Helena returned to the park the next day without quite understanding why.
She told herself it was just because she liked that place, the fresh air, the break in the middle of the chaotic day. But the truth is, her eyes searched for him even before she sat on the bench.
He wasn't there.
A pang of disappointment surprised her. How ridiculous. A complete stranger and she was already... what? Waiting for him? She had forgotten what that was like—the anticipation, the butterflies in her stomach, that silly feeling of expectation.
She reluctantly opened her sandwich and pretended to read something on her phone.
"I thought you weren't coming today."
Helena raised her head so quickly she almost dropped her water bottle. Liam was standing in front of her, his hands in the pockets of his dark coat and a discreet smile on his lips. As if it were natural. As if they had been meeting there for years.
"I always come," she replied, trying to sound casual. "Sometimes."
— I know.
The way he said it made her stomach churn. It wasn't threatening, but there was a certainty there. An intimacy that shouldn't exist.
He sat beside her, closer than the day before. Helena could feel the warmth emanating from him, a smell of wood and something wild she couldn't quite put her finger on.
— Do you work over there? — Liam pointed with his chin toward the office building behind them.
— I do. — She glanced at him sideways. — And you?
— Nearby.
Vague. Deliberately vague.
They were silent for a moment. Helena bit into her sandwich without really tasting it, too aware of his every move beside her. The way he breathed. The way his fingers drummed lightly on her thigh.
— You look tired, Helena.
She froze.
— How do you know my name?
The question came out sharper than she intended. He turned his face to her, and there was something in his eyes—something golden, intense, almost animal.
"You told me yesterday."
"No." Helena shook her head slowly. "You said it first. You called me Helena before I said anything."
A heavy silence settled between them. Liam didn't look away, didn't seem embarrassed or caught off guard. He just kept looking at her in that way that made Helena feel like she was being read inside.
"It's true," he finally admitted, with a disturbing tranquility. "I knew your name."
Her heart raced.
"How?"
"I pay attention."
"To what?"
"To you."
The answer was so direct, so raw, that Helena felt breathless. She should get up. She should leave, far away from this strange man who openly admitted he was watching her. But her feet wouldn't move.
"How long?" Her voice came out almost in a whisper.
Liam tilted his head slightly, as if considering how much he could reveal.
"Long enough to know you're not happy." He paused. "That you haven't been for very long."
Helena should have been scared. Outraged. But instead, she felt tears burning in her eyes. Because it was true. Because no one had ever seen this before—or if they had, they never bothered to say so.
"You don't know me," she murmured, more to herself than to him.
"No?" Liam leaned a little closer, and Helena felt his warm breath brush against her face. "Then why does it seem like you do?"
She had no answer for that. Because she felt the same. As if some deep, forgotten part of her recognized this man. As if he wasn't a stranger, but something she had lost and just rediscovered.
"I need to get back to work," Helena said, standing up abruptly. Her legs trembled.
Liam stood up beside her, and she realized for the first time how much bigger he was. Not just tall, but solid, imposing, as if he occupied more space than he should.
"Tomorrow?" he asked.
"I don't know."
"I know." His eyes gleamed. "You'll be back."
It wasn't a question. It was a certainty.
And the worst part was that Helena knew he was right.
________________________________________
That night, lying in bed, she couldn't sleep. She stared at the ceiling, thinking about golden eyes and the feeling of being seen for the first time in years.
Her phone vibrated on the bedside table. A message from an unknown number.
"Sleep well, Helena."
She should block it. She should be afraid.
But instead, she held the phone against her chest and felt, for the first time in a long time, that she was completely awake.
________________________________________
to be continued...