“What do you mean by you will be going away?” Darren, Elizabeth’s brother inquired as he watched her type away on her laptop.
He could hardly understand why he had to be the one to take care of their mother at such young age, no offense or insult intended but he had his own life ahead of him and he could hardly imagine himself being bound by his ailing mother. To him he felt it was his sister’s job to take care of her and ever since their father had died some years ago, she had been doing that just fine without his help.
“I need to go work to get money for her treatment, Darren. You just have to be with her for some months and I will be back. This is really important to me and it is literally the only thing that can get us out of this level.”“What kind of job is it? You know I am playing for the local football club and I just recently got selected to represent at the international level. I cannot botch this, coupled with the fact that I have school and a life.”“Who do you think is working so hard so you could have this life you have always wanted? Do not mess with me, Darren. What is more important to you, mother’s life or your football career.”The look on her brother’s face was enough to tell her that he had chosen the latter without hesitation.Elizabeth sighed, closing her laptop
“I’m so sorry that I am springing this up on you but I had no idea this job would even come through, I merely applied because there was literally nothing to do and now I have to go because I have been chosen.”“You still haven’t told me what sort of job it is, what job has you going away for months without contacting your family or coming to see them.” Darren asked, folding his arms.“I cannot speak of it because I signed a non disclosure agreement but I promise it is nothing horrible, the person involved just thinks it is better I do not make any contact until I am done with it. Please Darren, try to understand me. I would ask Mara to check up once in a while and before you know it, I will be back.”“Yeah, whatever. I have practice right now so I will be leaving, see you.”Elizabeth watched him go and sighed again, this was not what she had expected when she had applied to be a surrogate for Jason, she had thought she would be allowed free access to her family and every other thing but it seemed that would hardly be possible.Elizabeth’s eyes went round her house and over to where she had dropped the card he had given her yesterday, it was his personal line and she was to call him by 7:00 pm today. She wondered what this was all about, her stomach knotting in anticipation.I find you utterly intriguingHis own words, not hers and still she could not stop thinking about how that had made her feel, the pounding of her heart as he smiled at her and the way she had been lost for words. This wasn’t supposed to be happening and not at the time, it was merely a job and she was going to get it over with. Even as she said this, she still could not stop thinking about that smile, he looked less like an asshole with that smile.Elizabeth waited till it was 7:30 before picking up her phone and giving him a call, her hands jittery.“You are late” he stated simply immediately she identified herself.“Yes I was just contemplating whether it would be wise to call on you at the exact time you gave me.”“I gave you that time for a reason, Elizabeth.”“Yeah sorry” she muttered and then wondered why she had apologized.“It’s alright; now according to the form you filled, you have a mother and a brother? How does your mother feel about the whole surrogacy contract.”“I did not inform her that I am going to be a surrogate.”“How old are you, Elizabeth and I do not mean the age you put in the contract, I want your real age.”“I am twenty four, why do you ask?”“What is a graduate of business administration doing working at a convenience store.”“What business of it is yours? Is this an interrogation?”“No, it is an interview. I would like to get to know the person I am employing and if you feel uncomfortable answering the questions, I could simply employ the help of a private investigator.”“That won’t be necessary.” Elizabeth retorted.She did not want to answer any questions this man had to ask but at the same time, she did not want him formally aware of her mother’s illness.“Why did you decide to be a surrogate for me?”“Isn’t that obvious, Mr Rodrigues. I want the money and also the five years extra on top of it.”“ I did not peg you for someone who had much interest in money but I might be wrong.”Elizabeth was quiet for a while before clearing her throat“You are absolutely wrong, now if you are done interrogating me, I would like to call it a day.”“Come tomorrow to my office and we will finalize our deal… and please for God sake, wear something less beggarly or you are going to be appearing on the six o clock news.”Elizabeth was still trying to form a rude retort before she heard the line click, he had hung up.The arrogant prick, she fumed but got up immediately to look for something presentable to wear, no need angering him before she actually had her foot in the door.Plenty of time later to tell him exactly how much of an overbearing asshole he was and by all means she was going to make sure he knew.
Elizabeth thought against putting on makeup, he had said dress nice but did that mean she had to look good for him. She did not want to look good for him but she still found herself applying some lips gloss, no need getting her lips chapped just so she could look gross.Her mother was still asleep when she slipped out of the house, she has been sleeping much these days, no doubt to conserve energy. She looked so fragile and this only strengthened Elizabeth’s resolve at going through with this surrogacy thing and getting her mother up and about again.Darren was also still asleep, he had come back very late at night, drunk and had called her a coward. She knew he meant nothing by it and it was only the booze talking but she could not help but think about what he had said.What if this was her own way of running away, by bearing another man’s child and claiming she was only doing it for her mother while she just wanted to escape, she thought to herselfShe arrived at the office building
CHAPTER SIX“What did you tell him? When he asked if you were a virgin, what did you say?” Mara asked, squatting in the floor beside me. They were picking beans for their dinner, Mara had plans to sleepover because Darren had practice and he was going to be spending the night at a friend’s place.Honestly Elizabeth knew that he was merely trying to get away from her for a while and their mother, seeing as she had sprung taking care of their mother for the duration of time she would be gone. She could hardly blame him for wanting to be free with the time he had left.“I panicked and I said no, now I regret it because what if he was asking because the procedure involves something going through my vagina. What am I going to do then?” Elizabeth wailed.“You have to tell him the truth, just let him know that you panicked and you are indeed a twenty four years old virgin, let’s see how well he would take you lying already. I am sure he would say ‘oh wow, that’s great. You are perfect for the
CHAPTER SEVEN“What decision have you made?” Jason asked over the phone.Elizabeth took a deep breath, she so desperately wanted to say yes, if not for anything but for the sake of her mother but she could not bring the words of her mouth.“Are you there?”“Yes, I’m sorry. I was just… forget it.”“Your answer, Elizabeth” Jason said, reminding her.“I really want to be a surrogate because of the money involved but I have thought about this so much and I don’t feel comfortable giving my egg out for your deed and I’m sorry if I have wasted your time but my answer is No.”“I see. Even if I tell you that you can keep the money and I would personally make sure your mother gets the best treatment, any doctor in the world has to offer? Would your answer still be No?”“How do you know about my mother?”“I have my sources, Elizabeth and I know she is the reason you are even considering doing the surrogacy. I understand and would like to take care of her treatment, you just have to say yes to bea
CHAPTER EIGHT“It says here that you want me to move in with you immediately the contract is signed?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief.“Yes” he answered“But I cannot do that, I need to say goodbye to my brother and my mother. I have a life I need to put on pause for the next year.”“I am well aware of your life, Elizabeth” he drawled on the word life as though she could ever call what she had a life.“Then you should understand why I cannot agree to the clause of this statement. I need a week after this to prepare myself.”“Two days”“Four days” Elizabeth argued.“Two is all I can give you, starting Monday, I want you to be ready. The doctors who will treat and check up on you from time to time will be coming over to this house. I am a very busy man and so I can only squeeze out two days.”“Fine, two days.” Elizabeth said, her face sullen.What was she expected to do in two days?“My driver will drop you after you finish eyeing that document and signing it?” Jason said breaking her inten
CHAPTER NINE“You would not believe who I just encountered.” Elizabeth was giddy with excitement. She had always had a crush on Lucien Rodrigues and this was ever since he came for a family donation to her high school some years back. He had changed a lot, because she did not recognize him until he said his name. He had offered to drive her home seeing as her clothes were ruined but she politely declined and then he had asked for her number.It was funny because seeing your crush after a long while and realizing you still have a huge crush on them tends to mess with the head. She had declined giving him her number and watched him drive away, slapping herself mentally.“What happened to your clothes, did you get in an accident?” Mara asked concerned.“It is nothing like that Mar, a driver splashed dirt of me.”“Assholes, they do not look where they are going just because they drive cars.” Mara fumed.“No, let’s make an exception to this one. You remember Lucien Rodrigues right? Younger
CHAPTER TEN“You are back.” Elizabeth said to her brother. He had been gone for two days since he claimed he was going for practice and although she had tried calling him, his number never went through. He nodded once and walked straight to him room and although it was at the tip of Elizabeth’s tongue to call him back and ask him where he had been, she didn’t.She and Darren were exactly five years apart in age and she had always been his big sister, she had always been there to defend him against bullies until he could properly take care of himself and then their father had died, leaving their mother to cater for them and now she was sick. Elizabeth could understand why he just wanted to do away with this life and his family forever.She contemplated going to talk to him about the whole surrogacy thing but decided against it,He wouldn’t understand, she thought sadly.“Aren’t you going to work?” Darren asked some hours later when his sister had not made any move to go out.“I have to
CHAPTER ELEVENElizabeth woke up with butterflies flapping incessantly in the pits of her stomach. Today was the day she was supposed to move in with Jason, she hadn’t even packed. Mara was supposed to help her with packing after her working hours and she was supposed to inform her boss at the convenience store and officially resign. Officially because she had not gone there in some days and she was sure her space had already been filled but it was important she cut all ties to avoid suspicions from them and to also give her a good credit score when she decides to apply for a job again after this whole thing was over, although she doubted she would have to work in a convenience store again after getting paid by Jason.Elizabeth walked around quietly, she did not want to wake her brother who had stayed up all night and she most definitely did not want to disturb her mother’s sleep. Her sickness was getting worse and she was always in pains anytime she wasn’t sleeping. Elizabeth had plan
CHAPTER TWELVE“Thank you for dropping me.” Elizabeth said as she got down from Jason’s car. They had sat in awkward silence, the air sexually charged between them after her brazen attempt at watching him.“Do you want to come in?” She asked, mentally hitting herself on the head for even suggesting such a thing, why would he want to come into her house.“I would love to” Jason responded, his lips curling up in a smile.He and Elizabeth walked over to the door, she took a deep breath and knocked, knowing that the sight of Jason was going to knock the socks off Mara.“Great, you are back.. I am going to kick Darren’s…” Mara’s voice trailed off at the sight of Jason.“Mara, meet Jason Rodrigues and Jason, this is my best friend Mara.” Elizabeth said quickly.“Hello Mara, it is nice to meet you.” Jason said stretching out a hand“And you” Mara responded, opening the door wider so they could both come in and all the while maintaining eye contact with Elizabeth as if to ask her what the fuck