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Alex always had a thing for older women. At this point, it was a running gag amongst her friend group. Whenever she would have a crush on an older woman, her friends would tease her about having “mommy issues”.
She hated how well she fit that stereotype. Sure, she lost her birth mother when she was still a child. Maybe it did have an impact on her preferences when it came to women. But still. She hated how that was always the assumption people would make. Plenty of people prefer older partners, regardless of their familial history. And it wasn’t as if she remembered much of her biological mother. She was still a teenager when she had her and didn’t raise her. Part of her still wished she had known her better before her mysterious disappearance, but she didn’t think that was enough to give her “mommy issues”.
Speaking of older women, Alex spotted one who seemed to be glancing at her from time to time, a few tables away from hers. She had the feeling she had seen her before. Perhaps she was a regular in this café?
The great thing about being an adult now was that it didn’t matter if she hit on older women. She didn’t have to just satisfy herself with a two or three-year age gap. If she wanted to go after a woman who was a decade older, who could stop her? And this woman looked like she was just old enough to be Alex’s type.
She quickly finished the rest of her coffee and walked to the woman in question, offering her her best smile. “Hey, please tell me I wasn’t imagining that, but… were you checking me out?”
Alex used to be shy as a teen, but ever since she graduated from high school and started college, she has become more confident. Especially when talking to women. The worst that could happen was getting told “sorry, I don’t swing that way”, and she was used to it by now. But she had a feeling that this woman was definitely not straight, not with the way she had been looking at her.
The older woman looked surprised. Maybe even a bit worried? But Alex’s attention was focused on her deep blue eyes. She was wearing a black cap, which was a bit odd indoors, but who cared? Alex wished she would remove it though, so she could get a better look at her face. Her hair was blonde, long enough to reach below her shoulders, and she was dressed more on the masculine side. Alex not only had a thing for older women, but blondes with blue eyes were also her weakness. Especially if they were more masc-leaning.
“I… sorry, I didn’t mean to… make you uncomfortable or anything,” the woman instantly apologized.
Ah. She was a shy one. Alex could work with that. It could be cute to have an older woman act all flustered around her.
“Oh no, don’t worry. I just wanted to let you know that I’m interested . I hope I didn’t misinterpret the way you were looking at me. Because that’d be embarrassing for me,” Alex said in a light-hearted tone. She was trying to make the other woman more at ease and reassure her.
For a moment, the woman looked hesitant, as if there was something wrong. Alex assumed it must be because she was younger. Perhaps she thought she was too young? As in, illegally young?
“I’m Alex, by the way. I go to the college nearby. What about you?” she said, subtly letting her know she was of age.
The woman fiddled with the visor of her hat before suddenly turning it backward. Okay, wow. Now that Alex could really get a good look at her face, she had to admit, this woman was hot. And probably in her late twenties.
The older woman smiled. “I’m Kelly. Nice to meet you, Alex.”
Fuck. What the fuck. How the fuck did that happened!? She really fucked up big time this time.
Melissa was nervously fiddling with her hat, barely listening to what Alex was telling her. She already knew everything about her anyway. She was literally following her around this morning on the college campus for fuck sake.
She had always been so careful when watching over Alex, so why did she notice her now? She didn’t for years . Was she getting sloppy? Or today was just her unlucky day? Either way, this wasn’t good. She had to take care of this.
Melissa instinctively put her hat backward, like it was some sort of muscle memory, and attempted to give Alex her best smile. “I’m Kelly. Nice to meet you, Alex.”
Except she had known Alex for years now. But this was the first time Alex officially met her.
“Well, Kelly, do you come here often?”
An innocent question, but it still made Melissa’s heart race with panic. She probably saw her before, but couldn’t quite recall. It was best to play along with her assumption.
“I do. I live nearby,” Melissa replied. Not a lie. She did live in the area, so she could more easily keep an eye on Alex.
“Though so. What do you do in life?”
“ Watching over you and making sure you are safe, ” Melissa thought. But of course, she couldn’t actually say that. “I work in retail.”
Alex sat down at her table. Great. Looked like she wasn’t going to get away with this easily.
“So, was I right?” Alex asked. “Were you… interested . If you know what I mean.”
She was interested in Alex. Interested in protecting her. Melissa recalled when she started watching over Alex. It wasn’t right after she faked her death. Turned out, trying to find her was harder than she anticipated. But when she did succeed in locating Hannah’s daughter, she was close to graduating from middle school. She was still so young, so vulnerable… Melissa had made it her mission to make sure Alex would be okay. This was the least she could do after… Hannah’s unfortunate fate.
Melissa did her best not to intrude on Alex’s personal life and respect her boundaries. She only followed her on her way to school and on her way home, to make sure no one was stalking her. So many creeps are going after young girls. Melissa would never forgive herself if one of those went after Alex. When Alex reached high school, she started to fool around. Nothing wrong with that, Melissa remembered that at that age, her hormones were also quite high. It was expected for a teenager. But what Melissa didn’t expect was that Alex was gay. She spotted her a few time, hidden behind the school, making out with girls who seemed to be a few grades older than her. This brought back some memories for Melissa.
But then there was this one incident where Alex was dating a woman definitely too old for her. Some university student. That wasn’t good. She was definitely taking advantage of a younger girl, and that wasn’t something Melissa could allow. She knew Hannah wouldn’t. And it was her duty to make sure that creep stayed away from Alex. After Melissa was done with her, she stayed the fuck away from Alex.
Then Alex graduated from high school and started attending college. She had grown so much. She was a woman now. She grew up to be as beautiful as her mother. She had the same dark hair and brown eyes as her. Melissa always had a thing for brunettes with brown eyes.
“I do have an interest in you,” Melissa said. Not a lie. Though not the way Alex thought.
This answer seemed the satisfy her. “Well then, since you live in the area, how about we get coffee together? Right now I have to go to class, but maybe later this week?”
Oh. Fuck.
Alex picked up a napkin and started writing on it before handing it to Melissa. It was a phone number.
“Call me if you’re interested, okay?” Alex said with a wink. “Seeya around, Kelly.”
Melissa waited for Alex to be out of her sight to sigh. Great. What was she supposed to do now? Obviously she couldn’t just call her and agree to go on a date with her… right?
After all, she had been watching over her since she was a teenager. She was Hannah’s child. That would be highly inappropriate.
But damn did Alex grew up to be such a beautiful woman. With her dark hair, and her pretty brown eyes…
Just like Hannah.
Melissa took the napkin, softly brushing the phone number written on it. It would be bad if Alex caught her watching her again. If she didn’t call her back but kept following her, it would be harder to justify if she spotted her again. She might think she was some kind of stalker . Or worse, a creep.
Maybe it was a sign that she needed to let go. Alex was a grown woman now. She wasn’t a child anymore who required protection. She could take care of herself. Melissa could just keep tabs on her remotely through social media…
But Alex was a grown woman now. A very attractive woman who happened to be exactly Melissa’s type.
Would it be so wrong? Even if she knew Alex as a kid, it wasn’t like she had any ill intention toward her. She wasn’t that kind of person. And her goal had always been to protect Alex, so she could live a happy and fulfilling life, just like her mother would have wanted. If Alex desired her, then who was she to refuse her?
And it had been so long since Melissa had felt the comfort and warmth of another woman. Maybe she deserved some love too, after all these years. This was just mutually beneficial, they would both get something out of it. And it would make it easier for Melissa to watch over Alex if she didn’t have to hide from her anymore. She could be with her. Protecting her. Making sure she was happy.
Just like Hannah would have wanted.
Melissa looked at the napkin and added the number to her phone, and she smiled to herself.
Maybe today was her lucky day after all.