Do you want to know a secret ?

Chapter 1: Nowhere Man.

I checked the time as I approached the cafe; 08:34
I pushed against the heavy door and heard the little bells on the ceiling ring out. 'Say you won't let go' by James Arthur, was playing very softly on the speakers, and the girl behind the counter was humming along with it.

"Brie! Over here." I heard John call out to me. They were both there already. They were drinking coffee and Eleanor was eating some lemon meringue pie. "Hi guys, let me just order real quick I'll be right there." I went up to the counter and asked for a simple latte. There wasn't really anyone else there except for one older lady sitting at a table at the window by herself reading a book. Usually the people start to come in at around nine o'clock on Saturday.

When I sat down John started talking about how later today he was going to meet up with some guy he found on a dating app.

"Show us a picture." I told him, if it was a dating app he must at least have his profile picture. John did some fast taps on his phone and then shoved it in my hand. The guy on the photo, although he seemed a little older than John, was good looking I had to admit, but you never know if it's fake or not.

"Looks nice, how old is he?"

"Like 27,  i think. So only about 8 year's difference."

"Only 8 years?!" Eleanor spat out.

"That's not that bad." He jumped in defensively.

Eleanor pointed towards her pie and looked at me suggestively, as to say I should try some. I shook my head.

"No thanks, I'm good. I don't know..." I continued. "i think eight years is still quite a big age gap especially when you're still 19."

"Well you're one to talk, you're only 18 and in love with Paul McCartney, and he is like almost 80!" John said.

"I guess you've got a point." I laughed. "Look if he is a nice guy then it's fine." I told him, Eleanor nodded
"let's just hope he's not some creep." She said, "we're your friends, we don't want you dating some thirty year old thug!"

"Thug?! He's a nurse at an old people's home!" For god sakes guys, calm down!" His comment made Eleanor and I laugh.

A minute later my coffee was done and I went to pick it up from the counter. when I suddenly heard the little bell on the ceiling ring, I turned around and saw a man walk in. He was wearing an old fashioned sort of suit and perfectly polished shoes. His face was old and wrinkly and he was hunched over a bit. He smiled sweetly at me and I felt a sense of familiarity. At first I thought he was maybe here to meet that old lady who was sitting by the window, but he didn't seem to notice her at all. he went and ordered one black coffee. while I grabbed my drink off of the counter, before turning away again I saw something slip out of his pocket while getting out his wallet. It was small, round, and made of metal. He didn't seem realise that is fell down even though it made a clear ringing sound when hitting the floor. I bent over to pick it up.

"here sir, you dropped this." It was a pin back button, round with an image on the front and a needle on the back so you can pin it onto a jacket or other piece of clothing, he didn't respond to me.

"Sir?" I tapped his arm lightly in case he didn't hear me, he was old so maybe his hearing was a little bad? Still, nothing. I leaned my head to the side a bit so I could try and see his face, I'm sure he looked familiar, maybe he was famous or something and didn't want anyone to notice him. He turned the other way, and started walking to the exit. I looked at the pin, it said 'the cavern club' on it with black and blue Letters and imagery, I thought it was cute. When I looked up again, he was out the door.

Suddenly the barista behind the counter started saying something, "Sir, wait! You forgot your wallet!!!" I looked over to the counter once more and saw an old looking wallet lying on it, he must be a confused old man, maybe he had dementia or something?

The barista looked at me with a pleading look. "I can't go after him The morning rush is starting in a minute, it's going to be mad busy!" Her voice sounded stressed and I felt bad for her, and for the old man.

I quickly set my coffee back down, grabbed the wallet from the counter and ran towards the exit. "Don't worry, I'll do it" I shouted half way out the door. "tell my friends I'll be right back!" I swung out onto the road with the wallet in my hand. for some random reason I suddenly had al of this newfound energy this morning, and I hadn't even had my coffee yet. I turned my head from left to right and I saw him walking off faster down the road than you would expect an old man to do, and turn a corner into what looked like an alley way. I ran after him trying to keep up, but once I got the the alley, it was empty, it didn't lead anywhere and he was just gone.

What, the actual fuck?! 'That's not possible!' I thought. I took a few steps into the alley but it wasn't very long, there were no doors or places to go or even things to hide behind. All there was, were two trash bags in the corner and some empty beer bottles, lying around on the ground.

I stepped back onto the road and looked around, he was nowhere, nowhere at all. He was a god damn nowhere man!

I looked at the wallet I had in my hands, and opened it up, I flipped through it and was surprised at how much money there seemed to be in it, there must have been a few hundred pounds at least.
But no debit or credit cards. He was certainly leaving behind a lot of cash.

I looked back into the alley and just stood there for about a minute, thinking about where he could have gone.

I slowly walked back to the cafe, hoping my drink was still a little warm. I pushed against the heavy door, coming inside and heard the little bells on the ceiling again, I hadn't even noticed them when I was running after the man. The cafe already had some more people standing in line.

"Couldn't get to him on time." I told the barista, showing her the wallet. I grabbed my coffee from the counter and walked back over to Eleanor and John.

"What the hell was that?!" John belted out hysterically. "We just heard the door ring and then suddenly you were bolting off like it was 50% off all shoes or some shit!"

"Calm down John!" I sat back down at the little round table. "There was a guy who left his wallet on the counter after paying, so I tried to catch him to give it back but he, um..." I decided in that moment that if I told the truth there is no way they would believe me. I was surprised to how fast I came up with something. "He stepped into someone's car and drove off before I could get to him. So now I'm left with some strangers stupid wallet."

"Well is there a phone number or the name of a bank you could call?" Eleanor asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, just a lot of cash though, I feel sorry for him but there are no debit cards, nothing" As I said that, I realised that there really wasn't anything I could do. Maybe i would ask the barista if I could leave it here at the cafe in case the man comes back in search of it, although he didn't seem very bothered about any of his possessions, so decided against it.

Eleanor patted my shoulder weirdly. "Well al least you tried, nothing else you can do." Agreeing with her I put the wallet in my bag for now and tried to forget about the strange happening of disappearing persons, and finally, sit down and drink my coffee.