As Julian took a sip of his hazelnut coffee and tried to decide if he needed extra-extra sugar, his phone started to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw that it was his boss and grimaced.

"What's up, Doug?"

"Jules, my man, my main man."

"Annie needs me to fill in again, doesn't she?"

"More like I need you to fill in for Annie."

Julian sighed and plopped himself into the nearest chair. "What's her excuse this time?"

"I'll tell you when I get it."

"So she just didn't show up."

"Yeah, not answering her phone, either."

Leaning against the arm of the chair, he took a sip of his coffee and scanned the room. "How many times are you going to let her get away with this?"

"If she wasn't my sister's kid, she'd've been out months ago."

"Ah, nepotism. My favorite kind of injustice."

"Jules, you know I appreciate all you do here."

His eyes caught on a girl sitting at a table by the window to his left. Her chestnut curls fell over her face as she bent over a sketchbook. When she lifted her head to look at her phone, Julian recognized her as the painting girl.

"And I know it's not fair to keep asking you to fill in on such short notice."

The girl rested the tip of the pencil on her lips and stared into the distance. He watched her, intrigued by the concentration in her expression.

"If you can't come in, I understand."

Pursing her lips, she tapped the pencil against the table. Her eyes widened and the corners of her mouth slowly lifted into a soft smile. Bending over the sketchbook once more, she began scribbling notes by what she had just drawn.

"Jules?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled down at what she had written.

"Jules?"

Curious as to what she was drawing, he unknowingly leaned over the arm of the chair, trying to get a better look.

"Jules!"

His arm slipped, causing his phone to fall out of his grip. The nearby tables turned their attention to him as he quickly righted himself and scooped it up. Doug was still talking on the other end.

"Sorry, about that," Julian said after inspecting the screen for cracks.

"What happened?"

His eyes returned to the painting girl. She was still concentrating on her sketchbook, not even noticing the scene he had just made.

"I'll be there in fifteen," he said to Doug.

"You're sure?"

Tearing his eyes away from the girl, he looked down at his watch. "Yeah, it's fine, I'm on my way now."

"You are a lifesaver, Jules."

"I've always been fonder of Jolly Ranchers myself. I'll see you in a few."

Hanging up the phone, Julian tucked it away and grabbed his coffee. As he left the cafe, his eyes strayed once more to the painting girl, who was still fixated on her sketchbook.