The park was a good choice. Vincent did not think he had ever before visited that particular one, but in all of his experience he had never known parks to be all that different from one another. He had arrived after several hours of aimless wandering and running small errands, trying to distract himself, but in the end he knew he needed some quiet reflection. The park he had found was nearly empty, and provided enough cover from the street to be somewhat private. A crisp autumn breeze nipped at his collar as he entered, and he reflexively fixed his tie.

	That prompted another natural, practiced motion, and he reached into his coat and removed a small metal case. A quick look around confirmed little present danger, and from the case Vincent brought out a long white roll. Fetching a lighter from another pocket, he lit up the joint and took a long drag.

	[i]Good that I get rid of this,[/i] he thought, unable to escape the morning's incident. [i]I'm sure they won't let me get away with leaving the scene of an accident.[/i] Another thought struck him. [i]Hell, they better not try to pin it on me.[/i]

	Further into the park, the path widened into a clearing. A small pond rested on the far end, and from it a stream swerved through the grass. The path became a stone bridge, and around it autumn colors bloomed on several tall trees. Beneath the closest tree was a bench, and on it, Vincent saw, sat a man, busying himself with a laptop. Vincent approached, taking another drag, falling back on the bench and putting his foot up on his knee. A musty, herbal scent lingered, thick in the air.

	He watched the man's activity for several moments, then took the joint between two fingers and a thumb and offered it over. "Wanna help me finish this?"

[@GummyCat]