Reforming the Romance Novel's Male Lead

Chapter 1

I had lived a fairly average life before that, a college graduate with a degree that got me nothing, working multiple crappy jobs just to make ends meet. I didn't go out much, that required money and friends, but that didn't mean I didn't have things I enjoyed.

Such as my newest obsession, Through Fire and Water, a romance web novel. It wasn't the best story, the main character was a little dull, and very dependent on the main lead, who was a little too obsessed, dark and brooding for my taste. I still managed to enjoy it however, it had good action scenes, fun side characters, and most importantly, my favorite character of the novel:

The Coffee Girl.

Or so I named her. She wasn't important enough to have a name, not being an integral art of the story. But despite her limited time in the book, I found myself agreeing with her actions most of the time.

For example, during one scene in the story, the main character Darla is almost kidnapped. The male lead, Jack, of course steps in and beats up the would-be assailants. By the time he's done beating them up, however, the cops are already arriving. Why? Because coffee girl called them, of course. It was a perfectly sensible thing to do. After all when someone's being kidnapped wouldn't that be someone's first response rather than fighting them one by one like an action movie star?

Despite her demonstrated common sense, however, I did have some concerns about the character. She seemed overly attentive to Jack, knowing what his "regular" order of coffee was. Even though she had called the cops, she helped Jack escape through the employee entrance, keeping him from the awkward position of being questioned by the police.

Did coffee girl have a crush on the male lead?

This worried me greatly. As anyone who reads romance knows, no good ending awaits a woman who tries to get between the lead couple. If she was lucky, she'd just end up sad, humiliated and alone. If she was unlucky...

Something had to be done.

Finally, I wrote the author, expressing my love of the character and the hope that one day she would find happiness. To my surprise the author wrote me back, but the few words they sent back didn't make me feel that much better:

"Don't worry. She'll find her happiness. I promise. ;)"

Distrustful of this offhand reply, I remained very concerned for the fate of my favorite character. Then, one day, I came across a discussion thread regarding the newest update.

The title of the thread was "Tragedy at the Coffee Shop."

Oh no! Did they kill off Coffee Girl? She was the only sensible character! Worried, I didn't read the fan thread, and immediately made my way to the novel's website. Seeing the new chapter link, I felt inexplicably nervous as I moved the mouse over.

I hope she'll be okay. With that last thought, I clicked on the link.

And woke up in a coffee shop.

What the heck?

I looked around at my surrounding, completely confused. How did I get here? This did not look anything like my bedroom or crappy apartment.

Not good.

"Welcome to Heavenly Coffee, what's your order?"

The girl at the counter next to me greeted a customer. Looking down at myself, I quickly realized I was wearing an employee uniform, a grey apron with the coffee shop's logo emblazoned on the front. I was apparently working at this place that I had arrived at unexpectedly.

Wait a minute. What had that girl called this place?

I glanced around, confirming the name of the shop with a groan. Heavenly Coffee. Wasn't that the name of the coffee shop in Through Fire and Water, the romance novel?