While you’re walking down a street someone tries to steal from a girl, in a rush of adrenaline you jump in and save her. After that, however, you spot a photo of you in the girl’s wallet.

“Help me!” I heard a girl cry. “Help”, she shrieked as her desperate eyes met mine. I wasn’t one for being the man of the moment; a quiet man, a loner almost, trouble wasn’t my thing. My motto in life was to work hard and not make enemies. But today was different. Something made me rush to her aid. I was on my way to a black tie event to celebrate my promotion as Chief Accounting Officer, so, was mindful that I could not damage my tuxedo. “Leave her alone”, I said to the man trying to grab her wallet while trying to pull it from him, though his grip was tight. In a rush of dopamine, I shoved him away, “I said, leave her alone!”. He gave up and I had her wallet. It was a rectangular wallet sealed with what looked like pure silver fastener. “Thank you, thank you so much”, the girl said, relieved, putting her hand out for me to pass the wallet to her. She was beautiful; her long, blonde hair blew gently in the summer breeze, her big brown eyes stared at me in full, her beautifully soft skin glistened in the sunset; her round face made way for the most impressive smile I had ever seen in my life. Dressed in a stunning black dress, matching her wallet, she clearly knew a thing or two about fashion. The adrenaline began to wear off; I realised what I’d done. A wave of shock took over me as I began to pass her the wallet. It was upside down so I turned it to pass it to her the right way up. With that, a photograph fell out. “Oops, sorry, let me get that for you!” After having passed her the wallet, I crouched down to grab the photograph; it simply had a love heart drawn on the side that was facing me. The image was on the ground. My clumsy fingers managed to grip the photograph after a couple of attempts. I picked it up and turned it over, aiming to brush off any debris it had gathered from the ground. A shockwave took over me. She noticed. “If you could just -“ “That’s… that’s me… that’s a picture of me!” Indeed, it was me. The picture was from our company gala, just a few months ago. “You?” The girl asked, trying her best to conceal the fact she already knew. “Yes, me, look!” I replied, placing the photograph next to my face, hoping she’d see the resemblance. I’m not sure why I did this; it feels silly now. Her beauty had got the better of me and I wasn’t thinking straight. She gasped: “it is you!” A pause, then: “Oh my god, it is you”, in her realisation. She was a good actress. “Sonny”, I told her my name. If I had known who she was, I’d have perhaps been more hesitant. “Alison”, she replied. I know now this wasn’t her real name. “So… why do you have a picture of me?” I needed answers. “Well…” Her phone rang. She rudely answered: “Hi, hello!” There was nothing I could do but stand awkwardly listening to her conversation. One that she wanted to have in private, from her expression. “I can’t talk now. Can I call y-“ “Yes, yes, I’m on my way. I just got held up. See you.” She ended her call and looked at me. “You were saying why you have a picture of me…” I reminded her. “Oh.. well… come with me.” “I can’t – I have a black tie event” “Wait. Where?” “Common Green”, I foolishly told her. “Me too.” We began to walk together. After a few short conversations, it felt like we had lots in common. All the while, she had avoided telling me why she had a photograph of me. As we approached Common Green, her tone changed. “Sonny, look… “, she started to explain, “I’m sorry but we cannot go in together”. I looked at her, curious as to why we both couldn’t go into the same event together. “I’m a private detective. I’ve been sent to find you. You seem nice. I’m sorry.” As she said those words, two men grabbed me from behind, with force and in silence, and dragged me off.