaving, she thought.

A light swish reached her ears as the door to the stockroom swung open. A moment later is swung shut and Jen heard the latch catch. She listened carefully, hearing a few thumping sounds as the manager did something in the store room. Eventually she heard what sounded like another door open and close, and then silence.

Even though her patience was frayed Jen fought the urge to immediately get to her feet and bolt out the front of the store. She **** herself to hold still for another minute, making sure that the manager was gone. When she heard nothing she eventually started to stand up.

Moving to the exit, Jen peered through the glass. Looking to the left she could see down to the food court, a janitor at the far end who appeared to be working a floor buffer. She looked the other direction, the side of the mall Eve was expecting her to come out of, and saw no one. The center of the commons held occasional dark blue benches, trash cans and a few raised islands with fake plants. Directly across from her was a kiosk which sold phone accessories.

She looked back towards the janitor, watching him operate the floor buffer as he slowly stepped backwards. She felt she might be just visible from the corner of his eye if she moved now, and she tried to coerce herself into some measure of patience in the hopes that he would angle himself with his back to her.

A minute passed, Jen glancing towards the other side of the mall to make sure no one was coming from that direction. Eventually she saw the janitor side-step and turn himself slightly away from her. Immediately she pressed on the crash bar, heard the mechanisms working and the door opened.

The janitor wasn’t facing directly away from her and Jen wasn’t certain if his cleaning pattern would make him turn her way again or not. Though she wanted to gently close the shop’s door behind her she couldn’t stand being in a position of exposure. Once she stepped into the mall’s commons she immediately darted towards the kiosk. As she reached it she ducked down, out of the janitor’s possible line of vision if he looked over. The door swung close, a quiet click passing through the air. The floor buffer kept humming, and Jen was certain the janitor hadn’t heard anything.

Now to keep the kiosk between me and him, she thought.

Standing, Jen’s hands clamped tightly against her naked body, she began walking forward at a speedy pace. With no one in sight she let her feet make some noise with each step.

She reached a bench, hid behind it for a moment, then side-stepped around it and moved forward to a trash can. She ducked down and looked behind her. The kiosk still blocked her view of the janitor. Ahead of her was one of the decorative islands, and she made her way towards that.

Getting in between the fiberglass palm trees and plastic bushes, she hunkered back down and looked around once more. The janitor was still obscured by the kiosk but the whirring motor of his floor buffer still buzzed through the air without pause. Looking ahead of her, a security guard stepped into view from a hallway, a placard above advertising that the restrooms were that way. The guard looked bored, walking at a casual pace. He crossed to the opposite side of the mall and turned away from her.

Jen allowed the guard to gain some distance from her. She was torn between trying to sneak along behind him versus waiting until he was out of sight again. Despite feeling **** to get this over with, to put her clothes on again, she couldn’t throw caution to the wind.

Eventually the guard got several yards away and Jen felt safe exiting the plants. After a quick look around she carefully pushed one of the fake bushes aside and moved around it, doing her best to not make any noise. Stepping down from the island, she immediately set off in a light but fast tip-toe. She could see the exit from the mall up ahead now. She moved towards a trash can and ducked down again, watching the guard as he kept sauntering away.

She continued to follow him, occasionally moving as quietly but quickly as she could, at other times hiding behind something and letting him get further way from her. Her head kept moving around, making sure no one else was coming from behind.

As the end of the mall approached Jen saw the guard turn towards a service hallway. She quickly scampered forward and took cover behind one of the benches. She knew that hallway should lead her towards the exit Eve was keeping an eye on.

The last object between her and the mall exit was another trash can. Jen stood and moved towards it, never letting the guard out of sight. As she took to hiding once more she saw the guard enter the hallway. He reached for his duty belt as he approached a door in the side of the hallway, unclipping a keyring and selecting a key. As he opened the door Jen could barely peer inside, seeing several computer monitors. The security office. The guard moved inside and closed the door behind him.

With a brief look around, Jen slipped around the trash can and jogged for the hallway. Feeling emotionally exhausted, anxious to be dressed again, she barely paused at the corner to make sure the coast was clear before she was moving down the corridor. She kept her footsteps light as she passed by the security door, but allowed herself to move faster and louder as she got further away from it.

Reaching the end of the hall she stopped and poked her head into the service corridor. A faint noise reached her ears but she saw no one, only a few stacked trash bags and folded cardboard boxes propped against the walls. She turned right and moved the short distance to the exit, a large tan door with a silver bar across to open the latch.

Jen pressed the bar and created a two inch opening. She heard car motors far in the distance, but no sign of anyone nearby. Widening the gap, Jen poked her head through and looked around. Only a few cars remained in the lot, sporadic streetlamps illuminating asphalt and painted lines for parking spaces. She exited the door and immediately moved to the bushes on the left.

She had barely ducked behind them when a car started. She knew it was Eve without even looking. Headlights turned on and a sedan started slowly rolling towards her, the engine lightly revving as the car picked up a little speed.

The car swung slightly left before making a hard right, pulling up alongside the curb and slowing to a stop. Jen took one last look around before she left her last hiding spot, stepping across the sidewalk and yanking the door open before flopping into the passenger seat.

Eve was already cackling with laughter as Jen reached into the back seat for her clothing.

“Have fun?” she asked teasingly.

Jen said nothing, gathering her clothes and depositing them onto her lap. She quickly located her bra and started to put it on.

“Oh come on,” Eve said, still giggling, “I’m not moving the car until you tell me how it went.”

“You know how it went,” Jen answered, working the clasps behind her back, “humiliating.”

Eve laughed again as she stepped on the gas and pulled away from the curb. “So did anyone see you?”

“No,” Jen muttered, working into her t-shirt, “I don’t think so.”

“Well then I’d call that a success.”

Eve finally stopped teasing Jen and turned the car towards the mall exit.