Clarity

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," she said.

"Alexander Hunt," he replied, looking to her with compelling dark eyes that whispered secrets and promised danger.

"I'm Stella Montgomery," she said in return, mindful of the distance between them. There was something about him that made her wary.

"What are you doing out here?"

Stella took a moment to pinpoint her surroundings in order to give a reasonable answer. She never intended to tell the truth, but when she realized that her refuge was nothing more than an old, rotting gazebo in the far end of the city park, she realized her lie was going to be weak.

"Just taking a walk," she uttered, reaching up to wring out the ends of her wet hair.

"Not really the best place to be walking at this hour," he said quietly, falling silent to light a cigarette.

Stella was tense, but she forced herself to relax her shoulders as she crossed her arms. She wasn't sure if this guy had bad intentions, or any intentions at all. She was in a dangerous part of town and she couldn't let her guard down. From the way he spoke to her, it didn't sound like he believed her lie, but what could she expect when she didn't believe it herself?

Fixing her gaze on the way the rain poured down on the dilapidated sidewalk and formed a puddle at the bottom of the steps, she realized that he was staring at her through the darkness. The ember of his cigarette brightened and faded periodically, but he never attempted to step into her territory.

The smell of smoke mingled with the soft scent of fresh rain.

"So why are you really here?"

"It's personal," Stella shot, her tone coming off more defensive than she liked. "What are you doing here?"

"It's business," he returned, mocking her.

She thought about it, then dared to look at him. "What do you sell?" Stella asked.

"Everything," he said with a careless shrug of his shoulders. "You buying?"

"No," she frowned, looking away.

"Didn't think so."

Another silence lapsed with Stella never taking her attention from the man in her peripheral vision. Five minutes later, the cigarette was gone and he was searching through his pockets. It was as if he sensed her unease because he approached her slowly. She turned her head to see what he was up to, but he simply held out what seemed to be a used matchbook.

"Take it."

Stella took it without question before she even realized what she was doing. Flipping it over in her fingers, she arched a brow and looked up to question him, but he had already stepped out into the rain and started towards the south end of the city.