Alexa woke up on her couch to her phone ringing. She sat up quickly, frightened briefly be the sudden noise. She reached around looking for her phone blindly, still ringing loudly. She hated falling asleep with her contacts in, they were such a bitch to deal with if they were in too long. She finally found it and answered without looking at the screen.

"'Ello?" She groggily spoke.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Rylee Ann." The voice on the other end sounded distraught and flat out done.

"What's wrong Lex?" Rylee asked, pinching the bridge of her nose and scrunching her eyes shut. These contacts need out like now. She stood up and stretched, slowly padding her way to the bathroom.

"I'm a major fuck up that's why."

"You're gonna have to be more specific.." Rylee responded, putting the phone on speaker. She started wiping off her makeup from last night. She still felt grody, but decided she'd shower after she talked to Lex. She plucked out her contacts one at a time blinking rapidly to clear her vision. She slid her glasses on and could finally fully see.

"One, rude. Two, I got major trashed last night..as you obviously noticed..."

"Yeah when you gave 'Chris Fuckin Evans' my phone number? I vaguely recall..." Rylee smirked.

"Yea- wait. What?" She said, sounding extremely surprised. "I combed back through my texts and don't remember seeing th- oh lord almighty there it is...sorry Ry..I think? Is this you being annoyed or thankful? Cause you don't have dibs on Chris.."

Rylee smiled and rolled her eyes, "Chris is all yours girl...I'm mainly focusing now on the fact that Sebastian texted me last night...

"EXCUSE ME? You mean Sebastian. Like Sebastian Sebastian? Alexa yelled back in surprise. "How, why, and when. Rylee start talking."

There was a moment of silence across the line.

"...yah done?" Rylee let out a short laugh, at this point she had made her way to her bedroom and plopped on her bed. "Yes. 'Sebastian Sebastian.'" She responded, even though that makes zero sense. "He texted me at like midnight last night, but it got busy at work so I didn't get anyones messages until like 5:00am. I texted him back when I got to the subway, but I was surprised he responded back right away..so we started talking. He said you gave Chris my number, and then Chris gave it to him..not really sure why..but still."

There was another brief pause of silence. "I'm so confused but so intrigued. So what's happening. Is he nice? Do you like him? Does he like you?"

"Alright. Relax. We had a like...hour long phone conversa-"

"A WHOLE HOUR? ON THE PHONE? I thought you guys were texting?" Alexa questioned.

"I mean it started as texting...but then I called him."

"Oh my god. YOU called HIM? Rylee look at you go girl. And I'm still blown away that you called at 5:00 am and actually got a response, let alone a full conversation for an HOUR." Alexa sighed, trying to picture it. She was extremely proud of her friend. She was never the type to initiate anything with guys. She deserves the confidence to do so.

Rylee became flustered at the thought. She was right. Not only had she just started talking to him, but he stayed on the phone with her for an hour at five in the morning, just getting to know her. It was so comfortable she didn't even notice. That's...wow.

"Well, I'll just say you're welcome now. And I take back any apologies about what I did last night, because it seems to have worked out in your favor." Alexa laughed into the phone.

"Yeah...maybe.." Rylee laughed back in return, " well I'm sorry to cut this conversation short, but I'm in desperate need of a shower. I'll talk to you later."

"Love you boooo, tell Sebastian I say hiiii!"

"K love you byeee." She said quickly back with another laugh. Rylee loved Alexa to the moon and back. She appreciated that her friend knew her even more than she knew herself, even drunk Alexa does.

--------------------

By the time Rylee got off the phone and done in the shower the time was around noon. She had decided mid shower that she was going to run to Round Corner Cafe for a giant cup of coffee and brunch. She didn't get much sleep last night and hoped it would help.

It was only a few blocks away from her apartment and it was beautiful outside today, so she threw on a pair of black jean shorts and a flowy olive green top. She didn't feel like putting on makeup but she never liked leaving without any, so she put on a quick layer of concealer and mascara. She figured no one could really see half her face anyway since she was wearing her glasses. She started up Spotify on her phone, grabbed a book off her shelf, put in her earbuds and was out the door.

The walk there was exactly as she expected. It was a bustling Sunday afternoon, but the delightfully warm walk, with her music quietly playing, was the perfect way to start her day. The breezy streets of New York blew her hair over her shoulders and helped keep her cool during her travels.

About ten minutes later she arrived at Round Corner Cafe. She always loved coming here, not only was it her first real favorite coffee place in New York but it was just so unique and interesting. The building was made of old brick, but the corner of the building where the entrance was placed, was rounded, unlike all the other surrounding buildings with their doors plastered in the middle of their business' walls. She also enjoyed that this was a small local business, run by a lovely married couple named Lisa and Ken. During the many visits she paid there, she had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the two of them, talking about a wide range of topics, they were some of the first people she met here, so she held them close to her heart.

"Hey there lady! How've you been?" She heard a loud boisterous voice say from behind the counter. Ken, standing at about 6'2", with short brown hair, wearing his usual white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black apron, came into view.

"Hi Ken! I've been doing well, how are you and Lisa? The kids?"

"Oh alls well, alls well. Meg has a cheering competition this week and Gavin's finally got his drivers test scheduled, so god help us all." He bellowed out a laugh.

"Oh no! Good thing I take the subway! She laughed back.

"Want the usual dear?" Ken asked, laughing again as he already started preparing it.

"You know me so well." She smiled in return as she laid her money on the counter, $10.00 even. Her drink always cost 4.00, and her scone was 2.50, but she always left them the extra as a tip.

She now immediately sought out her favorite chair by the big front window. They had a beautiful display of overstuffed armchairs and coffee tables along the windows on either side of the entrance. It was very aesthetic for the atmosphere and it was always her favorite place to sit, no matter the weather or time of day. She sank into her favorite chair, sitting crisscross, and began to read. The Cafe was very quiet, as it usually was. There were one or two other patrons huddled together in the back over their mugs, but other than them, the room was in a hush.

She looked up from her book when she heard Ken making his way over to her, carrying her coffee mug and a small dish, handing it to her. She noticed he also threw on a piece of chocolate chip biscotti, her other favorite she tagged on her order sometimes, beside her scone. She thanked him again and, with his classic Ken smile, he turned around to make his trek back over to check on the other customers.

She took a sip of her cold brew coffee, taking in its sweet, smooth taste. Man, she could never make coffee like this at home.. She settled back into her extremely comfortable armchair, put in her earbuds and began reading her book.

After some time had passed, she distantly heard Ken say something, possibly in her direction? She turned around, removing an earbud and apologized and asked him to repeat himself.

"I said I was surprised to see that it started raining. I didn't remember seeing rain in the forecast for today." She turned back around to notice that it had indeed began to downpour outside. Just her luck, it was so beautiful this morning, she didn't think to check her weather app, let alone grab an umbrella. She sighed and agreed aloud to him. She tried hoping loudly in her head that it would eventually stop but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Maybe, at this point, if she sits here reading long enough, she'll be able to wait it out.

She'll admit, she loved how the rain splattered gently against the large window in front of her. It almost seemed to blur out the city right on the other side, like a secret. It added to the coffee shops cozy, comfortable, at-home vibe. As she watched the rain for another moment, she cuddled back into her armchair and continued reading her book, skipping to the next song on her playlist.

After ten or so minutes had passed, another customer came in the doors, dripping from the rain, they pulled back their soaked hood on their hoodie, running their hands through their hair. "Holy shit, Ken, where did that rain come from?"

"Hey Sebastian! I know right? I just said the same thing!" Ken said in reply.