Picture Perfect

"I have a proposition for you."
Those six little words sound innocent enough, right? I mean, it was used to strike huge corporate deals every day. And, at the time, when a stranger named Neal Winters first uttered those words to me, I didn't think anything of it. Why should it? I didn't know the man. We weren't striking a deal. I was simply trying to get my morning fix of caffeine. I wasn't in business negotiations with the man. So, why should I be interested in anything he had to offer me.
But, something inside of me compelled myself to succumb to his persuasion. What harm was it in hearing the man out? I could, after all, say no to whatever it was he had to say. Maybe.