The abandoned park had always felt detached from the rest of the city.
As though it had been wiped from time itself.
Time had lay slow and heavy over everything—over the patched pathway cracked and split by tenacious weeds, over the rusting pieces of playground equipment frozen in place beneath skeletal trees, and weather-worn benches who lost their coloring long since ago.
A place where silence resided.
A place where memories lingered.
And tonight that silence felt heavier than ever under the grey evening sky.
The gates groaned, when Enrique opened the great wrought-iron gates.
A sound filled the lonely park.
He stepped inside.
Chilled air washed over him.
The distant city noise disappeared behind him as the gates slowly swung shut behind him.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he took a stroll along the usual path.
The gravel crunched lightly under his shoes.
He had not been toh this park for many moons.
And longer than he cared to admit.
But here, after all these days, it was exactly as he had recalled.
Forgotten.
Quiet.
Untouched.
His gaze swept across the place.
And then he saw it.
A figure.
Seated on one of the old wooden benches near the center of the park.
Still.
Motionless.
Waiting.
Enrique's steps slowed.
The figure sat with a startling calmness facing the empty expanse of pathway before her.
It was too far for him to identify any features.
Only a silhouette.
Dark against the fading light.
He just stood there for a minute.
Watching.
Something stirred inside him.
A strange sensation.
Not surprise.
Not uncertainty.
Something quieter.
Something deeper.
Because even before he was able to see the other person's face, something already inherent him.
The realization came without explanation.
Without reason.
Just certainty.
His eyes remained fixed on the unmoving silhouette.
And as he continued walking, he found himself unable to look away.
Step by step.
Closer.
The figure never moved.
Never turned.
And waited, as if she had known the very moment that he would arrive.
Like she had been waiting on it.
For him.
The thought should have disturbed him.
Instead, it pulled tightness across his chest.
A feeling he would not examine too closely.
Too much had happened.
Too many months.
Too many unanswered questions.
So many things that were not said between them.
And yet...
as he walked toward that bench, Enrique realized something he hadn't allowed himself to acknowledge.
Part of him wanted to see her again.
Not through newspaper articles.
Not through television reports.
Not through social media speculation.
Just...
her.
The real woman behind all those noises.
Finally, he reached the bench.
The figure looked up.
And there she was.
Suzzanne.
For a moment the world seemed to pause.
She appeared in precisely the same way that he remembered.
And yet somehow different.
Her long black coat was so near invisible with.
The dark waves of her hair framed her face elegantly, moving slightly beneath the evening breeze.
She wore her long black coat that blended almost seamlessly into the shadows around her.
Her posture was relaxed.
Controlled.
Confident.
She belonged exactly where she was.
Like she was not the most scrutinized woman in the country currently.
It was her eyes that held him.
Dark.
Steady.
Serene.
There was just something disconcerting about their seeming tranquility.
The confidence remained untouched.
Unbroken.
Not even an inkling upon a scratch.
Those were not the eyes of someone sinking below the surface of righteous public outrage.
The eyes that stared could hardly be classified as someone who had been cornered.
Those eyes belonged to Suzzanne.
The same lady that walked through storms like she nothing no ownership on.
Neither of them spoke for several moments.
Enrique simply stood there.
Looking at her.
Studying her.
Searching for something.
Anything.
Fear.
Anger.
Exhaustion.
But he found none.
The corner of her lips turned slightly up.
Subtle.
Almost amused.
"Aren't you going to sit?"
Her voice was smooth and composed.
The same voice he remembered.
The same measured confidence.
Enrique blinked.
The question seemed straightforward.
But somehow his brain just wouldn't process it at that moment.
He remained standing.
Still staring.
The grin on her mouth deepened ever so slightly.
Then she tilted her head.
"Or am I making you uncomfortable?"
There was no accusation in her tone.
No bitterness.
Only quiet observation.
"I can leave if you want," she said.
Enrique froze.
Confusion immediately crossed his face.
"What?"
The word slipped out of his mouth before he could catch it.
Suzzanne looked away into the distance, her gaze drifting toward the abandoned playground in the distance.
""I'm the primary suspect in a homicide investigation."
She said it casually.
Almost absurdly casually.
As though talking about the weather forecast
"I'm sure you've seen the articles."
The tips of her fingers brushed against the edge of the bench.
"I understand your discomfort around me."
Silence followed.
Enrique could only stare.
Because there it was again.
That impossible calm.
It felt like the whole world was hellbent on ruining her.
Her name was in every news station.
Every newspaper printed another accusation.
Every commentator had an opinion.
All the headlines portrayed her as a monster or an evil genius.
But right now, next to him was a woman who spoke about all of it as if nothing mattered.
Like none of it could lay a finger on her.
And somehow...
That had shaken him more than panic could ever do.
He had seen the articles, naturally.
Everyone had.
It was impossible not to.
Every day brought another story.
Another witness.
Another accusation.
Another theory.
Except that every time he read them, something was off.
Not because he had faith in her.
Not because he would not believe that it could happen.
But because none of it fit.
The woman before him was saved all the trouble of being careless.
She wasn't reckless.
She wasn't impulsive.
Suzzanne was strategic about each and every step she took.
Every word.
Every decision.
Every silence.
She was too intelligent.
Too precise.
Too controlled.
Whether she was innocent or guilty wasn't the issue.
The issue was — nothing about the situation made any sense.
Slowly, after a long moment Enrique breathed out.
And then eased himself to the bench next to her.
For several minutes neither of them said anything.
They sat side by side, staring at the empty park.
Witnessing the wind pass through the dead timber.
Hearing the sound of leaves from a distance.
Eventually, Enrique broke the silence.
"I wouldn't know."
His voice was quiet.
Honest.
"Not until the entire truth comes out."
Suzzanne swivelled her head slightly in his direction.
He continued.
"I wasn't uncomfortable."
A small pause.
"I was surprised."
His gaze remained forward.
"Didn't expect to see you here."
Another pause.
"Especially after so long."
For the first time, something softer appeared in her expression.
Not vulnerability.
Never vulnerability.
But amusement.
"And yet here I am."
Enrique's mouth lift at the corner.
"Apparently."
The silence that fell between them was a short one.
Then Suzzanne leaned back against the bench.
"The media has gotten remarkably creative.
Enrique glanced sideways.
"Creative?"
A faint smile appeared.
""I read one article this morning claiming I orchestrated an international conspiracy."
Suzzanne's expression remained perfectly serious.
"There was apparently an entire network involved."
Her expression remained perfectly serious.
"Apparently an entire network was involved."
Enrique stared.
Then laughed despite himself.
The sound echoed softly through the empty park.
Suzzanne looked at him.
"There was even a diagram."
His laughter grew.
The tension momentarily released, for the first time that evening.
As Suzzanne smiled too watching him.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Finally, when the laughter had subsided, Enrique met her gaze once again.
"You don't seem worried."
The question lingered.
Suzzanne considered it.
Then one elegant eyebrow lifted.
"Should I be?"
"Most people would."
"I'm not most people." She answered confidently.
The answer arrived instantly.
Confident.
Simple.
Certain.
Somehow, it sounded just like her.
Enrique shook his head slowly.
"There it is."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"There what is?"
"That confidence."
Her lips curved like the ghost of a smile.
"You sound disappointed."
"I'm skeptical."
That finally earned a genuine reaction.
A quiet laugh escaped her.
Low.
Smooth.
Dangerous.
The kind of laugh that revealed nothing..
"Skeptical of what?"
Enrique met her gaze.
He held it for the first time since he'd arrived.
Really held it.
The evening breeze stirred about them.
The world seemed strangely distant.
Then he spoke.
"Because you're smarter than this."
The amusement disappeared from her expression.
Not entirely.
Just enough.
Enough for him to notice.
Enrique's expression shifted slightly, and he leaned forward. "If you are innocent," he said cautiously, "then someone is out to destroy you."
His gaze was fixed on her eyes.
"And if you're guilty..."
The sentence hung unfinished.
The silence stretched.
Suzzanne simply waited.
Patient.
Watching him.
Allowing him to finish.
Enrique shook his head.
A slight smile breaking through, against all his efforts to the contrary.
"...then you're a lot smarter to get pinned like this.
Meanwhile, Suzzanne said nothing.
No clever response.
No confident remark.
No immediate comeback.
Only silence.
The wind streamed through the trees above.
Leaves rustled softly.
For the briefest of moments unreadable darkness flickered in those eyes.
Gone almost immediately.
It stays buried back under that veneer of perfect composure.
But Enrique saw it.
Only enough to know it basically existed there.
And so they sat in the middle of a park long-dead to the outside world and he found himself leaning into it, fucking closer to it—
or whether he had unknowingly stepped into a game that Suzzanne had been playing long before anyone else realized there were pieces on the board.
Author's Note :
Thankyou for reading<3
Have a Good Day/Night<3<3