As I was walking into the Chanel store at the plaza, I noticed a man walking ten steps behind me.

”Huh, he was at the fountain last I saw him, looking for fallen coins.” I thought.

Thinking nothing of it, I walked into the store and was greeted by the staff.

I walked to the shelf that had my new favorite hot pink handbag, which would match perfectly with my wallet.

As I was inspecting the bag, I asked the staff member by the door if they had any accessories. She walked to the back, and the man from before walked into the store.

Getting a better look at him now, he was very disheveled, his hair was messy brown that looked like it hadn’t been combed in days. His clothes were stained with an assortment of colors. His black shoes had holes that exposed his white socks on both sides.

“Disgusting”, I thought, “how could someone fall so far?”

Walking away from the man, I headed towards the cash register to purchase my bag. But he was walking behind me. I increased my pace to get away faster, but he was still in pursuit of my direction.

Unsure of what he might do, I placed my hand in my bag, ready to use my mace. “Ma’am, would you still like to see our accessories?” The employee had come from behind the store just in time.

Seeing my discomfort with the man in my path, she asked, “ Is everything alright here? Sir, I think that you should leave.” As the employee gestured towards the door, and I was gaining a sense of relief, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out something.

Moving around the employee to see, the man said,” I-I think that this is your wallet, ma’am?” Holding a hot pink wallet. I quickly shuffled my hand around my purse and realized my wallet wasn’t there.

I snatched my wallet from the man, checked for any missing money, and as I was going to say thank you, he was already walking away. I took a deep breath of relief as he walked away and headed outside. " I think he was a veteran,” says the employee, “What?” I said. The employee now facing me repeated, “ I think that he was a veteran. The last time I saw him, he wore a U.S. Navy cap. Don’t even know his name, huh.” Well, would you like to purchase the purse now, ma'am? It goes great with your wallet, I see.”

“Um, not today, but thank you.”