14 - Good Samaritan

I quickly showered and got dressed. I ordered an Uber to take me to campus, not wanting to walk after a night in heels. 

I grabbed my checkbook and took off. I made it with 13 minutes to spare. 

I showed the clerk my badge and let her know I wanted to make a payment. 

My dad had been sending one or two checks a month to help since I lost most of my grant but I had no clue where I was at with my balance. 

I was just still working on this semester, then I would have the summer to work on saving for next year. It seemed daunting and impossible but I had to be hopeful. 

“Could I get my statement to see my recent payments and balance, please?” 

She looked annoyed that I would be asking for this at closing time on a Friday but she printed it off anyhow. 

I saw where my dad had been sending payments and my heart fluttered. I loved dad so much. I also saw where I had made a few small payments before I started with Haven. 

I got to the bottom and there was a payment from Tuesday, just a day after dad’s last payment. 

It was for … $25,000?! 

WHAT?! 

I knocked on the glass window, flabbergasted. 

“Ma’am, uhm, there’s a large payment on my account from Tuesday, do you have any other information on it? Does it show who paid it?” 

She looked at me like I had three heads. 

“Girl I wish some good samaritan paid my bills, don’t complain! All it shows is that it was a cashier’s check that was brought in, to be applied to your account.” 

My breath stuck in my throat, my eyes trailed down to the bottom of the statement and I saw the balance owed was actually a huge credit toward next year. Holy shit! 

My eyes immediately began welling up with tears. I lived off campus so I didn’t pay for the normal student room and board, but after my little scholarship I was left with about $37,000 owed a year. Plus I still had to come up with rent, food, transportation costs, etc. 

Before I lost my grant I only owed about $3,000 a year in tuition which my dad could handle. 

The clerk abruptly shut her window, startling me out of my thoughts.

My good samaritan HAD to have been Chris. There’s literally no one else it could have been. 

Why would he do that just to turn around and ignore me? Did he pay it before or after he decided to break my heart?? 

I was completely flustered now and wanted to talk to someone about it, but I couldn’t! Dad would die if he knew I was dating men for money, my roommate would probably toss me out, it was technically her lease. She’d probably think I was bringing rando men home. I'd signed the NDA anyhow. 

I couldn’t tell Martin, that would just be insanely awkward. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home, since I had a little extra cash these days it seemed. I got enough for a couple days and even caught up on some toiletries I needed. 

I got home and threw myself on the bed, stuffing my face with a big cookie, wondering why I was even so flustered. Maybe it was Chris’ way of buying me off, getting rid of me but being able to live with himself. 

I hated him, but now I couldn’t hate him. 

But I hate him. 

Damn it! 

I forced myself to get up and make a late lunch. I did have a date tonight but it was Eric, and his message said to be comfortable so I didn’t need to hit the salon. I hoped things were going well with his daughter and I found myself smiling thinking that I was getting paid to dispense with father/daughter advice. 

How was I going to explain to my dad that I didn’t need any more money for this semester? I figured if he just kept sending payments, they would apply them to next year. I decided I would call to make sure, I didn’t know if they would try to refund me any over-payment.  

I was lost in cooking some pasta, listening to the 80’s channel when Violet came in. “Damn it smells good in here girl,” she said, hopping on the counter. “You spin me right round baby right round like a record baby,” she sang. 

I turned it down and we caught up on the last few days. I fibbed a bit, well … a lot. I couldn’t tell her about any of this without opening a Pandora’s box. 

“I left the rent check on your pillow,” I said. 

“Oh shit! Yeah cool, I almost forgot. I’ll take it to their dropbox tomorrow,” she said, coming toward my pan with a fork. 

“Don’t tell me you are spending Friday night at home, making dinner for yourself,” she asked. 

“No actually I’m going out with a guy from … from the coffee shop. Yeah, we met one morning when I was getting breakfast,” I lied through my teeth. 

Violet’s boyfriend popped in just as I was done eating and I could tell just what he was thinking. 

“Yes, you can have the rest of it,” I said, laughing. The boy was a dump truck. 

“Well girl, have fun, and if it makes it to a second date that means you like him, and I wanna meet him!”

I went into my room and flipped through some date requests, I blocked off the week that Martin wanted to go skiing. I wasn’t sure where I was going to tell Violet I was going but that could wait for another day. 

Etienne booked me for two days next week and I smiled at that. I very highly doubted that relationship would be anything more than just a nice date, much as I felt about Eric. 

I was booked tomorrow all day with a new date and that had me a bit nervous. It was 9 am to 2 am but it was $875. I went to my email confirmation and it said to bring at least 4-5 different looks, up-do hair and evening dress for night time. 

It was on a yacht! Holy shit! Where were there yachts parked around here?  It was early March, would we be outside? I was lost in my thoughts when I realized I needed to get ready for Eric.  

For my date with Eric I wore a light and airy playful blouse with black jeans and black ankle boots. I left my hair down and curly, which it was naturally. We were meeting at a diner, and when I saw him waiting outside, I relaxed. I needed a nice evening without much heavy thought. We hugged and he led me inside. He took my hand and bypassed the hostess stand, going right to a booth. 

“Come here often,” I said, smiling. 

“Yeah actually, my cousin owns this place,” he said, gleefully. 

“Ohh that’s nice! What’s the best then, since you have the inside scoop!” 

“Actually, I can order for you if that’s okay,” he said, hopeful. 

“Sure, but no seafood, please,” I said. 

“Not a problem! Not my favorite thing either,” he said, turning to waive for the waitress. 

The night flew by, Eric had so much to tell me. He took a few days off of work, and had a three day weekend with his daughter. He said they went sight-seeing and he took all of her friends roller skating. His eyes lit up as he showed me the pictures and he could not have been happier. 

I beamed and we immediately went to work on his next plan of attack. He said his daughter did confide in him that she liked a boy, and had kissed him. 

I giggled, boy he was in for it now! Eric was the perfect distraction I needed, and honestly I felt guilty charging for this date because of how much I was enjoying it. 

I gave him some more do’s and don’ts to think about when it came to his relationship with his daughter and he literally took notes. He asked if he could book me once a month and we set up the next two dates right then. 

I wasn't over what Chris had done to me yet, not by a long shot. But I was hopeful the new dates would be a distraction and I was trying to be hopeful.