Enter Balzacs.
Walk up to the counter; ask for a double espresso – decline the extras.
Survey your surroundings as you wait patiently for the barista to pull your shot(s). You’ve already decided your seating: the gallery. Up there, opposite the faux-’20s coffee posters you’ll sit. Think. Wait.
At the back, underneath the high, high vaulted ceilings, there is a staircase.
This is that staircase.