“I noticed.” Everything that James had told her about Vanessa came flooding back. It was all too much to process right now.
“I take it you haven’t checked your email today?” Vanessa asked.
“Not yet. I just woke up.”
“Well, you might want to take a look. I have to go, but I’ll see you in the evening.”
Mel stretched out her arms with a smile. She was actually looking forward to celebrating her birthday with Vanessa. Then she remembered. “I’m supposed to work.”
“No, you’re not. I asked James to write you into the roster for tonight so you’d keep it free. You don’t actually have a shift.”
“How long have you been planning this?” Mel’s work schedule came out a couple of weeks in advance. Vanessa hadn’t asked her about her birthday until a few days ago.
“Oh, for quite some time now.”
Mel sat up and dragged her hands through her hair. Perhaps Vanessa’s comment about canceling the helicopter ride wasn’t a joke. And she should have felt uncomfortable about Vanessa manipulating her schedule. But she was becoming used to being subject to Vanessa’s whims. And she hated to admit it, but in this case, it was kind of sweet.
“I’ll see you this evening,” Vanessa said.
“Sure.” Mel hung up the phone and checked the time. Crap. It was 11:55. Mel had slept through her alarm. She leapt out of bed. Her email would have to wait.
Mel made it to campus with a few minutes to spare. It wasn’t until the end of her last class that she remembered to check her email. As she and Jess walked out of the building, Mel took her phone out of her bag and scrolled through her emails. They were mostly junk. Nothing from Vanessa. But she had an email from the Financial Aid Office that had been sent this morning. Had she missed a student loan payment? As she read on, she stopped in her tracks.
“Mel? Is everything okay?” Jess asked.
“Yeah…”
“What is it?”
“My student loans. Someone paid them off. Completely.”
“Wow.” Jess gaped at her. “Do you think it was Vanessa?”
Mel nodded. It could only be her.
“That’s amazing, Mel! Right?”
Mel nodded again. But familiar feelings were brewing inside of her. This was too much. There was no way she could accept this.
“Is it a birthday present? I’m surprised you told her about your birthday.”
“I didn’t. She figured it out herself. And she has this big evening all planned out, but she won’t tell me anything about it.” Now that Mel thought about it, Vanessa didn’t even tell her where they would meet.
“Sounds like she likes to keep you on your toes…” Jess trailed off, her eyes staring out into the distance.
Mel followed Jess’s gaze across the lawn. Vanessa had come to pick her up again. And this time, she was holding an enormous bouquet of yellow and white daffodils. Mel had made an offhand comment about how much she loved daffodils once before. She never expected that Vanessa would remember it.
Mel turned to Jess.
“No. You’re not running off this time,” Jess said. “I want to meet her.”
Mel groaned. She was not prepared for Vanessa and Jess to meet. But Jess didn’t care. With a confidence that rivaled Vanessa’s, she made a beeline for the parking lot. Mel only just caught up with her before she got to Vanessa.
“Happy birthday, Melanie.” Balancing the bouquet in one hand, Vanessa pulled Mel into a long, deep kiss.
Jess coughed quietly to the side. Mel broke off, suddenly conscious of all the students walking past the parking lot.
Vanessa gave Jess a warm smile. “You must be Jess. Melanie has told me all about you.”