It isn’t until dawn makes its way over the city that Wendy snaps out of her drawing trance. Wendy finished her pancakes and milkshake hours ago, but was too set on drawing the new cook that she lost track of time. She looks out the window to see the pink sunrise reflecting off of the buildings around her. The tables were now full of new people, mostly elderly, drinking coffee and reading newspapers. Wendy feels like she’s in a time warp. Wendy notices Stephanie pacing around with one of the other waitresses, bringing out drinks and plates of food. Wendy people watches for a while. She knows she should return home to sleep for at least a couple hours, but she wanted to see the cook one more time. Wendy checks her phone for the time. It’s 6:43.

Wendy waves Stephanie over when she doesn’t look as busy.

“What’s up, sweet heart?”

“Do you know what time the new cook’s shift ends? I want to tell her that her pancakes were really good.”

Stephanie gives a knowing smirk, “She should be getting out of here at 7.”

“Alright, thanks Steph. That was all I waved you over here for.”

“Alright, then. You sure you don’t want a water or anything?”

“No, thank you though.”

Stephanie leans closer to Wendy, and whispers, “Just so you know, she asked me if she could give you your pancakes. She also said she wanted to pay for them for you.”

“Wait, why?” Wendy is confused, but she can’t ignore the slight flutter in her chest.

“I had her bring food to another table, and when she saw you, I swear I saw that girl forgot where she was for a few seconds. Then she insisted on bringing you the pancakes, how could I say no?”

Wendy scratches her chin, “Hmmm, very interesting. Thank you for the information.”

Stephanie nods with a smile, and walks away.

No one has ever really paid attention to Wendy before, not even her own parents, so she’s confused why a girl as beautiful as the new cook would even look in Wendy’s direction.

Wendy figures waiting fifteen minutes isn’t that bad. She lightly traces over lines she’s already drawn, thinking of what she should draw next, but nothing comes to her. Wendy’s jacket lays beside her, she had to take it off a couple hours ago after she started to get too hot. She puts it back on, putting the sketch book back inside the pocket, and decides she’ll stand outside and wait for the girl.

The air at dawn is still freezing, the sun isn’t high enough to have warmed the world, yet. The street is as busy as usual. The traffic crammed, people running to catch taxis, men and women in suits rushing to the nearest subway station, hot coffee in all of their hands. Wendy pulls her phone out of her pocket, and scrolls through Instagram, leaning on the wall of the building next to the diner.

Wendy hears the familiar ring of the bell on the door of the diner, and looks up. She sees the new cook, wrapped in a black jacket, and purple scarf. The girl winces at the cold, and turns walking the opposite direction of Wendy. Wendy throws her phone into her pocket, and quickly walks after her. Once Wendy catches up to the girl, she gently grabs the girl’s shoulder with a, “Hey.”

The girl jumps, visibly frightened by Wendy. She pulls earbuds out of both of her ears. Wendy can faintly hear soft electronic sounds, and a sweet female voice over the sound of the city around them.

“Uhm, hey?” the girl says, with an unreadable expression.

Wendy is suddenly nervous seeing the girls face, she feels like she may have made a mistake by talking to her. “I just wanted to tell you that your pancakes were the best ones I’ve ever had, and I hope I get to have the pleasure of eating them again.”

A light shade of pink dances across the girls cheeks. Her eyes unlocking with Wendy’s, and falling to the ground. “Thank you,” her voice so soft it was almost carried away by the sounds of the car engines around them.

Confidence bubbles inside of Wendy after seeing the girl’s reaction. Suddenly, she finds herself saying more than she intended, “I, uhm, was wondering if you’d like to maybe grab coffee?”

The girl laughs, bringing a hand to her face, covering . Wendy isn’t sure why the girl is laughing, and lets out an awkward laugh herself. “You don’t even know my name, and you’re asking me out for coffee?”

The girl’s eyes crinkled ever-so-slightly in the corners when she laughed, her eyes becoming small slits, and one of eyebrows raising higher than the other. Wendy could tell the girl was laughing out of nervousness, which eased her mind slightly knowing that she wasn’t the only one who is nervous.

“Yes, I mean, you made me special pancakes, and hand delivered them yourself to me without knowing my name, so…” Wendy’s lips form into a cheeky smirk, and lets her eyes roam everywhere but the girl.

“What? Oh forgive me, for doing my job! Besides, Stephanie had me running food out to a bunch of tables,” the girl waves her hand to dismiss Wendy’s thought.

“Well, how about this, if you don’t want to get coffee with me-“

“I never said that I didn’t want to. I mean, I don’t really like coffee, but some hot tea sounds nice right now, since I can feel icicles forming in my nostrils,” she scrunches her nose, her eyes cross as she tries to look at it.

Wendy has to look away, the girl was much cuter than Wendy thought anyone could be. Wendy chuckles to herself, earning her a “Hey!” from the girl, and a slight push on her shoulder.

“Don’t laugh at me! If you want to just make fun of me, I’ll just be going,” the girl says teasingly, and starts to turn around when Wendy stops her.

“Wait! Okay sorry I laughed, you were just too cute,” Wendy winks at her.

“You sure are greasy aren’t you?” the girl tries to fake a disgusted expression, but her flushed cheeks, and the small curve of her lips give it away.

“Listen, I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing. Want to go get that hot tea now?” Wendy wraps her arms around herself, rubbing to warm her up.

“Okay, but I think I should know your name first, before I let you drag me around New York City.” Wendy swore the smile the girl just gave her has the potential to stop someone’s heart.

“I’m Wendy. I think it would be unfair for you to know my name, and for me to not know yours, don’t you think?”

“Bae. Irene Bae,” Irene says with a weird deep voice.

“Did you really just…” Wendy trails off.

“Yep, let’s just go.”

Wendy laughs, “Okay I know this cute coffee shop that has pretty good tea. It’s a couple blocks down. Are you cool to walk?”

Irene nods, and follows Wendy when she starts walking off.

Irene can’t believe she’s going to a coffee shop with someone she just met. She also can’t believe such a beautiful girl would want to take her to one. She was always super shy and quiet, so people often thought she was weird. Someone paying attention to her, is also a new feeling for Irene. One she could get used to.

*the song irene was listening to was Swim by Dizzy