at the beginning.

“Don’t mention it. I know you’d do the same for me.” Raj quipped and grinned at her. “And when you do maybe you can get the number from that cute barista for me.”

Roxie nodded with a smile. It seemed as though she had a lot to sort out now - dig out the old songs she’d written, tune up her guitar and actually find out if the coffee shop would let her play. “Hey, thanks for giving me that little pep talk,” she laughed a little sheepishly, but was genuinely grateful, “you’re definitely right about grabbing what you want while you can.”

“Thanks. I feel like I waited too long with my own life, so I’m glad I’m at least getting someone jumped started on theirs.”

“That’d be awesome!” Roxanne nodded. Her worst nightmare would be if people didn’t like what she’d written, but then she supposed she’d never find out people’s opinions until she let them hear her sing. “I guess I should ask whoever owns the coffee shop if they’re okay with me setting up there?” She laughed. “I don’t wanna start off on the wrong foot.”

Roxanne laughed, hearing how she herself must sound being so scared to take a leap of faith. “That’s true.” She nodded. She knew full well that she didn’t want to spend her life waiting on other people, taking their orders and their bad attitudes too. She bit down on her lip thoughtfully and nodded, considering Noelle’s suggestion. “I could try it? I’ve never played anything I’ve written before. It could be fun.”

"You should. Honestly, it’d be such a fun thing to do. I can spread the word for you, if you’d like. Get you a bit of a crowd going.”

“I guess at least I know I’m good at bartending? I worry that I wouldn’t be good enough to have a career doing anything that I enjoy.” She wasn’t usually this self-deprecating, and quickly realised how negative she sounded. “Maybe a little more practice will give me a confidence boost. I used to love writing music.” She finally brightened.

“I knew that I was good at managing a Starbucks, but that doesn’t mean I had to end up there,” she said, not wanting to just give up there. “You’re young, you can still do it. Hey, why don’t you perform some music at one of the coffee shops? I’m sure you’d attract a crowd.”

“Uhm…” her nose wrinkled up a little before she shook her head, “no, not really. It pays the bills but it’s definitely not my job for life. To be honest, I have no idea what I want to do.” Roxanne laughed a little. “Something creative would be nice, but that’s a tough industry to break into.”

“If you know how to handle yourself around some fairly questionable characters then you’d probably do okay.” Roxanne had never had to deal with any situation that made her uncomfortable. Most were just drunks who just needed to know where the door was and she was happy to show it to them.

“Then maybe you should consider regular vacation trips during the hottest season here. I start wondering if maybe you’re about to melt, given the rather desperate complaints. Let’s hope this helps.” he quipped before handing her an iced frappuccino he had gotten for her from Starbucks.

“I’m good at multi-tasking, so that definitely helps.” Roxanne nodded. “Hey, depending on what night you come in, sometimes my customers are unconscious and unaware!” She joked, laughing at herself a little louder than was probably acceptable. 

“Something tells me you’d love London. Less heat, more rain.”

“Wow, that sounds important.” Roxie nodded, sufficiently impressed by the other woman’s job. “I work at Blackout Bar, I’m a bartender slash waitress there. Nowhere near as cool as what you do, but it’s… well it’s something.” She laughed.

“Yeah, I guess if you can’t dress for the heat then it makes it way harder to deal with. I’m kinda lucky that I don’t have to cover up at work so I don’t get so hot and sweaty.” She wrinkled her nose up at the thought of it. “Do you work at the hospital?” She asked, assuming as much because she’d mentioned the scrubs.

She nodded in agreeance. “I do, I work as a respiratory therapist. Everyone hooked up to trachs and all that fun stuff. Where do you work?”

“Oh, definitely. I’m the absolute worst for complaining about the weather.” She laughed, rolling her eyes at herself. “But I do prefer it when it’s warmer, mostly because I’m used to it.” 

“Back home,” she referred to as if she hasn’t spent a majority of her life in the States, “It was never this hot. So I don’t think I’d ever get used to this heat. And scrubs aren’t the best for the cold or the heat.”

“Days like these I could totally just lay in a cold bath all day and do nothing.” She laughed. “That would be super unproductive though.”