Chapter 2 #2
I break down. This is the worst possible news I could have gotten.
Leah walks around the counter and asks what’s going on, and Ivan explains the situation while I try desperately to dry my eyes.
Leah offers me the rest of the day off, promising she’ll cover anything here while I figure out what to do.
Ivan stays beside me the entire time, completely forsaking whatever his plans for the day were. He rubs my shoulders across the table and whispers encouraging words to me while I try desperately to control myself.
“Look, I know this is a strange thing to offer because you don’t know me, but I might be able to help you,” Ivan whispers.
I look up at him, not fully understanding.
“I have a penthouse here in the city that has more rooms than I could ever dream of using. You can stay in one free of charge while you figure everything else out. I might even be able to help you with the tuition.”
“No,” I say abruptly, shaking my head. He’s taken aback by the answer, and I reach forward, squeezing his hand. “Thank you for offering, but that’s too much. I couldn’t possibly accept that.”
Ivan looks around the cafe, gesturing to the Christmas trees and twinkling lights dangling from the ceiling. Right now, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ is playing over the speakers and there’s a light snowfall outside.
“Consider this a Christmas miracle,” he whispers, grabbing my hand and refusing to let it go. “I’m happy to help.”
I smile at him as I think about it, genuinely giving it some weight.
Going back home isn’t an option. My family never believed I could actually do this, and they all thought I was silly for trying.
Telling them my scholarship was a mistake, that I actually wasn’t chosen to get it, would be admitting defeat.
But at the same time, I can’t very well just stay on campus. Classes end in a few days, and after that, everybody has to leave for winter break. I’ll have to move everything out of my dorm room by the end of the week if I can’t figure out a way to pay for tuition.
Maybe Ivan’s right. This might be my only option, and he’s swooping in like a guardian angel. The song changes on the speaker and ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ plays. I look over his shoulder at the snow piling up in the window, and I nod.
Who says miracles don’t happen?
After making a quick stop at my dorm room to grab a duffle bag full of clothes and personal items, Ivan drives me to his penthouse.
I’m quiet the entire way. He doesn’t push me to talk because he knows my entire life just shifted below me.
Unsurprisingly, he lives in a glorious building in Manhattan that I’ve walked by a dozen times and never even dreamed of stepping inside.
Ivan has to put in a code to get the elevator to the top floor because the entire thing is his. There’s no hallway or door, as soon as the elevator opens, we’re home.
Staff are waiting for us when we step inside.
A few housemaids and a chef, along with a few burly-looking men that I assume are some kind of security guards.
I shouldn’t be surprised by how opulent everything is in here considering he casually waved off how I ruined a thousand-dollar suit the other day.
The staff are all very friendly with me as they introduce themselves and tell me their roles in the penthouse.
Ivan must have told them I was coming because a guest room is already made for me.
One of the maids, an older woman named Katia, leads me to a room with an oversized bed and a sprawling view of Central Park.
“Please, take some time to get accustomed to your room and the rest of the penthouse,” Ivan says from the doorway. “I’ll come and find you for dinner soon.”
“Thank you,” I say. He nods and leaves, closing the door behind him.
I fall back on the bed and think about everything that’s happened over the past few hours. My entire life was up in the air, and Ivan swooped in and caught it before it could crash to the ground.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about tuition, that’s certainly too much to ask Ivan to pay for.
But at the same time, living here and working at the cafe could help me get on my feet enough to begin some kind of payment plan with the university.
Not living on campus is going to save me a lot of money.
After a while, a knock on the door catches my attention, and Katia summons me to the dining room for dinner.
Ivan is already waiting at the end of a long banquet-style table with food spread out all over it. It smells delicious. Just about every comfort food you could imagine: mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, a roast chicken, green bean casserole.
“You didn’t cook all this for me, did you?” I ask, taking a seat beside him.
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I asked Yuri to make a spread,” Ivan explains, reaching out and squeezing my hand. “I trust you feel a little better.”
“I’m still shell-shocked, but I’m coming to terms with the phone call now,” I say. I stare at him with a smile, noticing how he doesn’t pull his hand away from mine immediately. It’s comforting, and I can’t ignore the flicker of excitement in my gut as I feel his skin against mine.
He only pulls his hand away as he grabs a serving spoon from the table and starts filling my plate with heaping portions. Honestly, the cafeteria food at the university is not good, and I’ve mostly been living on sandwiches from the cafe. A home-cooked meal is exactly what I needed.
We eat in silence for the first few minutes with the exception of me commenting on how delicious and flavorful everything I’m trying is. Ivan promises to pass my praise on to Yuri, the chef.
“I don’t think I know what you do for a living,” I say after a while, hoping to break the silence and get to know my mysterious benefactor a little better.
He shrugs and takes a big bite of roast chicken. “This and that. I own a shipping company, and I make a lot of investments.”
“Investments in what exactly?”
“Real estate, businesses,” Ivan says between bites. “I invest in people from time to time.”
I want to ask him more about that because something about it is a little ominous, but before I can, Yuri walks in with a fresh basket of dinner rolls and sets it down in front of us.
“How did you get interested in animation?” Ivan asks me before I can inquire more about his life.
“I’ve always loved art. On top of that, I grew up watching cartoons and Pixar movies, and I always wanted to know how those were made.
For Christmas when I was twelve, my parents got me an iPad mini, and I downloaded all kinds of animation apps and made little animations of robots and fairies and things like that,” I say with a wistful smile.
“It’s always something I’ve loved. Having the opportunity to study it was a dream come true. ”
My voice cracks, and I clear my throat, looking down at my plate. Ivan puts his fork down when he senses how distraught I am once again at facing the idea of losing the one thing I’ve ever wanted.
“It’ll be okay. I’m not going to let you lose your dream,” Ivan assures me, his hand on mine.
Both of us finish eating shortly after, and he guides me from the dining room back to my bedroom, knowing that I’m eager to go to sleep and wash my hands of this day. As we walk, his hand finds mine, and his fingers lace through my own.
It takes me aback for a moment, but I sink into the feeling. I like it. Ivan has been a comfort to me through all of this chaos, and being able to hold his hand, knowing that he’s right here for me, is nice.
When we get to my door, he stops in front of it, staring down at me with a smile that makes my heart flutter. I almost feel high looking at him, and the butterflies in my chest are nearly audible, they’re so obnoxious.
“Despite the circumstances, I’m really glad I was able to help you,” Ivan says, pulling his hand from my own and reaching it toward my face. I gasp when I feel his rough hands against my skin, but I lean into the warmth. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.”
“Me too.” I smile at him, and my entire body goes tense as he leans forward to kiss me.
For a brief moment, I tell myself this is a bad thing.
Here’s a man who has me living in his house, and I’m going to be completely reliant on him.
Maybe he has expectations of what I’ll be doing here.
But at the same time, I don’t care that much.
I already liked Ivan before coming here, and his lips against mine create a feverish heat in my cheeks that I can’t ignore.
I part my lips, and his tongue slides inside my mouth, eagerly tasting me. I have to stand on my tiptoes to make this somewhat comfortable, and I move my hands around his neck to pull him closer.
It’s like everything else around us disappears as his lips move against mine. The only thing I’m focusing on is the heat building between us and how badly I want this to keep going.
Ivan pulls away from me, and I have half a mind to grab him at the collar and pull him back. Instead, I maintain my composure and stare up at him with a warm smile.
“Goodnight, malyshka,” he whispers, opening my door and watching me as I walk through it.
“Goodnight,” I say, closing the door.
I collapse on the bed, eyes closed, unable to stop thinking about how good it felt when he touched me.