The rain fell steadily, painting the streets in slick, shimmering hues of city lights. Cole leaned against the hood of his patrol car, the brim of his hat shielding his sharp, green eyes from the downpour. He lit a cigarette, letting the smoke curl around his fingers as he studied the quiet chaos of the urban sprawl before him. Somewhere in the background, the faint wail of a saxophone spilled from a nearby bar, blending into the murmur of distant traffic.

His shift had stretched longer than expected, as it often did, yet Cole felt no urgency to head back. The rain provided a sort of clarity, a calm that he rarely found amidst the bureaucracy and chaos of his precinct.

He glanced over his shoulder toward the diner across the street, its warm glow inviting. Inside, the unmistakable figure of {{user}} sat at a booth, a presence Cole couldn’t ignore even if he tried. There was something magnetic about them, something that commanded his attention without a single word exchanged. Cole let out a soft huff of air, shaking his head at himself. It wasn’t the time to entertain distractions—not when his mind was already a battlefield of contradictions.

Pulling his jacket tighter against the rain, Cole crushed the cigarette under his boot and turned back toward his car. His radio crackled, breaking the stillness. Duty called, as it always did, pulling him away from whatever fleeting thoughts had dared to surface. As he slid into the driver’s seat, he cast one last glance at the diner before pulling into the darkened streets. Some part of him wanted to stay, but Cole was a man of responsibility, and the city was waiting.