That morning, I tried keeping my mind calm. I knew the afternoon was the meet, but I didn't want to get my hopes up, having experienced multiple disappointments in the past.

A casual message sent off relatively early in the day to test the waters...So looking forward to seeing you later, just checking all on track still?"

Single grey tick, tick tock, double grey tick, ok, her phone is on, the message has been delivered, now the agonising wait for the read, and hopefully, reply.

After what feels like an hour, in reality it is more like five minutes, the magical double blue ticks appear.

Ok, message received and read. Now the heart rate starts to elevate. Relax, I tried telling myself; if it's meant to be, it will be.

"Good morning," she replied, "yes, all good on my side; will let you know when I'm leaving work"

Joy, celebration, delight; it's looking like game on here. Tranquilo, seno'r, I try to tell myself; let's go with the flow. Focus on work, focus on emails, have that meeting, get shit done, but all the while, the afternoon draws closer and closer.

I recall from earlier conversations that she works until one pm. As the hour nears, I keep looking at my phone. Any new messages? Any change of plans? Any last-minute bailout?

I had done the map research: from her work to her address, 22 Minutes. From mine, 27 Minutes.

Timing was crucial if I wanted this to work. I can't arrive before her, because then it ruins the stranger-walk-in fantasy. I can't arrive much later than her, as then the mind starts to play tricks and she might cancel. 12.55, 56, 57, 58... 59... the message comes through: "Leaving work now, see you soon."

Oh boy, here we go. Slap the laptop shut, unplug the charger, slip it into the bag.

Shut my office door. Tell reception I'll be out for the afternoon, and to get me on my cell if needed (really hoping they won't).

I hop in my car, shoot off a message to say "On my way".

The route looks traffic-free. Good stuff. Twenty-seven minutes feel as if I'm driving from Cape Town to Johannesburg. The freeway turnoff seems to take forever to appear. Every road after that seems longer than the next. Every traffic light seems to be on red, and stuck on red for an eternity.

Final turnoff into her suburb; maps tell me 850m to go. Heart rate pounding now. Almost short of breath. I drive ever closer.

You have arrived at your destination. Nice enough looking suburb, pleasant enough looking house. No sign of gang members hanging around to hijack me!

Now, to make this as realistic as possible, I wanted to keep the element of surprise as genuine as I could. I had messaged ten minutes away, as we had agreed, to allow her to unlock her front door and to unlatch the front gate, to allow the stranger free access to her sacred abode, unencumbered by irritations like doorbells or buzzers and cameras.

To keep it even more real, I parked a few houses down from hers, so that she wouldn't see me coming. All part of the stranger fantasy. You only get one chance to do this right.

I open the gate as quietly as possible, closing and latching it behind me. I walk towards the front door; I can see it has been left open, very slightly. Access granted. No turning back now. I open the front door and walk in..../