[7:30 PM – A cozy café, dim lighting, light jazz playing in the background. Emma sits alone, reading a novel. Ryan, looking for a place to sit, notices the empty chair across from her.]
Ryan: [smiles] Hey, is this seat taken?
Emma: [looks up from her book] Hmm, well, technically no, but I might start charging rent.
Ryan: [chuckles] Fair enough. I can pay in compliments or interesting conversation. Your choice.
Emma: Hmm… intriguing. Let’s start with a compliment.
Ryan: Alright. You have this very ‘mysterious, lost in a book but secretly watching the world’ kind of vibe. It’s… captivating.
Emma: [raises an eyebrow, amused] Not bad. But what if I told you I’m just re-reading a book I’ve already read twice?
Ryan: That just makes you even more interesting. Either the book is amazing, or you just love revisiting familiar stories.
Emma: Maybe both. [closes book slightly] What about you? Do you prefer new adventures or familiar places?
Ryan: New adventures, hands down. I love capturing moments—traveling, meeting new people, photographing sunsets in places I’ve never been before.
Emma: A traveler and a photographer. Sounds like a dreamer.
Ryan: [grins] Guilty as charged. And you? What’s your dream?
Emma: [pauses, thinking] To own a small bookstore with a hidden coffee corner. A place where people can get lost in words… just like me.
Ryan: That sounds like a place I’d never want to leave. A world of stories and the smell of coffee? Perfect.
Emma: [smiles] You make it sound like magic.
Ryan: Maybe because some places—and people—have a little magic in them.
Emma: [laughs softly] You’re quite the smooth talker, aren’t you?
Ryan: Only when I meet someone worth talking to.
Emma: [blushes slightly, looking at her book] So, do you always walk into cafés and charm strangers?
Ryan: No. Usually, I just take my coffee and go. But tonight, something told me to sit here.
Emma: And now?
Ryan: Now, I’m wondering if I’ll ever want to leave.
Emma: [softly] Careful, Ryan. I might start believing you.
Ryan: Then maybe I should spend the next twenty minutes convincing you I mean every word.
Emma: [smiles] I’d like to see you try.
[And so, they keep talking—about books, travel, dreams, and little moments that make life beautiful. A spark lingers between them, hinting that maybe, just maybe, this meeting was meant to be.]
[7:50 PM – The café continues to buzz around them, but for Emma and Ryan, time seems to slow down.]
