In and out. That’s all it was supposed to be. A quick trip into the GAP to buy a top to go with a new pair of pants for work. Easy. Not to mention, it was Saturday at noon and the last place on earth I wanted to be was in one of the busiest malls in greater L.A. I was supposed to be going out on a blind date that night with a guy my co-worker, Jade, was setting me up with. I hadn’t really wanted to go, but she’d been begging for me to meet him and it was a free meal. It was shallow, but I decided to go for the free meal and meet this mystery man.

Of course the mall was bustling with people as usual. And why I’d waited til Saturday to do this errand, I’ll never know. I should have gone Wednesday when I got off work early. Then I would’ve been safe at home, watching some stupid movie on Hallmark or Lifetime instead of navigating my way through a maze of people.

When I entered the GAP, I passed the sales associate who greeted me and I barely acknowledged her. I went straight over to the rack with the tops I’d seen online and grabbed my size. I didn’t even need to try it on. I started to think I’d grab something from the food court for lunch since I was already here. Plus, with traffic, I’d get home in time to start getting ready for the date as it was.

I’d just gotten to the cashier when it happened. A gunshot was fired. I looked over and saw a man clad all in black wearing a white mask with eyes cut out and no mouth. Was this a joke? I couldn’t breathe and was having trouble swallowing. I glanced at the cashier who was frozen and ducked down behind the counter. People were screaming and all I could do was stare at the figure in the doorway. He fired again to his left and I saw someone fall down. It was then that I got down on my hands and knees and crawled over to the rack where I’d just retrieved my precious shirt.

“This isn’t safe,” said a male voice behind me.

“Well, there’s no way I’m moving!” I whispered back.

The person speaking grabbed my arm and pulled me until we were both leaning against the jeans display, out of sight of the maniac in the front of the store. I looked over and immediately recognized him as JC Chasez, but it could have been anyone and at that moment I could have cared less.  We were both frozen against the jeans display. Nothing could be heard but screaming and panicked gasps around us.

“Nobody in here is leaving!” The man was now in the middle of the store. I could only see the black army boots he was wearing. They were visible from underneath the displays I was looking through. “You, go lock the door.” I couldn’t see who he was yelling at but I assumed it was an employee.

“Do you think someone’s called the police?” I heard myself asking JC.

“I don’t know. My phone is in my back pocket. I’m afraid to move.” JC’s lips were barely moving as he spoke.

“Everyone get in the middle of the floor!” His footsteps drew closer to us. I could hear chains rattling on him when he moved. “Now!”

Immediately, hoards of people emerged from the dressing rooms, behind the cashier counter, and, like me and JC, from behind displays. There had to have been at least sixty people, including children.

The gunman moved racks and displays out of the way of the floor. He yelled at us to sit tightly together in a group and if we moved or used our cell phones, he would shoot us dead. I could see a pair of legs protruding from the front of the store and a puddle of blood around them. It must have been the woman who was shot just moments ago.

JC and I were settled tightly next to each other. Next to me sat a little girl and her mother. They were both crying and the mother was whispering some sort of prayer in another language that I couldn’t make out.

“And all I needed was a damn pair of jeans.” JC muttered to himself.

“Yeah. I came for a stupid shirt.” I told him. I felt myself shaking and tried to calm myself down. This was not at all how I’d envisioned today.

“Okay, we’re all going to listen and nobody else gets killed. Where is Cole?” He looked at all the employees who were lined up with us. “I said where is the Cole?!”

“Here. I’m right here.” A guy in jeans and a GAP polo stood to his feet.

“You wanna tell me why you decided to fire me?” The gunman’s voice was muffled behind the mask. The poor manager looked stricken helpless and I couldn’t blame him. This was why we were being held hostage? Because this guy got fired?

“I-I’m sorry, Luke. Look, we can talk about this. You don’t have to do this.” Cole shoved hands into his pockets and nervously rocked on the ball of his feet.

“We’re not talking!” The gunman screamed. “Mother fucker. You think it’s fun to just let people go like that? I got a kid at home who don’t have food because you fucking fired me!”

“Luke, I can assure y-you that-“

“Shut up!” A shot was fired, barely missing Cole’s right temple.

“Please, Luke! We’ll go talk and-“ Cole was crying now and I didn’t blame him. I was on the verge of tears, too. But I refused to let this jackass see me cry.

“Shut. Up.” He fired again and this time it hit Cole’s left shoulder. He dropped to his knees and screamed in agony. Blood spilled from his shirt and he gasped as he held his shoulder.

I sucked in a breath and huddled even closer to JC. I didn’t care who he was, he was comforting for some reason, even if I didn’t know him.

“Now, we’re all gonna get to know each other a little better.” The guy began to walk around us slowly, the gun still firmly in his hand. He stopped in front of me and JC and I sufficed a gasp by biting down on my lip. I could feel myself still shaking against JC. The little girl next to me was sobbing.

“You four,” he said between gritted teeth and knelt down to us. “Go to the dressing room. Now!”

JC was the first to stand and reached for my hand. I waited on the mother and her daughter. The gunman followed behind us as we walked towards the dressing rooms. He shoved us into the handicap closet in the very back and came in with us.

“You stay in here. Maybe I’ll be nice.” He turned and then looked back at us, then held his gun and pointed it right at the mother, who didn’t hold back a loud sob. “But then maybe I won’t.” I shut my eyes waiting for the worst but when I opened them, he’d left the room. I could hear his boots and his chains as he stomped back into the store.

I let out a shaky sigh and slid down onto the floor. JC paced back and forth in the tiny space. The mother sat on the small bench in the dressing room, holding her daughter in her lap.

“I can’t believe this.” I whispered.

“My husband is waiting for us at the food court.” The mother looked straight ahead, not addressing anyone.

JC pulled out his phone. “Of course no service back here. Dammit.” He covered his mouth and looked at the mother and child. “Sorry.”

We heard the guy back in the store screaming orders once more and two more gunshots were fired. I jumped both times and buried my face in my hands.

JC slid down across from me and splayed his legs out in the middle of the floor. I looked at him with an irritated glare. There was barely any room as it was and he was going to put his legs out in the middle of the floor?

“Sorry. Geez.” JC muttered and pulled his legs up to his chin.

We were all quiet except for the little girl who was crying into her mother’s chest. More orders were being screamed in the store. I could hear him yelling at the sales associates to open the cash register and give him everything in it. Another person was trying to dissuade him from going on, but this guy was on a rampage.

In a few minutes, more people were brought back to the dressing rooms. I couldn’t tell how many, but within five minutes, all twelve dressing closets were full.

“Why the hell are we even back here?” I heard one girl griping. “What purpose is he serving?”

“Shut up!” Someone in the same stall hissed at her. “At least we’re not in the middle of the store any more!”

I tried to peer in between the slits of the dressing room door but saw no commotion. Everyone was trapped now inside of a stall.

“I bet he’s got all of the customers back here.” JC whispered and turned his head to the side, then looked back at us. “He’s holding the employees in the store.”

“I have to get a hold of my husband. He is going to be so worried!” The woman began to cry softly. I could almost detect a hint of a Eastern European accent but wasn’t sure.

“I’m sure he knows by now. The whole mall has to know.” I was trying to make it better in my head. If the whole mall knew, surely the police were here by now. I pictured them standing in front of the glass partition separating the store from the rest of the mall. I tried not to think about the other hostage crises where people didn’t make it out and the gunman killed everyone.

“You got what you wanted, Luke. We gave you money. We’ve given you everything we can possibly give you. Do the right thing. For your kid at least.” It was an employee speaking loudly in the store.

“Nah, this is fun.” Luke sneered and another gunshot was fired. Someone screamed and started wailing. “See what happens when you talk? Anyone else got something to say?”

It was quiet after that. People around us in the other dressing room stalls murmured to each other inaudibly. It felt as though all of it had just happened but when I looked down at my watch, we’d been back here for forty-five minutes.
“I’m JC by the way.” JC introduced himself. “I don’t know if we should be making nice to each other or not, but I figure since we’re all stuck in here and we don’t know when we’re getting out, it might be nice to know each other’s names.”

“I’m Svetlana.” The mother spoke softly and then looked down at her daughter. “This is Katja.”

“I’m Sloane.” I heard myself saying.

“Nice to meet you.” JC nodded at Svetlana and me.

Quiet once more.

“I’m hungry, Mommy.” Katja whined and rubbed her eyes.

“I know, baby.” Svetlana rummaged through her bag and found a granola bar. “Here.”

I noted that was such a ‘mom thing’ to do. I certainly hadn’t brought any snacks along. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have grabbed the box of Wheat Thins I’d been munching on that morning.

No. If I ‘d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have come.

JC was looking at the granola bar as if it were a steak. He licked his lips and made a face. “I’d give anything for a bottle of water.” He turned to me. “I guess you don’t have anything in that bag?”

I shrugged apologetically. “Gum. Want some?”

“Sure.” JC replied and held out his hand while I placed a piece of Trident in his palm.

I should have felt more scared and freaked out than I did right then. But for some reason, I felt safe. No matter that a crazed man was only a few steps away from us and held a gun in his hand. He hadn’t bothered us since he’d stowed us away in here.

More conversation was going on now in the main part of the store. Luke was yelling at the remaining employees. They would counter back and try to get him to calm down. Some were met with silence, others with a gunshot. I couldn’t count now how many times I’d heard the gun go off. Every time it did, I jumped. People around us in the other stalls either screamed or gasped.

Then the lights went out.

Katja screamed and Svetlana tried to quiet her. A girl in the dressing room next to us was having a full on panic attack and her friend was trying to calm her down. Suddenly, Luke’s voice was heard over the intercom.

“Nobody better make a peep.” His voice was shaking and he was breathing heavily. “Nobody better get out phones or try to call anyone. Nobody’s coming for you. We’re all gonna just sit like this until I decide whether or not you should leave.”

I could hear the chains on his jeans rattling and knew he was now in the vicinity of the dressing room. His boots shuffled and then stopped.

He was sitting in the middle of the floor of the dressing room hallway.

 I suddenly became quite aware of how hard I was breathing. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. I felt lightheaded and my hands were clammy with sweat.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. I kept telling myself this over and over again.

It felt as though everything was spinning. And since I was in the pitch black dark, I didn’t know how that was possible. I braced myself against the wall and rested the back of my head.

“Um, Sloane? Sloane!”

I could hear voices in the background. My eyes were still closed but there was a lot of movement.

When I opened my eyes, my head was in JC’s lap and my feet were propped up on the wall. “Shit!” I gasped and immediately tried to sit up.

“Whoa, there.” JC placed his hands on my back and helped me sit. “You passed out there for a minute. Luckily, Svetlana knew what to do.”

“I used to work in a medical facility in Ukraine. When someone faints, you have to get blood flow going. You’re ok. Only out for a few minutes.” Svetlana had now moved onto the floor with JC and me.

“You feel ok sitting up?” JC’s voice came from behind me.

“Yeah.” It was all I could say. I’d been held hostage and fainted in JC Chasez’s lap all in one day. This should make an interesting story Monday at work.

If we saw Monday.

I shook the thought from my brain. Yes, we would see Monday. We were going to get out of this.

“Sit against the wall. Hold yourself up.” Svetlana instructed and I did as I was told. There wasn’t much of a choice in where to sit anyway.

“Here.” I could hear JC moving next to me. “Lean against me.” I settled next to him and tried to relax as much as I could. I could still feel my heart pounding hard against my chest and knew I had to calm myself down.

I realized then that I had to go to the bathroom. I tried not to think about it and instead tried to fixate on how the hell we were going all get out of this. I also felt bad for my blind date. Because really, that wasn’t going to happen unless suddenly this Luke guy had a change of heart and let us all go.

“Why aren’t the police here?” JC mumbled. “We’ve been stuck in here for hours.”

My stomach rumbled and I held it tightly as though that were going to silence it.

“Maybe they’re negotiating outside or something,” I said, thinking about all of those episodes of Law and Order SVU I’d seen.

“Like Olivia Benson?” I could tell JC was ribbing at me.

“Shut up. It’s a good show.”

“I’m not denying that. I mean, I don’t watch it much but I’d agree it’s a good show.”

Silence again. I started to think about all of my friends from junior high who had pictures of JC Chasez hanging up in their lockers. And here I was trapped in tight quarters with him. Granted, we were both being held hostage and it wasn’t the most pleasurable experience. But hey, I could brag if I ever ran into them again.

I met JC Chasez when we were trapped together in a hostage situation at the mall…we talked about Law and Order SVU. He thinks it’s a good show.

I knew I was slowly going crazy because of the conversation I was now having with myself.

“Mommy, I have to go potty.” Katja whispered.

“I’m sorry, darling, you must hold it.” Svetlana told her. I couldn’t see them but I knew Katja had been on her mother’s lap since we’d been forced back here.

Suddenly, the lights were flipped back on. We’d been in the dark so long that it hurt to focus. I rubbed my eyes and looked down at my watch. It was only 2:00 and here I’d thought it was late at night.

“Get up and back into the store!” Luke yelled at us. “The police wanna see you all.”

“They’re here?” Someone asked and I winced, wondering if Luke was going to shoot them.

“Just get out of the dressing rooms and back in the store!” His response came in a shrill tone and we all obeyed. JC held out his hand and I smiled grimly upon taking it as he helped me and then Svetlana and Katja to our feet.

We filed out of the dressing room and followed the crowd of people back into the store. We all looked the same. Scared. Tired. Bewildered.

The main floor of the store was now a burial ground for at least five employees. Instinctively, I buried my face into JC’s arm and couldn’t look at them. We were then ordered to sit where we’d sat before we had gone into the dressing rooms. I looked out into the mall and saw a mass of people looking in on us and, to my relief, about ten cops.

The phone rang in the store and Luke answered it. “I told you what I want. Fine, I give you a few and then you give me what I want.” He looked around and cocked his head, nodding at Svetlana, Katja, and two teenagers behind them. “Go outside. Do it now before I change my mind!”

“Good luck.” Svetlana whispered to me and JC and I huddled even closer to him when they left. We hadn’t talked much to them but in the midst of the chaotic experience we’d just had together, I felt a bond with them.

Soon, in small groups of two and three, Luke let people run outside.

If I was allowed to be grateful for anything right then, it was that I wasn’t facing any of the dead bodies. I was looking straight ahead at the wall of jeans. Luke would grab people and force them towards the door but I didn’t move. Just sat next to JC and stared straight ahead.

“It’s gonna be ok,” JC said in a soft voice. “Look, he’s only got ten people left. We’ll probably be next.”

“Ok, I gave you people. Now you gonna give me something back?” Luke was on the phone again negotiating. He slammed the phone down and suddenly was standing in front of me. “Get up.”

I gulped and looked up at him.

“I said get up!” He reached down and grabbed my arm.

He pulled me tightly against him and faced the crowd of people and police gathered in front of the store. The next thing I felt was the gun pointed at my temple. I had held in tears for as long as I could but they flowed freely now and I wasn’t holding any sort of emotion back.

“I told you all to cooperate!” He yelled through the glass partition.

A policeman held up a megaphone. “Don’t do it, Luke. Put the gun down and let her go.”

His grip grew tighter and I let out a sob. My heart was pounding against my chest and I was choking against the grip he had around my neck.

“Hey!” I heard JC’s voice calling out behind me. “He said let her go!”

I winced as Luke hurled us both around and the gun was pointed at JC. “Shut up.”

With that, he fired but JC somehow had moved out of the way just in time. I let out a gasp as Luke fired again and JC’s leg was hit. His eyes grew wide and he looked down at his leg and then back at me and Luke.

“Fuck!” JC groaned and limped to the ground.

“You want more? I got more.” Luke once more aimed at JC, who looked at him almost helpless.

“Let her go, okay, man?” JC was almost moaning as he pleaded with him. “Just let her go.” He closed his eyes and gripped his leg tightly, which was now covered in blood.

There was a loud noise behind me and in a minute Luke’s grip loosened on me and he fell on the ground. The cops had fired at him and hit the back of his shoulder. Someone else had kicked in the glass door and there were two cops pulling Luke up and securing handcuffs on his wrists.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” One of the cops put his arm around me and began to lead me out of the store.

“I’m fine, but-“ I stopped and looked back at JC who was being looked at by an EMT. “I need to check on him.” I don’t know why I felt so compelled but JC had basically saved my life by distracting Luke. I stumbled away from the cop and over to JC, who was laid out on the ground, his leg in the lap of the EMT.

“Sir, we’re going to get you on a gurney. You should be fine. The bullet is lodged, but it didn’t go that deep and it shouldn’t be hard to get it out.” The EMT was saying all of it but JC’s eyes were almost glazed over.

“Hey.” I knelt down beside him. “I didn’t want to leave until I knew you were okay. You kind of saved my life, you know.”

JC tried to smile but I could tell the pain was too much. “Yeah, well, you know. Singer by night, hero by day. Or something like that.”

I chuckled. “Thanks again.” I didn’t know what else to say. I’d just spent the last two and a half hours with this guy and I felt like I couldn’t leave. But what else was I supposed to do? We had no ties to each other. Just two random people who happened to be in the same store that got held up by an idiot with a gun.

“Ok, sir, they’re about to come in with the gurney. We’ll have you out and about in no time.” The EMT smiled at both JC and me and then stood to his feet.

“Good luck, then.” I finally spoke again and stood up.

“Yeah. Um, thanks.” JC nodded and looked as if he were going to say something else, but refrained.

“See ya.” I turned around and went to walk out of the store. I don’t know what else I was expecting but I felt let down. I also felt an array of other emotions and I knew I was probably still in shock.

“Hey.” He called out to me and I turned back to him.

“Um, this is probably the shock talking and the fact that I’m about to go have surgery to get a bullet out or whatever but you think we could have dinner sometime?” He was wincing in pain as he asked me and in the state of everything, it just seemed normal that the guy I’d been trapped with for two hours would ask me on a date.

In the midst of all the chaos, we exchanged numbers and I waited with him until the EMTs came back to wheel him outside to an awaiting ambulance.

Reporters ambushed me as I walked out into the mall. I answered their questions but managed to push them out of the way and immediately pulled out my phone to respond to the numerous missed calls and texts from my parents and friends. Then, I walked over to Svetlana and Katja and hugged them both. They’d seen me being held up by Luke and were worried but relieved when I assured them I was ok.

And I was ok physically. Emotionally, it was going to be a while.

That night, I canceled my date and instead spent the night at my parents’ and tried not to think about it.

The next day, I had just finished breakfast when my phone rang.

“Hey, it’s JC.”

I immediately smiled. “How are you?”

“Sore. You know, bullet surgery and all.”

I chuckled. “How’s your leg?”

“It’s bandaged up and it hurts but I’m going home later today.”

“I’m glad it’s not more serious.”

“Me, too.” He paused. “So, how about dinner next weekend?”

“Sounds good to me.” I was beaming like a child.

“Good, me too. We’ll go out on Saturday. Probably not to the mall, though.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, even if the joke was too soon. “Yeah, good idea.”

“Great, I’ll text you later this week about it.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know you’re ok.”

 

A month has passed since the whole ordeal. It made local and national news and for a while, it was all anyone wanted to talk to me about. It turned out Luke owed thousands of dollars to some big drug lord in Hollywood and had been fired the week before for failing a random drug test. He had been trying to negotiate a large sum of money with police in exchange for hostages. He’s in jail now and awaiting trial.

I haven’t been back to the mall since it all happened. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back. I started seeing a therapist because I was having night terrors for days on end and was losing sleep. It’s been quite helpful working through such a terrifying situation.

And as for JC? We’ve been dating since the week after it all happened.

I guess fate uses whatever it will to bring you together with someone you’re supposed to be with. Some people meet online, others meet through friends.

But I met my boyfriend on a random Saturday when we were both held hostage at The GAP.