SIX

Cara’s POV

I stand still, watching Mary continue to break down as I register the news that Wesley Morano is on his way to the hospital. 

“Why do you even have his sperm cells in the first place? Or is that privileged too?” 

“No, he's—he’s looking for a surrogate. A consenting surrogate and we've been helping him find one for a while. He entered into a contract with the hospital and deposited some of his sperm cells with us.”

“Oh my God, Mary, this is serious. And he's on his way?” 

Mary lowers herself onto the floor of her office, resting her forehead on her arms and I hear her start to sob gently. 

“I'm screwed, Cara. I'm really screwed.” 

I stare at her, worry and pity starting to slowly crash into me. Like me, Doctor Mary Snow is an orphan. In the two years I started to see her, we've grown close and had become really close friends. She's told me stories about the challenges and struggles she had to face while climbing up the medical doctor ladder. We became close friends because we had so much in common. I'd also had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get to where I am today. Doctor Mary is an ardent professional. It's tragically unfair that one mistake should dictate the rest of her life from here on out. 

I straighten up and walk over to where she's sitting on the floor. “You said he's on his way right?” 

Mary looks up at me, her eyes red and her face glistening with tears. “He should be coming in any second now.” 

“Then clean yourself up. We can't have him coming in to see you like this. Where are your tissues?” 

She slowly points to one of the drawers fastened to her table. I open the drawer and pull out a roll. 

“Get up, Mary.” I say, gesturing for her to get off the floor. 

“Cara, what are we going to do?” 

“Well—” I say, handing over the roll of tissue paper to her. “You're going to explain to him exactly what happened when he gets here and I'm going to talk him into co-parenting.” 

Mary looks at me, almost like I just fell from the sky. “You can't possibly be this naive, Cara. It's Wesley Morano we're talking about.” 

“Well I don't have any other options, Do I? It's my baby just as much as it's his. He'll have to agree to something.” 

Mary's landline rings on her table and I watch her reach for it. She picks up the call and looks straight at me, a fresh wave of pure horror written on her face. “Yeah, send him in.” 

She returns the receiver to its place and stares blankly at me. “He's here.” 

I watch her stash the tissue paper back in her drawers after cleaning herself up as much as she can. Aside from the fact that he owns a chain of aircraft companies across the world and is a really influential billionaire, I know next to nothing about Wesley Morano. So how the hell am I going to convince him?

“Don’t worry. He’ll see reason.” I say, anyway, making my voice as reassuring as possible. 

“He's a billionaire. They're conditioned not to see reason.” Mary replies, her voice clear. 

As I open my mouth to speak, the door behind me creaks open. I turn around slowly and come face to face with him. 

Wesley Morano. 

He's in an expensive grey suit, with his hands firmly in his pockets. He walks into the office, a confident stride in his legs and a firm look on his face. The only time I've ever seen him are in tabloids and the flashy magazines placed on stands around town. Seeing him up close now, I'm able to tell that those pictures do not do him justice. He towers above me with his jet black hair and deep brown eyes. The stubble around his square jaw is more visible now that we're face to face and for a second, it's like I'm staring at a god. His hands linger in his pocket as he fully walks into the office. A wave of his cologne fills my nose and almost immediately, I want to smell more of whatever it is. Ha narrows his eyes at the doctor, at first giving me absolutely none of his attention and watching his side profile causes my heart to race a little. Boy is he incredibly striking. 

“Mr. Morano.” I hear Mary greet. “Thanks for coming.” 

Wesley turns to look at me, a cold and distant gaze filling his eyes. I frown and instantly get thrown out of my slight reverie when he turns back to Mary. What the hell was that? 

“Doctor Snow.” I hear him say, moving towards Mary and taking her palm in a handshake. 

“I have some, um—news, if you'd like to take a seat.” Mary starts, her voice slightly faltering. 

Wesley looks at me again, the cold look still lingering in his eyes as he makes his way to one of the empty chairs across the doctor's table. A mild frown crosses my face as I return the glare. 

What's this guy's deal?

As I think of all the events that have happened today, I can't help but wonder his this one is going to turn out. This could go incredibly well or turn out to be the biggest disaster of my life. One way or another, we're about to find out. 

As he settles in the chair before me, Mary throws me one last nervous look. I raise my thumb and give her a slight nod. 

Here goes nothing