There were at least twenty people crammed in the hall. The music was loud but the chatter was louder. Michael stared into the crowd as someone passed behind him and slipped into the bathroom. He had to leave before the stench of death filled the whole place. Looking past the throng, he saw the balcony at the other side of the room. Michael manoeuvred his way through the crowd and soon realised he was in an apartment on the fourth or fifth floor. 

He tried to look around and figure out where in the city he was but couldn't. Nothing seemed familiar and yet everything was. There were two other people on the balcony, smoking, neither of whom tried to talk to Michael. He was grateful they didn’t, he needed time to think, to figure out what he needed to do. 

He looked back into the crowd and tried to find a face he knew. There weren’t any and even if there was, he couldn't remember anything. He wasn’t even sure his name was Michael. There was a slight undefined assurance he felt about his name but he knew it was a guess all the same. 

The two other people on the balcony stubbed their cigarettes and walked back into the apartment. One of them smiled at Michael as they left and he returned the gesture. That was when he saw someone looking at him from inside the hall. She was tall, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. She waved at him as their eyes met and signalled for him to go towards her. Michael stared back at her blankly, not sure who this was or what he should do. 

He turned around a second later, pretending to not have seen her. Another moment later he heard her step out onto the balcony. 

“Hey,” she said, “Let’s leave. I see you’ve got the bag.”

Michael turned back around, his eyes devoid of any recognition.

“What happened in there?” she asked, pointing at the bathroom, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost”

Michael realised that this was not only someone that knew him but also maybe was with him right before he was in the bathroom - before he had lost his memory. 

“I’m not sure,” he finally said. “Can you get me out of here?”

“That’s literally what I’m here for.”

She turned around and walked out. Michael followed her without instruction this time.