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“Big 3-0 coming up, kid. You excited?”
Mel shrugged. They headed for the central hub. Frank looked forward to their conversations during the lulls. Their time alone felt…intimate.
“Not a big fan of birthdays?” Another shrug. “And presents are also off the table?”
Delighted, she glanced at him. “Oh, you don't have to.”
“And I keep telling you,” Frank spun behind her then dropped his head to whisper, “I do.”
Sure, he splurged—spent both budgets on Mel’s and bought his wife a replica—but Mel deserved nice things. The nicest! Frank watched Abby frame her bag in the closet. Pristine, unopened, marvelled at. Frank expected Mel to at least use her gift, but he wholly underestimated her.
Within 24 hours, Mel had filled her gift, a classic black togo Birkin 35 with the shiniest gold hardware, with her daily essentials—water bottle, thermos, protein bars, wallet, charger, dog-eared novel, and her scrub jacket draped over the top. Frank essentially paid an estimated $22,600 for Mel’s work bag.
Every day after, Frank watched Abby’s friends gawk at her bag over the phone and watched Mel walk into the ER with her Megan Thee Stallion photo card hanging off the clasp.
His wife never even opened his present, meanwhile Mel had never closed it. Her entire life spilled out of the bag. The leather stretched to accommodate her books, her extra scrubs, her laptop. Hell, she used it to carry her groceries.
She fascinated him before, but she absolutely delighted him now. Every detail of her life fit within the confines of a gift he chose and become a point of stability. Frank envied the bag.
On a late February morning, he cornered Mel in the locker room.
“Happy with the gift?”
Mel smiled. “More than happy! The old one was a graduation gift from my parents.”
“Hm, med school?”
“Undergrad. I really, really needed this. You're a thoughtful friend, Dr. Langdon!”
Friend.
Frank knew it would be safe in her hands for years to come—unlike his heart.