A guy I was seeing invited me to the movies. I went to buy candy while he got the tickets. The girl behind the counter gave me a tub of popcorn instead of the candy I ordered. I was confused, but she only whispered careful. As we walked in, I put my hand inside the tub and turned pale. She had placed a folded note under the popcorn.

The note was written in pen on a receipt. It said he had been there the week before with another woman, that he had used the same line about a first date, and that the woman had left crying after he took her phone in the lobby. The girl had written her name and a number at the bottom and underlined the word careful twice. I folded the note into my sleeve and sat down.

He asked why I was quiet. I said the popcorn was fine. Halfway through the previews I told him I needed the restroom. I walked past the counter, showed the girl the note, and asked if she had seen him do it more than once. She nodded and said the other woman had come back the next day looking for her phone. I thanked her and went outside instead of back to the seat.

I texted him from the parking lot that I was leaving and that he should not follow. He called twice. I did not answer. The note is still in my glove box. The girl never asked for anything. She only put the warning where my hand would find it before the lights went down, and that was enough.