There’s a brief pause on the other end, and I can hear the man inhaling sharply as he prepares himself for whatever he has to say. “There’s no easy way to say this. My name is Richard Hendricks. My family created the foundation that offered you the scholarship you’ve been using at NYU. We’ve been investigating your case for several weeks now, and it seems you were notified unintentionally about the scholarship. You were never meant to be the recipient, and through a clerical error, NYU received a payment for this semester’s education.”
“What?” I ask, feeling tears sting the back of my eyes. I brace myself against one of the tables, and I just barely register Ivan walking up behind me. Whatever he’s saying is muffled as everything fades away around me.
“I’m sorry, Miss Miller. We won’t be able to offer you this scholarship again next semester,” he continues, his voice cold the entire time.
He gives more details, and I don’t fully understand them as Ivan’s hands are on my shoulders, turning me toward him. I hold the phone to my ear as I pretend to listen, but I’m completely stupefied.
How could this have happened? How could they send the scholarship out to two people and not notice it? How could they just take this away from me?
“Is everything okay?” Ivan asks, his voice laced with worry. I just shake my head, and he grabs the phone from my hand, hanging it up to give me some reprieve from the life-shattering information doled out to me as if it were nothing. “Come sit down.”
“My scholarship was pulled,” I manage to squeak out as he drags me to the table and sets me down in front of my drink. He forces it into my hands, which somehow brings me back into real life. “I’m going to have to drop out.”
Saying the words absolutely shatters me, and I hold my head in my hands, barely choking back the sobs I feel in my chest.
“What? I’m sure there are other options,” Ivan says, reaching a hand out for my arm to squeeze it affectionately. Even through the ache in my chest, I notice the gesture, and I truly do appreciate it.
“Not really. I don’t have any support from my family about this. I can’t afford to take out the loans I would need to stay in school, and without the scholarship I can’t afford to live on campus,” I say, as tears stream down my face. “This stupid job barely pays me enough to eat right now. It sure as hell won’t pay rent.”
I break down. This is the worst possible news I could have gotten. Leah walks around the counter and asks what’s goingon, 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.
