"Hey, girl," Santiago stepped away from a customer seated at a table for just a moment to greet her.

She smiled at him brightly and selected a small table in the back of the cafe. It was open-mic night on Saturdays. She had never been to the coffee shop so late in the evening before. Fairy lights were glowing and hung all around the perimeter of the cafe, inside and out. A girl with thick eyeliner and short, bleached hair was strumming on a guitar and singing into the microphone. Her voice was feathery and sentimental. Patrons were sipping on lattes, nibbling on large, chewy cookies, and whispering to each other as she performed.

Once her song was over, everyone clapped and the next performer, a boy that could not have been a day over ten-years-old, walked up onto the tiny stage with a worn ukulele in his hands.

Monica's table was the only one in the farthest back corner, wedged between the stage and the wall. She set her tote bag in the other chair and took Astrid's laptop out of it. She opened it and turned it on. The glow of the screen lit up her face and the wall behind her.

"Got a new laptop?" Santiago asked.

Monica only smiled. She felt she would be lying if she nodded.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" he squinted his eyes.

"I had a snack."

"I got you, girl. I'll be right back. You want a latte or tea?"

"A latte, please. And thank you."

He waved his hand in the air between them as if his generosity was nothing. He headed back over to the counter to make her latte and put in a sandwich order for her.

The boy's voice was rather high and shaky as he sung, but as his song progressed he gained more confidence. He sung about the past, raindrops and bugs. There was a lady in the audience. She had a huge smile on her face, holding her phone up to record his performance.

Once Monica was logged in, she didn't look at anything personal yet. She only browsed the internet aimlessly until her order was brought to her. She did not have a laptop or a computer of her own. Over a year ago, she and Owen were more strapped for cash than usual. She sold her old laptop, the one she used all throughout college, so they could make rent that month.

A new performer was mid-way through his song once her food came. "Here you go," Santiago set down a plate before her. "This is my new favorite. It's a panini with mozzarella, spinach, marinated artichoke, tomato and a caramelized onion spread." He paused to see Monica's reaction. "And here's your vanilla latte with a dash of cinnamon." He brought his serving tray up to his chest and smiled infectiously.

"Thank you. This looks delicious."

"It really is. I hope you'll enjoy it. Wave me over if you need anything else, alright?"

She nodded and dug into her sandwich. Usually, she only browsed on a library computer or the sleek, silver one at Jane's place. She caught up with some blogs she liked and checked some travel sites with articles about Europe. She longed for a trip overseas because she had never been there before. She became engrossed with an article about Budapest as she sipped on her latte and finished her panini. Just as she wiped her mouth, Santiago came to whisk her empty plate away and set a tall glass of water with mint on her table.

"Need anything else?"

She shook her head and watched him as he swayed from table to table making everyone smile in his presence.

Monica thought she had procrastinated enough. She really had no clue where to start. She almost opened Pictures but then thought against it. She wasn't ready to see Astrid's face. She was afraid what her reaction might be. Instead, she opened up Documents.

Astrid had her documents divided into four folders: Lyrics, Musings, Poetry and Random. Monica selected the second folder and up popped hundreds of files. She scrolled up and down and left to right. Her eyes darted all around and she saw file names such as MyMother, Sundays, InsideMyLonelyDays, Adventure, LittleHandsandFaces, Penguins, StainedGlass, and then there was a file name that froze her:

Monica.