One birthday, Two surprises

He gestured for Selene to sit on one of the couches, but Selene said, "It's ok, I'll stand. You said this would only take a few minutes."

He took a couple steps closer to her, looking at her with his sultry eyes he could no longer hide, but Selene took a step back. He sighed, and said, "I just want to talk to you. Can we do that? It's been so long, Selene. Can we talk for a little while?"

Selene looked at him like he was an alien, shook her head, and said, "Why? What could you possibly have to say to me? What—do you want to show me around your fancy offices?" She spun around, with her hands outstretched, then continued, "I get it. You're rich. I'm not. So what? You've always been rich." She crossed her arms below her chest.

"That's not it," said he, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair, which was difficult to do with the bun. He got frustrated and thought, "Ugh, this isn't going at all how I wanted." He took the hair tie out, letting his hair fall around his face.

Selene's heart skipped a beat, and she cursed at it for doing so. "Well, hotness was never his problem," she thought. "But, damn."

He ran both hands through his hair a few times and said a little angrily, "I'm not trying to show off alright? When did I ever do that? Huh? When?"

When Selene didn't have a response (because truly he had never been a show-off about his background), he continued a little more calmly, "It's just that when I saw your name on the list of applicants for our grants program, I don't know, I just, I just…" His voice trailed off and he licked is lips as he looked down.

Selene's heart skipped another beat as her eyes were drawn to his mouth. She remembered those lips. "Damn. I need to get out of here."

As she turned to walk toward the door, he caught her wrist, and brought her toward him so that they were only a few inches apart. Where his hand met her wrist, it felt like a hot burn that ran all the way up her arm to the rest of her body. Then he said, "I just need to talk to you," with a voice that said he wanted more than just to talk.

Now instead of skipping beats, Selene's heart just started beating at double time. She silently prayed that he could not hear those beats. She tried her best to look calm and said, "After everything that happened, I don't understand what there could be left to talk about."

He looked down at her. His eyes briefly hinted at longing, but as fast as the look came it was gone, replaced by mischievousness.

Selene thought, "Why did I agree to come to his office??" Then she remembered the presentation. "Was that just a few hours ago?," she thought. "It feels like it was a week ago."

But no, the presentation did indeed happen a few hours ago. In fact, certain plans had been put in place to lead to this moment, whether she knew it or not.

For Selene, everything started that morning with a tickle. She was sleeping on her bed in a curled up position. Her eyes fluttered as she felt something tickling her nose. She flicked her hand at it, and rolled over onto her back, straightening her legs out as she did. She felt the same something tickling her nose again so she opened her eyes to see what was irritating her, thinking it was a fly or some other insect. Her eyes flew open as she saw her two best friends staring at her with huge smiles on their faces.

Peter and Lucy both screamed, "Happy Birthday!" at the same time, and Selene sat up in bed in surprise. Her long brown hair was disheveled mess. She ran one hand through her bangs so she could at least see her friends.

Selene's dark brown eyes opened wide and she said, "What are you guys doing here?" At the same time that she said that though, she saw the cake in Peter's hand, which had Happy Birthday Selene written on it and two candles, a 2 and a 9. Selene looked at her friends' smiling faces and said, "Noooooo." She had a scrunched up face to match her words.

Peter and Lucy looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Peter said, "Yeeeeeeeeees. It's time to celebrate your birthday!"

Selene laid back on her bed, regretting giving her friends access to her house. She dramatically placed her arm over her eyes and said, "I don't want to turn 29 so let's just pretend today didn't come, ok? I'll just be 28 this year and turn 29 next year. I'll deal with this next year. There's too much to do right now."

Peter walked a few feet away and put the cake on the dresser at the opposite side of the bed. Meanwhile, Lucy dragged Selene into a sitting position where Selene's legs were hanging off the bed. Then both friends sat on either side with their arms around her.

"Wow, I know you like to procrastinate but this is on another level," said Lucy. "Ok, come on," she continued, shaking Selene a little, "It's not like it's the end of the world."

"Uh yah, it kinda is," said Selene. "I mean, I'm almost 30 and what do I have to show for it? My parents keep pestering me to get married and give them grandchildren and I have like no love life. Ok so some of that is on me but ugh."

Selene sighed deeply, and looked at Peter. He was wearing a smart-looking gray pin-stripe business suit with a light blue collared shirt. Of course, it fit his 6 foot tall lean physique like it was tailored for him. His short, jet-black hair was slicked back against his pale skin, emphasizing his striking features. He looked like a prosecutor ready to take on the world, which he was. He had a million admirers and could pick any one to be with but was always waiting for "the one."

Then there was Lucy, the sweetest girl on the planet, with her light brown hair, dyed pink at the bottom, and large hazel eyes. She even had a few freckles across her tiny nose, although they were pronounced given her pale skin. Short, coming in at 5 feet 2 inches, Lucy was a nurse and had a long-time boyfriend, Kyle. Selene sighed again thinking that they had their lives together while she was still in a state of limbo.

Peter pulled away from Selene a little, waking her from her thoughts, and said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Umm what do you have to show for it? Are you kidding me? Look around this room?" He waved his arm in a semi-circle pointing to all the certificates on the wall and all her trophies.

Selene was somewhat of a prodigy. Actually, never mind, she *was* a prodigy. She skipped a grade in elementary school, another in middle school, and graduated high school at the age of 15. When all was said and done, she earned two PhDs by the time she was 25 years old (one in computer science and another in systems engineering), and then became the youngest Assistant Professor at California University.

What makes all of this even more astonishing is that she had been in the foster care system during her younger years and had to overcome so many challenges. She had to develop a hard shell to get through those times. Yet, despite this, she tried her best to keep a positive attitude, even though it was difficult sometimes. Like right now.

"Ok. You're right," said Selene. "Sort-of. But, I'll try to stay positive." She got up, turned to face her friends with her hands on her waist, nodded her head brusquely, and said, "Who knows, maybe I'll meet Mr. Right today? Ok. Let's eat this cake because I need to get ready to head to campus. Today's my big presentation and you know how traffic can be!"

Meanwhile, in another house, or rather, mansion, but one in a more exclusive neighborhood across the city, a man was sitting at his own breakfast table, drinking coffee, and looking at his laptop's screen. He was wearing a dark navy suit, with a white dress shirt and a grey pin striped tie. The grey handkerchief in his pocket was folded neatly and tied the whole ensemble together. His watch was an expensive name brand that was a birthday gift from his father, although he knew that it was actually bought by his father's assistant.

A servant came toward the table and placed a plate next to the laptop. It had two eggs sunny side up, toast, and hash browns. The woman said, "Your breakfast, Master Liu," and he replied, "Thank you Cecilia." The woman bowed and went back to the kitchen.

The man had black hair with natural brown highlights that came down past his chin in waves that framed his chiseled face. Currently, his hair was tied back into a bun high in the back of his head. His brown eyes, which had gold flecks, were of a medium size and arched upward at ends, giving him the ability to look seductive one minute and intimidating the next. His nose was neither small nor big, but gave his whole countenance a sense of strength as it came down in a point above his mouth, which was a dark mauve color. His lower lip was larger than his upper lip and both came together in a bow shape that allowed him to show a variety of smiles. Since it was almost summer, he had developed a slight tan, which always made him look even more handsome as it set off his hair and eyes well.

He leaned back and moved the cursor to open the current month of his calendar. He looked at the current date and sighed. In addition to the usual meetings, one highlighted in particular, there was a notation marked Private. He clicked on it, looked at it wistfully, and thought to himself, "It's your birthday today and I get to finally see you again. Coincidence or fate?"