Work Text:
No matter how hard Carol glared at the blinking cursor in front of her, the words just wouldn't come. She'd been sitting at the same booth by the window for the past three hours, trying to finish the penultimate chapter of her book on female pilots during World War II. Despite having more than enough research, she couldn't get the context quite right. And she was frustrated about it.
"More coffee?"
Carol sighed, about to snap at whoever had tried to intrude on her private moment of creativity (or unfortunate lack thereof), but the woman who greeted her with a smile as she looked up made her change her mind. Carol closed her mouth and swallowed before she answered.
"Yes, please," she said, recovering quickly and gesturing to the mug with her hands. "Maybe that's just what I need."
The waitress, Jessica, according to her name tag, reached over to pour coffee into Carol's mug.
"Writer's block?"
"You could say that," Carol said with a sigh. "Are you a writer? Most people don't make that leap unless they've been there themselves a lot."
Jessica shook her head and smiled widely. "Oh no, far from it. But you've been staring at your laptop for the past half hour, so it was either that or you'd had a stroke. I figured I'd better come check on you."
"I'm glad you did," Carol said, looking up at her.
Jessica looked down at her, trying to find something in her face, before giving what seemed to be a private smile, just for Carol. "You know, I get off at four today, if you think you might want a more stimulating evening than having a staring contest with your computer."
Carol grinned. "Sure. I'll be here."
Jessica nodded, gave her one last quick smile, and turned away to finish her shift. Maybe a night with a British stranger was exactly what Carol needed.