New York, a crazy city that has a bipolar weather but is a perfect place to be. The city life is what she has always loved, it's fast, it rushes throughout day and night and it's simply magical. It surprised her daily how the city woke up at such an early time, 6:00 a. m. exactly.

Annalise was sitting on the fire escape that's outside the large windows of her living room like she does every morning to admire the sunrise as she enjoys her favourite combo: a good book and a good cup of coffee. She has always loved to admire how Manhattan woke up from her little household in Lennox Hill.

Her wavy, honey blonde locks were braided and few locks danced with the wind that sang a soft melody for them. She took a sip of her coffee as she heard footsteps inside her little apartment. They're awake. She thought, and she was right.

As soon as she stepped into the warmth of her home and left behind the cold morning air, she saw her two roommates talking in the kitchen vividly about the movie marathon they made last night, because only these three were crazy enough to make a Marvel marathon on a Thursday night before Friday.

  "But Steve didn't do anything wrong." Said Lennon as she poured some tea into her usual mug. After living in the UK for a year thanks to an internship, she learned how to make a proper cup of tea and it's what she does all the time and every single morning nowadays. "He was literally so selfless and did one selfish thing what's wrong about that?"

"What's wrong about that?" Said Naomi as she looked at her friend incredulous, leaving the spoon of her cereal on the kitchen bar as an angry, confused and surprised frown appeared on her features. "Okay, he was selfless his entire life, yes, but it was so selfish that he went after Peggy and lived a life with her when she had already lived hers, plus, the line was so fucking short for him and Bucky and it makes me so angry because after helping him for two movies, he abandoned his best friend to dance with Carter and get his 'happy ending'."

"But he deserved his happy ending."

"But it was rushed." She started to eat her cereal quickly as Lise continued to drink her coffee and smiled at the Rogers and Barnes apologists respectively as she sat down on the couch. 

These three are so different in so many ways: Lennon Coldwell is a musician that's in the talking for a contract with an important record label and has released an EP. She's quite short but has a beautiful and slim body figure, curly brown hair and beautiful amber eyes. Naomi Barnes (yes, like her comfort character) is the tallest with long and wavy brown hair, dark blue eyes, hourglass figure and is a doctor, a surgeon to be precise while Lise is average height girl with a triangle body figure, brown eyes and is a journalist that decided —after working on the Entertainment Magazine for three years— to have her own bookshop that she runs with Jessica Clarke, a girl she met in college, even though she still writes a few articles for the magazine.

They obviously went to different Universities —Juilliard (and the University of the Arts in London), Icahn and NYU respectively— but met through friends, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends, they bonded so well that when they graduated, decided to live together.

  "I think we can all agree on that." Annalise finally jumped into their conversation. Her comment caused Nom to point at her with her spoon before she took the last bite of her breakfast and Lenn to roll her eyes.

"Don't you have to go to work or something?" The other two chuckled while Barnes stood up and took her dishes towards the sink.

"In fact I do." She said after she had washed the bowl and spoon, kept the cereals in the cupboard and the milk in the fridge, then, she went to get ready as she sang 'Gorgeous' by Taylor Swift under her breath, a song she uses as alarm. She wanted to be a singer too but decided to be a surgeon instead.

"So, how's your day going to be?" Lise asked Lennon as she took Naomi's place and took the last sip of her sweet coffee.

"Day off, last Friday I handed in the last song of the second EP and Noah is checking it so that we can start producing it by Wednesday, I told him to meet me at your bookshop to check the details, hope that's okay." She answered.

Noah Moore was a guy that studied Production at the UAL at the same time than Lennon. They teamed up for a project on their Senior year of College and have been together ever since, working in team to produce each other's music. The guy has an amazing charm, he's charismatic and funny, not to mention he's British, the accent was just the cherry on top of the cake.

"Yeah, it's fine, so, we get ready and get going?" The honey blonde girl asked and her brunette friend, who nodded as Naomi walked through the hallway towards the entrance of their home wearing her marine blue uniform and white and comfortable sneakers.

"Gotta go girls, I'll be home by midnight." They laughed as she tied her long mane into a ponytail, it's always been like this, Nom seems to be the mom of the group. "I'm taking the car."

"Yeah, see you later." They said goodbye to each other as Barnes placed her white coat over her body and looked very professional.

Once she was out of the house, the other two decided to go and change their comfortable pyjamas into casual clothes. While Lenn dressed with skinny, blue, ripped jeans and a white top that popped against her tanned skin white sneakers and a petite white bag, Lise chose a small, cream, buttoned cardigan and black jeans, her go-to black Converse and a dark brown shoulder bag where she kept her basics: sunglasses, wallet, phone, earphones, charger, journal, pen, hair clip, perfume, a book and a marker.

  When they were had applied a natural makeup that consisted in mascara, blush and lipstick, they considered they were done. After each one of them had grabbed their respective keychains and they blew the aromatic candle that rests by the entrance, they walked out of the house and started walking down the street towards the bookshop.

  Annalise was lucky to find a local that was exactly eighteen meters away from their house, five away from a coffee shop where she bought her second coffee of the day and eight from Jonah's little fast restaurant, where she buys her lunch almost every day.

  When they arrived, Jessica was already there, raising the curtains of the local and letting the sunlight hit the cozy place that had wooden floors, bookshelves that's reached the ceiling and are filled with all kinds of novels, tables where more books rested, plants and cozy reading spots where the customers could sit and read calmly, where they could enjoy a moment in which they could submerge in a fantastic world before they walked out into the busy life they live in.

  "Morning." Said Jess. Her red, curly hair fell down her shoulders all the way down to her waist

"Hello." The musician and journalist greeted at the same time.

"I bought you a cappuccino, but I didn't know Lenn was coming." Jessica's voice sounded a bit guilty but both girls smiled kindly at her.

"I'm okay with it, just had tea, so, it's fine really." Said Lennon and Jess smiled with relief.

"Okay, so, Lenn, go, grab any book you'd like and read while Noah gets here, and Jess, I'll be here to take the first shift while you organise the books from the shelves that are on the back, those are the only ones left to be organised, people will start arriving at 8:00 or 8:30 as usual so, it'll be calm until then." Said Annalise as she walked to the counter and placed her bag on the chair, let her hair loose and sat down. That's how things usually went, they worked under a casual and none strict nor tight schedule.

"You got it boss." Said Jess sarcastically before she walked away to do as she was told and Lennon smiled at her friend, who was very proud of herself. Even if both of them run the store, Jess always considered Lewis the boss because it was her idea to set it in the first place.

  Coldwell grabbed 'Shadow and Bone', the first book of the GrishaVerse series she started reading three days ago while Lise took 'Ahsoka' out of her bag. The three girls had a lot in common, one of them was being nerdy, but if one of them had to be picked to be crowned as 'the nerdiest of the friend group' it could be Lewis. She could talk on and on for hours about her favourite franchises without feeling ashamed and would not only include the movies and shows but the books she has found and ordered on Amazon. In fact, she has a secret Twitter account to talk about Star Wars in the daily, sha may not have 5K followers, but she has made good friends throughout the past three months she has been having it.

  About two hours had gone by when the bell rang, indicating that a new customer walked in. Around 8:00 a. m. the people started to walk more often into the shop as it's usual until it was basically full and Lise wondered how did Jess and herself alone could handle this. Five minutes ago, things settled down a bit and went a little quiet again.

Lise looked up as she took the final sip of her small cup of cappuccino and saw a girl walking in. She had shoulder length, black hair, wore a long brown coat and smiled as she looked around.

  After Lise greeted her costumer and asked how and if she could help her, received the answer 'I know what I'm looking for, thank you' and another smile, she let it pass and returned to her reading. Five minutes went by and Jess said she needed a larger coffee, so, Lise said she'd covered her friend. No one could blame Clarke, it was still early and in this city, the battery of the people is caffeine.

  Annalise realised the girl who entered the store was not making any noise, for some reason, Lewis worried about that, so, she placed the book marker on the page she was currently reading, —that was basically the epilogue— closed the book, stood up and had a look at the bottom part of the bookshop, spotting the girl hiding a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' into her large coat.

"Hey." She called and the jet black haired woman looked at her. At the same time, someone entered the local, she looked over her shoulder and spotted a tall guy that's carrying multiple bags and was looking around. "With you in a minute." She said and looked at the girl. "Hi."

"Hi." They smiled at each other.

"Um, bad news." The girl frowned.

"What?"

"I saw you putting that book in your coat."

"What book?"

"The book that you kept in your coat." They stood in silence, looking at each other and feeling a terrible awkwardness falling on top of them. "I'll tell you what, if you want it, I'll need you to pay for it." She said with her usual kind and calmed tone of voice. "Otherwise I'll call the police but I can assure you that Mister Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet's enemies to lovers story won't change if you just pay for it rather than steal it." Lise was able to hear the chuckle of the guy behind her as the dark eyes of the black haired girl rolled and seemed to be getting out of their sockets when she looked at the person who was behind the owner of the shop. She slowly took the book out of her coat and handed it over to Annalise.

"I'll buy it." Lewis grabbed it and smiled with relief at the thief who ended up paying and walked to the counter to register the purchase. As she silently and gracefully wrapped the book with recyclable paper and kept it an a small tote bag —that fit the aesthetic of the local— she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up. "Do you have paper and pen?" The customer asked without removing her gaze from the guy who was patiently waiting for Lise to vacate. He was tall, probably 5'10, wore a light grey shirt, white jacket, black trousers, black cap and sunglasses. His graceful features seemed familiar and she was sure she had seen him before.

"Sure." She grabbed her pen and a paper sheet where she writes down numbers or coffee orders for the usual customers, —her friends— Jess and herself, and handed it over to the girl who was hypnotised by the guy, then, she returned to type into the inventory note pad that a Jane Austen book had been bought.

"Thanks." The girl wearing the brown coat grabbed the materials and offered them to the boy. "Can I have your autograph?" She asked and Lise frowned. Was he famous? Is that why she recognised him but not...quite?

"Sure." Said he as he removed his sunglasses and that's when she knew who he was. The famous Timothée Chalamet. A guy who was been in some of her favourite movies, is incredibly handsome and has all the girls of the world at his feet. "What's your name?" He asked as he placed the bags he was carrying on the ground.

"Esmé."

"Esmé." He repeated. His voice was calm, not so deep but not so high and it was raspy, as if he has been awake for barely ten minutes. He wrote down a lot for what Lise imagined would be 'Love you Esmé, thanks for everything.' Of course that's what she would've written if only she was famous and a girl that planned to rob a book had asked her for her signature, even Esmé realised. When he was done, he bend the paper by the half, then, he proceeded to grab his bags from the wooden floor.

"What does it say?" She asked as he handed the paper to her and the pen to Lise, who was now hypnotised by him and his beauty.

"Esmé, robbing books it's not a nice thing to do, all the love, Tim. My signature's above it." His sarcasm made Annalise chuckle this time. He smiled at her.

"Alright." Lise called her customer's attention. "It's going to be $16 dollars, the bag is a gift from the store." The girl payed for her book and after Lise placed her receipt into the bag, gave Esmé her change and handed the bag over, Esmé the signed paper into the bag and walked out. A second later, Anna sighed. "Sorry about all that." She apologised as it is her kind nature.

Timothée smiled at her and she made an effort to keep it cool and not fall down on the chair as she felt the blood of her body rushing to her face as his oceanic eyes locked with her earthy ones. "It's fine, truth is I was planning to steal a book myself but then changed my mind." They chuckled with his joke, then, they silently looked at each other for a couple seconds. "I am looking for a book."

"Obviously." It also had to be said, she's sarcastic too, she thinks sarcasm is humour and that humour is a great ice breaker, even if there didn't seem to be any ice in between each other. He chuckled and she blushed even harder, his laughter was melodic and she hasn't heard a melodic laughter like that one in nearly a year.

"Yeah, the problem is I don't know which one I'd like to buy."

"Well, that depends on the genre you're interested in."

"Recommendations?" He left the bags on the ground again and leaned his hands on the counter, his eyes never leaving hers as a soft grin made its way through his rosy lips and they were —at least— fifteen inches away from each other now. That's when she was able to spot the soft freckles that rest on the bridge of his nose and admire the beauty of his green eyes that had a hint of light blue in them. It was a mystic combination of colours that was so shocking and so beautiful. They were a vast ocean that had soft waves coming and going in all directions. Truly mesmerising. "I usually like to read people's favourite books so...your favourites?"

"M- my favourites?" She stuttered and hated herself for it, for giving in to his magic, but truth is no one could blame her either. He nodded. "Okay, so, there's classic Little Women but I don't think you need to read that one, you played Laurie in the movie so-" They both chuckled. "Um...there's the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Maze Runner...the Red Queen series-"

"Red Queen?" She nodded and moved a blonde lock behind her ear. "I haven't read it, what's that one about?" She smiled kindly and something stirred in him, but he didn't really know what or why, she just flashed him a smile.

"Okay, so, it's a fantastic world where the Kingdom of Norta is at war with the northern Kingdom of the Lakelands. War has been going on for years now and I must mention that society is divided in two: silvers and reds." He frowned and she chewed her bottom lip as she let her bookworm-self out. "The silvers have abilities like controlling fire, water, metal or lights and shadows at will while the reds are 'common' people and the ones the, royals, aka. silvers, use as soldiers for their army."

"Sounds thrilling." She smiled as she nodded. "You said it was a series." He narrowed his eyes a bit and she nodded again.

"Yeah, four books and and...five novellas." He raised his eyebrows as she smiled. "My face exactly when I found out and thought my bank account was going to sue me." He chuckled again.

"I'll have the four books." It was her turn for rising her eyebrows as she smiled, he smiled back. And goodness, he looked so cute.

"O...kay." She walked away from the counter to make her way towards the YA Fantasy section of the bookshelves. When her eyes met Lennon's —who was listening to their conversation and screaming internally— she opened her mouth with surprise, then, after she had recovered her composure, she turned back around. "I'll bring them right away." He nodded and continued to look around to admire the art pieces that were hanging from the walls.

"On second thought..." Lise turned around as she grabbed the third book. "I'll have the first two." They offered each other a kind smile and she left the book on the shelf before she walked back to where he was standing.

"Alright." She walked back to the counter and registered the purchase. "It'll be $30 dollars." He nodded again and proceeded to take his wallet out as she wrapped the books like she always does. When she was done, she looked up and he offered thirty dollars exactly, she registered the payment and placed the receipt into the bag, then, she offered it to him. "There you go." He smiled and grabbed the bag. "Thank you for your purchase."

"Thank you." He said, picked his stuff from the ground. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Oh, Annalise or Lise for short."

"Annalise or Lise for short." He repeated with a chuckle and her heart jumped a bit as she giggled and blushed once more. "Well, see you around." He added as he placed his sunglasses back on and made his way towards the door.

  A silence fell upon the local as he walked out of the store, not before he sent Lennon a kind head nod that counted as greeting. Lenn waved at him and both girls were quiet as they watched him walk through the tall windows and they continued silent once he turned around the corner and was gone from view. A second later they looked at each other.

"Oh...my...God." Said Lise and Lennon screamed as she couldn't believe he had been there. Both of them went to the premiere of 'Call Me By Your Name' and instantly loved him.

  Lise blinked a few times as she placed her hair behind her ears and walked up to the table of books by the door and looked at the people that came and went to start their day. As soon as she placed her hands on the books, Jessica walked in again and the bell chimed.

"Sorry about being gone for so long." She sighed. "At this time of the morning the coffee shop is full." None of them answered as they let the situation sink in, a second later, Lise scoffed as she smiled.

"No worries." She told her friend. "You'll never believe who was just in here."

"Who?" She took a sip of her coffee and then her eyes opened wildly. "Was it someone famous?" She looked at the glass of the windows as she tried to spot someone she knows as a celebrity but looked back at her friend.

"Do you remember the guy who's movie is about to release? Timothée Chalamet?" Asked Lennon and Jess' eyes opened wildly again. "Yup, him, he was here." They screamed again and Lise chuckled. "He was totally flirting with Miss Lewis here." The three of them chuckled.

"Yeah...maybe he was just being kind you know?" Said Lise as she denied acknowledging when someone flirts with her, not because she doubted her beauty, or her looks, or her intelligence, no, it simple was because she has never really been attention's sweet center, she usually was on the side and truth is that made her stand out in some way but not enough for someone like Timothée Chalamet to flirt with her. Anna was the kind of girl didn't have much friends and would much rather stay in, watch 90's films and read her entire bookshelf over and over again. But of course, a few guys were hooked by her simplicity and delicate beauty.

  When she entered College, she could realise whenever boys flirted with her but she never wanted to give in, she feared the 'boys will be boys' statement. She didn't want her heart to be broken, she wanted something serious and nowadays that's hard to find. Everything changed when she met Tommy Smith, her best friend that eventually became her first boyfriend. He was a great guy and they dated for half a year but eventually and gradually, they both fell out of love, so, deciding to go back to being best friends was the easiest and less painful thing to do, and it worked out fine. Though she must admit, it did hurt a bit when he said he developed feelings for Naomi, the girl they had met through Will, another doctor that was friends with Tom, but she was happy see him happy, besides, the girl ended up being one of Lise's best friends and we know how the rest is history.

  Then she met a boy during a shift of her part-time job at the coffee shop that used to be in between the faculties of the University. Peter Taylor, a painter with very creative ideas that ordered the same thing every single day: a ham panini with a latte. He saw her so often that eventually asked for a date and she agreed. After they hanged out and got to know each other perfectly, they started dating. Their relationship lasted a year, their Senior year, but this time, he was the one who fell out of love and left her broken hearted.

  That's why she didn't want to acknowledge whenever someone flirts with her, she fears to fall for someone that'd make her heart jump and then cry. The problem was that the flirty looks the famous actor sent her, his raspy tone of voice, his comments and his charm made it impossible for her heart not to jump. She smiled as she felt her cheeks turning in fire again.

  "Oh my goodness, would you imagine the amount of people that'd come here if they knew he was here?" Asked Lenn.

"Thousands." Answered Jess.

"Yeah, but I don't want them to." Said Lise making the other two frown.

"Why not? It would be great for the business." Lennon contradicted.

"Well, because it'll be filled with fangirls that won't even be here to buy books, they'll just be waiting for him to show up and he probably won't." They seem to consider her answer. She knew she was right. In that moment, Noah walked in. His curly brown hair seemed puffy as usual and his smile and brown eyes were full of kindness.

  "Hello ladies." He said with his characteristic accent. "Hello love." He added as he approached Lennon, who wrapped her arms around his torso and kissed him tenderly. "Morning." They smiled at each other.

"Morning." Coldwell repeated, then, he approached Jess and Lise to greet them with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Have you had breakfast?"

"No, I haven't, I rushed from my place here, there's a lot of traffic for being so early." He lives by Wall Street. At this moment of the morning many business men and women were on their way to their offices, calling people down their phones and driving the busy streets, logically, there was traffic for him. Thirty minutes tops but, he wakes up at 8:00, so, it made more sense.

"Well, I'm thirsty and hungry." Lise informed. "I was about to go to Jonah's store, would any of you like something?"

"You serious?" Asked he.

"Yeah, it's on me, you'll pay for something else later on." She smiled at her friends and they smiled at her.

"I want our usual." Said Lenn.

"Ham beagle and orange juice, got it." Her brown eyes went from her amber ones to Jess' bright blue ones.

"Peanut butter and strawberry jam beagle please." She said as Anna wrote down the order on the paper.

"Something to drink?" She asked.

"No, I still have coffee." Lise nodded and looked at Noah.

"Ham panini please." She bit her lip. "And orange juice too." She nodded and finished the list.

"Okay, so, to confirm:" She said as she grabbed her bag, kept everything that he had taken out of it to place it in again and started to walk towards the door. "One ham panini, one peanut butter and strawberry jam beagle, two ham beagles and three orange juices, right?" They all nodded. "Okay, be right back." She opened the door and made the bell sing.

"You're an angel!" Yelled Noah as she walked out.

"I know!" She yelled back and the door close behind her.

The sunlight hit her face and she loved how warm it felt. The air was still a bit cold but to be honest, she loved cold weather and has never been a fan of hot air, she thinks it's suffocating.

Lise walked up to Jonah's store that was right beside the coffee shop. They've known each other for a long while. When she needed extra money for the rent of the bookshop before she saved enough to buy the local, she baby-sitted his two daughters while he worked with his wife at the shop. As soon as Mara's eyes landed on her she smiled.

They greeted each other and Mara asked her husband to start working on two ham beagles while she poured the two cups of juice. Annalise didn't even need to ask for her order because of how often she'd go and ask for the same, at the end, she loves routines. Lise then asked for the rest of the order for her mates, when they handed a cup holder with the three vases, the bag with the warm beagles and she payed for the breakfast, she walked out and started her way back to the shop admiring and enjoying her mundane life even if the event that had just taken place made it look like one of her favourite movies.

As she thought of Hugh Grant and William Thacker —aka. the love of her life— she wondered how would life be if that happened to her and if she'd ever meet a man like that...like Pete again. That's what instantly charmed her about him: Peter was nerdy and had this nervous energy that made her love him. Not to mention that he was very romantic and loved everything deeply, hence being a painter that captures moments and beauty of everything he saw, or at least that's what he said whenever she asked what was he doing as he took pictures of people, landscapes or herself to paint them later on. That's why she was so shocked when he said that he didn't feel the same anymore.

As she daydreamed about the past and life in films, she bumped into someone. The coldness of the orange juice was splashed into the two individuals —mostly the other person though— and when she looked up to apologise, she realised how life can actually look like a 90's rom-com, as stupid and impossible as it could be.