Matthew had waited weeks. Weeks, desperately praying to gods he didn’t believe in—all for a special someone to walk through those café doors.

His professor had been pressing him to find a model for his sculpture. He’d come up short for a while, and the deadline to submit his piece was approaching. A piece that was worth 40% of his final grade. Matthew had zero friends, so that was a no-go, his classmates already had their own pieces to do, and even if he had any family to contact, he would not ask any of them.

He wracked his brain, day and night, tossing and turning in his cheap, metal framed bed until sunrise. Who would inspire the piece that would let him graduate? All his questions were put to rest on a random day while he was on his café shift.