Central Park was always different at night than during the day. The usually vibrant and full park was, for once, quiet. While it was usually a refuge from the hustle and bustle of city life, at night the park offered an entirely different view into the world. It was tranquil, and the once barren trees from the winter were starting to fill out with soft buds of green leaves. The promise of new life added to the beauty of the surprisingly quiet night. Not even the usual sirens that permeated the city at all hours of the night seemed to find their way to where they were in the vast city park.

As Harper and Alex ambled along the dark, barely lit paths, the only sounds that could be hear were the sounds of the soft rustling leaves that had managed to burst forth and the sound of their footsteps on the pavement. The sound of their steps fell into a near perfect rhythm - with each of Alex's steps, Harper's followed very soon after. Unlike the music they had been listening to earlier, they were creating their own.

"I've always felt that Central Park was magical," Harper said, glancing over at Alex, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Especially now when spring is starting to come back and the trees finally get their leaves back. Everything is green and pretty, full of life." Harper laughed and shook her head. "A different kind of life than in the city," she corrected. "Calmer and relaxed unlike the constant movement seen out there. It's like stepping into an entirely different world, far removed from whatever the world out there insists on throwing at us."

"A reprieve from the concrete jungle," Alex said with a small nod. "It's one of the perfect places to escape from the demands of life."

They took a seat on the steps near the Central Park waterfall, listening to the rushing water and the quiet of the park surrounding them. They really couldn't hear anything going on in the city from where they sat. Harper was content watching the waterfall in the dim light, but Alex was lost in thought.

"What is it?" Harper asked when she realized that Alex seemed to be staring off into space. She looked over at the spot Alex was looking, wondering if she was missing something, but he only shook his head.

"I was trying to figure out your story," Alex said. "You're..."

"Weird? Strange? Odd?"

"No, you're cool," Alex said earnestly. "Quite honestly, you're the kind of person that I would love to be."

"Oh," Harper said, sounding both pleased and mildly embarrassed. "Well, for what it's worth I find you pretty cool, too."

"You are probably the only person in the world who has ever said that about me," Alex laughed. "I don't think I have ever been called cool in my life."

"Why not? With all that techy geekiness that you obviously have? I think that's pretty cool. I'm not smart enough for any of that."

"Says the one who owns a bookstore."

Now a blush crept into Harper's cheeks and she couldn't stop her giggle. "I only took it over," she said before waffling and changing her answer. "I mean, I technically did buy it. But only because I couldn't bear the thought of it closing! I had been visiting the shop for years and when Mildred decided she needed to retire, but didn't want to close the store herself, well...it only seemed logical to buy it from her."

"See?" Alex said, leaning in close to Harper. "Cool."

Silence fell between the two once more. Harper was more than content to listen to the sound of the waterfall, watching whatever she could in the light of the moon and the stars. Alex seemed more than content to just watch her. He was about to say something after several minutes had passed, but Harper spoke first.

"My ex was one of those finance bros over on Wall Street," Harper said. She let out a bitter laugh and shook her head. "Finance bro turned to crypto bro. He was always insistent that he was going to find the next big thing, especially after he got into crypto. I was always supportive of what he wanted to do. It didn't matter what it was - he wanted to invest in some new cryptocurrency? Fine. Felt like gambling away whatever extra money he earned from his stocks? Great. I never cared.

"We were together for a few years. We decided to share my place pretty quickly into our relationship. I never minded - being over top the bookshop made things easier for me, you know? When it was mentioned that the shop was going to be sold, I couldn't let that happen. It was going to be built into the contract that I kept my place, but I loved the store more than anything.

"When I told my ex, Marcus, what was going on, he scoffed at the idea of me deciding to buy the store. It would cost a pretty penny - literally every single bit of my savings and then some, but he was insistent that there was no money to be made with such a venture. He immediately went off on one of his 'little talks' about how crypto was the way of the future, never mind the fact he had just lost out on a currency flopping and losing everything on that particular venture. It didn't matter that The Enchanted Inkwell had well documented sales and wasn't in any trouble other than Mildred wanting to move on with her life after her husband passed. No - the only thing that mattered was doing something with crypto. I was quite insistent that it was a worthwhile investment, and I can remember Marcus making a comment that I 'loved the damn bookstore more than I loved him.' I suppose he was right. When he was out at work, I decided to purchase the shop and made him move out that night. I haven't seen him since."

Alex was quiet, waiting to see if Harper continued, and when she didn't, he placed a gentle hand on her knee. "For what it's worth, I think you made a good decision," he said, squeezing her knee gently. "I know a lot of things are going online, but I think there's always going to be a place for books."

"Interesting take for someone who works in tech."

"It's the truth. You know sometimes when I don't know what's wrong with a code I'll write it out? Use the old pen and paper to try and figure out what the problem is. Sometimes I even talk to the stuffed animal that I keep in my office."

Harper couldn't stifle her snort quick enough, her eyes glittering as she looked at Alex. "You have a stuffed animal in your office that you talk to?"

"Hey," Alex said, knocking his shoulder into hers. "Don't knock it until you've tried it. It seems stupid, but it helps to talk things through. Mr. Woofles has been a very trusty companion and a very thorough partner when working through codes."

"So you've got a stuffed dog that you talk to."

"He's the best," Alex said with a beaming smile, earning a twinkling laugh from Harper.

As Harper stopped laughing, there was an almost sudden shift in the air as if a light switch had been flipped. There was a breath of anticipation that lingered between Alex and Harper, something unspoken between the two of them. To Alex's surprise, he reached out to turn Harper's face towards his with a crooked finger beneath her chin. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she met his gaze and she leaned slightly into his cupped hand as it slid along her jaw line to her cheek. His touch was featherlight and Harper forced herself not to lean into his fingers further and she looked away.

When their eyes met once again, there was a silent acknowledgement of whatever it was that was passing between them. Without saying a word, Alex leaned and pressed his lips to Harper's. He swore that kissing her was the most intoxicating thing in the world.