Wait for them to leave.

Looking out the front doors, Jen felt certain that this would be a bad choice. She’d been through the mall enough over the years to know that there would be some decent hiding places- they had several islands in the center of hallways with fake trees and bushes for decoration- but the hiding spots were sparse and set far apart. In many cases she could be stuck hiding behind a trash can, visible from three other sides. She grudgingly decided she would wait for the store clerk to leave.

Staying crouched down, Jen moved along the aisle, away from the side closest to the stock room entrance. She made sure she wasn’t visible from the glass doors in case anyone walked by and settled in to wait.

Several moments later, after hearing additional shuffling and thumping from the stock room, she eventually heard a female voice muttering followed by footsteps. Jen braced herself to move and tried to track the noise as best she could.

Immediately Jen realized the woman had left the back room and was coming towards her position. Gingerly stepping out from between the two shelving units, she moved into a position where she could creep over to the next aisle just before the employee came into view. She glanced to her right, knowing she was visible through the front doors of the shop, but she had to chance it.

She watched carefully and the second she saw the top of the clerk’s head start to crest over the shelving unit, Jen silently stepped to her left and into the next aisle over. Only good thing about having to do this barefoot, Jen thought, much easier to stay quiet.

The lady walked to the end of the store, near the entrance and started making noise again.

“Beth never remembers to empty this damn trash can,” the woman said to herself. “Not like it’s small.”

A rustling noise followed. Jen did her best to stay patient, hoping that this was the last shore the employee had to tend to before she left. After a few moments Jen heard footsteps again and she moved back out of the aisle once more. As she started to see the employee walk into view Jen stepped right and slipped back into the aisle she had first landed in. The clerk proceeded to move back to the store room.

Jen felt like she’d been waiting at least ten minutes, listening to the woman working away in the store room. She stayed vigilant in listening to her, refusing to get caught off guard if the clerk had to come back into the store for any reason. Her thighs were burning from the exertion of staying in a squatting position for so long. But finally she heard a door open and then close again.

She stayed in position for another moment or two, her ears straining to pick up any noise that might indicate the clerk was still in the back room. Eventually she was satisfied with the likelihood of being alone and she began quietly stepping to the end of the aisle.

Jen peeked into the store room from around a corner and found it empty. She signed in relief and allowed herself to relax. After fully standing she walked into the store room and moved to the rear door. She pressed the crash bar slowly, cringing at it creating noise despite her caution, then began to ease the door open. She could barely see anything through the crack she made, but no sounds of people moving about or talking reached her ears. She pushed the door open further and poked her head through, seeing no one. Almost all of the cardboard boxes were now gone, but large bags of trash were propped against the wall across from the doors, presumably left for the late shift cleaning crew to collect and dispose of.

She exited the stock room and immediately began moving down the hallway, hoping to take advantage of having no one within earshot for as long as she could. She set into a half-jogging pace, working her way towards the exit at a tolerable speed while being mindful to avoid making any unnecessary noise. She followed the curve around the hall, occasionally slowing to listen for any signs of life before speeding back up.

After moving forward forty yards Jen saw the exit come into view as she rounded the curve. On her right were two doors leading to stores, followed by a hallway right before the exit. The hallway remained deserted, and Jen started running faster, her arms holding her breasts tight against her chest to avoid the bouncing throwing her pace off. She passed the two doors and **** herself to slow down as she approached the hallway.

She paused at the corner and immediately felt her nerves rattle when she heard voices. They seemed distant but she couldn’t tell if they were coming towards her or not. Jen risked a glance past the wall and saw the hallway was empty. Realizing it must lead to another service corridor running down the opposite side of the mall, she hoped no employees were straggling around on that end. If they were, she could only pray they weren’t coming towards her.

Jen passed the corridor quickly and moved up to the exit. Like she’d done back in the cosmetics store she pushed the door open and listened. She heard cars in the distance, likely not on the mall grounds but the surrounding streets. Hearing the voices echoing through the hall behind her, Jen’s patience dissolved and she quickly pushed the door the rest of the way open, took two fast, long strides to the bushes on her right and ducked down behind them. She didn’t see anyone walking about who might have seen her quick dash to cover.

Immediately ahead a car started its engine and began heading towards her. Jen recognized it was Eve’s car and she silently pleaded for her tormentor to step on the gas and hurry over. The car continued moving at its pace, a speed appropriate for driving through a parking lot, and eventually slid up next to the curb. After a short glance left and right, Jen left the bushes and sprinted to the car, yanking the door open and practically collapsing into the seat.

“Jeez, you got a little dirty in there,” Eve said while pulling away from a curb. “You hide in a trash can or something?”

“Something like that,” Jen said, grabbing her clothes out of the back seat and dropping them on her lap before searching for her bra.

“Well hopefully whatever you did worked and no one saw you.”

“No one saw.”

Eve gave a short little laugh and turned towards the mall exit. “See? I knew you could do it without getting caught.”

Jen ignored the comment and began getting dressed, only wanting to go home and not discuss this day any further.