~~~ RILEY ~~~

Ahhhhh... finally.... some peace and quiet.

I enter the coffee shop, order my favorite coffee, and sit down with it in a small secluded corner. I pull out a small book on the basics to understanding cardiology and start to read it. After a few chapters, a light bulb goes off in my head.

That's it! That's what I've been looking for!

I quickly grab a pen and write on my napkin the diagnosis for one of my patients. I smile at figuring it out, yet it is not a good situation.

Constrictive pericardis.

And to treat it... I'll have to put the patient on anti-inflammatory medications if the patient's conditions do not improve within a week. If the medications don't work, we'd have to discuss the surgery route, and in that case it would be up to the surgeons.

I smile, taking a sip of my coffee and closing my eyes. One down... six to go...

I don't know how long I've been sitting there for, but a silky smooth voice interrupts my relaxing time.

"Mind if I sit here?" The man asks.

I open my eyes, ready to pound whoever it is that ruined my quiet time, only to realize that it's the boy I met a couple days ago... Preston, was it?

"Yeah, sure." I respond, and he takes a seat.

After a moments silence, he speaks again. "Riley, right?"

"Mhm. And you're... Preston?" I ask, not sure if I got it right.

"Yep. So, Riley, what brings you to World Blend at" -he checks his watch- "two thirty in the morning?"

I let out a small laugh. "I should be asking you the same thing."

"Alright, alright." He smiles, putting both hands in the air in surrender. "My best friend, Drew- you met him earlier."

"Really? Same here. Alanna really drives me crazy, especially when she's drunk." I giggle.

"Drew is insane too. One time he took a shower and dumped ketchup all over himself."

"Wow, that must've been awful... did you make him clean it up?" I ask.

"Yeah, when he was still drunk. He grabbed a toothbrush and started cleaning the tub." He says, sighing. "Man, I wish I recorded that. It would've made for an awesome video."

I smile, laughing. "I bet. There was this one time when Alanna dumped a milkshake on herself and ran around my apartment singing the national anthem."

He laughs, and I realize how great his laugh is. It makes me want to hear it more. "Well, that's Texans for you."

"Yep." I reply, taking another sip of my coffee. I look at my napkin with the diagnosis and tuck it in my book.

"What's that?" He asks, and I smile.

"This? Oh, it's just my work. I'm a cardiologist and I needed a quiet space to finish it."

"Really? That's awesome! So you, like, diagnose people with heart injuries?" He asks, leaning slightly closer in interest.

"Yeah, to put it into simple terms. What do you do?"

"I'm a YouTuber... I kinda-um..." His face turns slightly red.

"Don't tell me..." I say, realization dawning on me.

"You're a minecraft youtuber?!"
"I'm a minecraft youtuber."

We both say at the same time, and I laugh. "That's actually pretty cool. I'd love to play video games for a living, but I really love my job right now. I've always loved helping people."

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were going to say that it's stupid." Preston says, sighing in relief.

"No, no... if you truly love something, if your passionate about it, then that's all that matters. You should always follow your heart." I genuinely reply.

"Thanks for the advice, Miss Cardiologist." He responds, smiling. Oh god, his smile.

"Anytime, Mr. Youtuber." I say. Suddenly, my phone goes off. "Sorry, excuse me." I say to Preston, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Riiiiiley..... I might have made a boo-boo." My drunk best friend says.

"Crap... well, I guess I'll come back home." I sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"See youuuuuuu." She says.

I hang up and look at Preston. "Seems like I'm going to have another embarrassing drunk story to tell soon."

Preston smiles, nodding. "I hope to hear about it!"

I laugh, writing down a number on a napkin and handing it to him. "Here, if you ever want to exchange more weird best friend stories, Mr. Youtuber."

"Thanks, Miss Cardiologist. See you around." He says, smiling and showing off his pearly white teeth.

"Bye." I smile, throwing my coffee cup in the garbage and walking out of the store and to my car, where I immediately sigh, the fluttery feeling in my chest slowly dying down. Once it's gone, I start the engine and drive back home to my possible death.

Drunk Alanna is scary Alanna.

~~~ PRESTON ~~~

I pull into World Blend and get out of my car, locking it before I head inside. I order a coffee and look around for a place to sit. I see the woman I met at the club, and World Blend's regular customer. I contemplate going over to her, and somebody snaps me out of my thoughts.

"I see you eyeing her. Go get her." Harriet, the employee, says. I smile gratefully at her and nod my head in agreement before I head over to the brown-haired girl... Riley, I think it was...?

"Mind if I sit here?" I ask her, snapping her out of whatever work she's doing. Oh man, now I feel bad. What if she says no? And I really don't want to interrupt her work... it seems like she's stressing over it...

"Yeah, sure." She says, and I am captivated by her voice.

I sit down and wait a minute before speaking. "Riley, right?"

"Mhm... and you're... Preston?" She asks, slightly unsure.

"Yep. So, Riley, what brings you to World Blend at" -I check my watch- "two thirty in the morning?"

She lets out a beautiful laugh, and I am bummed that it only lasted a few seconds. I'd love to hear it more. Wait, what?! "I should be asking you the same thing."

I smile, continuing the conversation.