A playground on Bryce Road

[Charcoal]

It there's one thing that always bothered Bryan, it's the fact that that the only way he had survived this long working undercover, was because he trusted nobody. Distrust of others was nessasary for survival, but also acted as a doubble edged sword, severing all possibilities of a meaningful relationship. The sword had pierced the heart of his first marriage and left a wound that remained with him still. As much as he would like to trust Stephany, he simply could not allow himself to. There was too much at stake to afford to slip up. So as was his custom when entering blind to a meeting, a 4 inch combat knife found its way into the inside of Bryan's left boot. The hilt sat about half a centimeter above the top of his boot, identical to a fake notch on his right boot. Hiding things in plane sight was in of Bryan's specialities.

Bryan decided take the longer scenic route from the shuttle terminal, to the park on Bryce Road. The walk was to allow himself time to think things through and calm his nerves, but ultamately had achieved nothing more then stalling his meeting with Stephany. He could still feel the warm kiss on his cheek from the other night at the West Wing pub. Her warm friendly smile, the scent of her hair, and the hypnotic beauty of her eyes tormented him, robbing him of the ability to eat, sleep or even breathe properly from that moment on. Against his better judgment and rational thought, and despite the potential danger to himself and his undercover assignment, Bryan simply had to see her again.

Bryan rounded the next building on the corner of the street, revealing the park in front of him. Then he saw her sitting on the swing facing him, as if she had expected him to show up in that exact spot. From the swing she had a decent view of everybody coming and leaving the park. Bryan coulddn't help but wonder if this woman was just lucky, or knew exactly what she was doing.

Walking slowly over toward the swing set, Bryan felt his heart start to pound hard in his chest. His excitement and anticipation slowly talking over the closer he got. Bryan finally stoped about 3 meters from Stephany, waiting for a responce. Finally after a brief pause to collect himself, Bryan spoke.

"I know it's only been one night, but I missed you. It's good to see you again"