Chapter Four – Pushing Open the Crack

Over the course of the next few weeks Olivia had run into Ben twice more. They'd mostly sat and talked, the discussions drifting further from Suvi and into realms that could have been considered more personal. Maybe. They hadn't discussed their families or what they did for a living. Even talking about their interests seemed like a bit too strong of a word for what they discussed. Small talk topics might have been more appropriate. The weather, sports teams, and stories about the stunts Suvi and Ben's brother's dog had pulled. Occasionally they would discuss books or television, but Ben had noticed a major change in Olivia whenever they talked about the news and current events. The sudden seriousness and dark cloud that drifted over her wasn't good to see, so he tried to stay away from the news unless something really ridiculous had been broadcast. For her part, Olivia didn't mind the random meetings. They didn't happen often enough for her to be concerned. At least not yet. When she saw him for the second day in a row her suspicions hiked up.

"Hey, Olivia. Fancy meeting you here."

It had been his running joke with her since the second time they'd met. The first two times it had made her smile and roll her eyes. This time they narrowed and darkened a bit.

"Don't you have a job?"

It was a legitimate question in her opinion. She always ran into him in the middle of the day when normal people would be working. There were a few exceptions like herself, but she doubted Ben was one of them. He wasn't coming to the park dressed to work out or relax. Instead he looked more like a business man out on his lunch break. That explanation would make their meetings so far reasonable, but not by much. Twice in two days threw it far outside the realm of reasonable in her opinion.

Ben laughed softly and shook his head at her in an attempt to brush off some of her hostility.

"What, you think I'm some bum that wanders the park every day?"

Olivia crossed her arms loosely over her chest.

"You haven't given me a better explanation for why you're always here yet."

He held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, you win. I work in real estate. The time requirements are a lot more lenient than most places. As long as I don't have something scheduled with a client, if I want to take a long lunch and work out of the office I can do it. Just depends on what's going on that day. Okay? Understandable enough for you?"

Olivia let her arms drop back down to her side.

"Mostly."

"Mostly? Ouch. What part about that isn't reasonable?"

"The fact that you always seem to find me. Central Park is a big place."

The truth was Ben didn't always find her. He'd come out far more than three times in the last few weeks, but most attempts to see her again didn't pan out. It was always disappointing when he had to return to work without success. Ben suspected he would scare her away if he admitted that though. So he went with another reason why he'd managed to find her.

"I found you here once. It makes sense to start looking in the same general area again."

That was very realistic, and Olivia had to admit it was mostly true. She was a creature of habit. When she wasn't called in for a consulting job she was always up at the park with Suvi, either right before or right after lunch. In Central Park they generally gravitated toward the same area too.

"So do I pass?" Ben asked when she hadn't responded.

"I guess so."

"Good."

Ben dropped down on the bench beside her without another word and started petting Suvi's head. He seemed content enough to simply sit in silence and continue doing what he was doing, but eventually the silence got to Olivia.

"So you work in real estate?"

That was the first indication of interest Ben had heard from Olivia so far. She hadn't asked him anything personal or even pushed for more information about something. Ben wasn't sure if her sudden interest counted as a step forward or if she'd asked just to end the silence between them. Either way he was willing to answer.

"It's New York. The real estate market is always booming with people trying to get in."

"Just not a lot of people leaving."

"Not always, which is why we're so useful. We know what's out there so we can tell you before it disappears."

"Or offer something at a higher price than someone can afford."

"Most of New York is higher than people can afford, Olivia."

"That doesn't mean you guide someone to break the bank," she countered.

"Wow, is it just me you don't think very highly of or real estate agents in general?"

Olivia shrugged and looked down. It wasn't like she had a lot of experience in the housing market since she'd lived in the same place for years, but she did know people in general. Money was one of the biggest incentives for less than moral actions.

"My job isn't to gouge people you know. In fact, I find it far more productive to find someone everything they want at the cheapest price possible. You keep more clients that way and get more referrals. Far better method if you ask me."

"I didn't."

"What?"

"Ask you."

A flicker of a smile crossed Ben's face. Despite the more negative connotation of what she'd said, he had every intention of turning it around. He knew just how to do it too.

"Well, maybe I should take it all back then."

"What?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Olivia's face, and she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It took a little while into his "taking it back" before she understood.

"Me ask you if method…"

"Stop!"

"Good. I'm not sure I could have remembered much more in the correct order."

"How did that even…? Where did you come…?" Olivia huffed out a breath. What he had done was so ridiculous that she didn't even know where to start. She finally decided to just go with something basic. "You're nuts, you know that?"

"I prefer normally challenged."

Olivia couldn't help smiling at that response. There was very little about Ben that she would characterize as normal. About the only thing that came close was his physical appearance. With light brown hair the color of coffee with cream, hazel eyes, and average or a bit above average height Ben was pretty normal. His job might qualify as well.

"What about you, Olivia? You're out here pretty often in the middle of the day yourself. What do you do?"

"Ah…" She ran a hand through her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear in a display of mild unease. "I'm a consultant with the NYPD. I work whenever they need me."

It hadn't been very often recently. Soon after she'd signed on she'd realized her hours could be extremely variant. Some months she wasn't needed at all, and others she wound up going in for a time almost every day (at a certain point she'd almost thought she was back at her old job she was there so much.) She simply never knew what demand there would be. The same could be said for her speaking engagements. About the only consistency in work she had was with Suvi as a therapy aide. She had no intention of telling Ben about the other two jobs aside from the consulting. So far he only saw Suvi as her pet golden retriever since he'd never seen her dog with his vest on. The longer she could keep it that way the better. Revealing what else she did would require explanations that could easily reveal what Suvi was.

"The NYPD? Seriously? They send you out to track down criminals or you just do the leg work?"

"I do the leg work. Research, following up on leads, some interviews. It really depends on the case."

"Huh."

"Huh what?" Olivia asked as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'm trying to decide if I can picture you as a cop or not."

"I'm not a cop. I'm a consultant. It's different."

So much different, but she wasn't going to go into that either. In fact, she wasn't even going to think about it. While she was far more accepting of her current circumstances now than she had been, she still didn't enjoy thinking about them. She loved Suvi and her life now, but that would never change the fact that she hated what had happened to her.

"Same basic idea at least, but I think I could see it either way. You certainly have your moments of intimidation."

Like when he'd first met her.

Olivia smiled. He had absolutely no idea. So far she hadn't even tried to be intimidating. If anything she'd tried not to be. It was still good to hear that she had that intimidation factor in her even after what had happened though. She couldn't be getting that soft.

"Thanks."

"I can't decide if that's something I would ever want to do. I mean, in a way it could be fun, but it could also be, you know…"

"Awful? Yes. It can be. I also know I don't want to talk about it."

Talking about the worst part of your job was never good for your health. It was rarely good for your sleep either, especially when you're a cop. The horrors of the job were often times barely contained. Discussing them could easily splinter the restraints holding back those memories and release everything. Once out, it was always harder to bottle it all back up again.

"Then I will box the topic up and throw it away."

Ben mimed folding up the sides of a box and putting the lid on before standing and heading to a nearby trash can where he pretended to throw the box away. As he returned to Olivia he clapped his hands together as if brushing off a dirty job that was now complete.

"You just keep getting weirder and weirder."

"Nah. You're just getting to know me a little bit better."

"If that's the case by the time I really know you, you could be heading for the psych ward."

Ben laughed gently and shook his head in amusement. Weird he admittedly was, but he definitely wasn't anywhere near psychotic.

"I doubt it." He rested his elbows on his knees and gazed ahead of him. "I just like to enjoy life, and the best way to do that is to be a little bit goofy so you have a reason to laugh and smile."

He tipped his head slightly so he could look back at her with a gentle smile. There was a look of pure peace on his face and a true sense of honesty. It was almost like he was trying to tell her that he was purposefully opening a door into himself so she could see inside. He knew people would consider him weird, but he would stand by his beliefs. They'd served him pretty well so far.

"That's not a bad way to live," Olivia returned softly.

Author's Note: So, since this is the first story I am writing where I'm not done yet when I'm uploading it, there really is room for more! If there's something you'd really like to see happen, especially after we get further in and you see where this is going, or that you want more of please let me know.