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 at exactly 9:24 pm and was directed by the receptionist to a part of the building after she had stated her name. Elizabeth thought fleetingly about how where she was headed was not the route to his office, the place she had been led to the first time she was here before the door opened.“Come in, Elizabeth” a voice from inside called.She walked in clutching her purse like a lifeline and came face to face with him, Jason. He was looking at her like she had just dropped from the sky and she was feeling pretty uncomfortable.“Take a seat, you look nice by the way. Can I offer you anything before we begin?” He askedElizabeth blushed to the roots of her hair, muttered a no, thank you and took a seat facing him.“I know we have both agreed to the details in the contract but I would still like to go over them with you one last time before it is sealed. You graduated top of your class according to the documents I am holding.”“Yes I did”“Well that’s great, we can say you are not stupid which is a good thing.” He saidElizabeth glared at him but nodded, waiting for him to continue, meanwhile her mind was already dissecting his comment about her dressing.She looked nice, he had said.“Earth to Elizabeth, what the fuck are you thinking about?”“I’m sorry, you were saying?”“I was asking you a question Elizabeth, about how you would feel if your egg is used for the procedure.”“My egg? Don’t you have someone else’s egg in place for fertilization. I am not much of a science person but I am pretty sure that is how it works.”Elizabeth stuttered, her mind going back to all of the research she had done on surrogacy.“You are right and I should indeed have an egg ready but I don’t and you don’t look so bad yourself, your blood group and type matches mine and it says here that you have no underlying illness and no inherited medical condition. You are as fit as they come so I was wondering how using your egg would sound. Before you refuse, I have made plans to draw up a new contract if you accept. I will be paying double the money and instead of five years after, we could make it six.” He said waiting for her reaction.Elizabeth was dumbfounded at the amount of money that was being mentioned just so one of her eggs could be used. She could already imagine her mother alive and well and thanking her for taking such risk.“You are smiling” Jason notedHe was pretty sure this girl was crazy but a mysterious type of crazy. He wanted to know what it was she was thinking about that had made her smile in such a way but he knew she would never tell him.“I would have to think about this whole thing, I mean this is new and I need time to think about it.”“I am afraid I do not have much time on my hands but I understand your need to think about this new situation, so I would be giving you till noon tomorrow to come up with a response.”“Noon! That is so soon, this is a life changing decision and I would like more time to think.”“Life changing because your eggs are now being taken into consideration? Elizabeth, I have no time for this like I stated earlier, you will give me a response by noon so I can move on from this once and for all. What difference does it make if your egg will be used, I don’t see what the fuss is about.”“The fuss is that before I thought it would just be a baby cooking inside me who Is totally unrelated to my DNA but right now saying you want one of my eggs changes everything, I would be a mother to the baby genetically.”“Noon, Elizabeth. Think about it and give me a response by then.”“Fine, you will have an answer by noon tomorrow.” Elizabeth retorted, she was sure it looks could kill, the man before her would be dead already and she knew, he was thinking exactly that too.“Thank you, I would have my secretary see you out”“I can find my way out, there is no need for that. Have a great day Mr Rodrigues.”“And you too, Elizabeth.”Elizabeth got up, her knees shaky and her head fresh with ideas on how she was going to invest that much money into her mother’s treatment and her brother’s football career. She was absolutely giddy with excitement and was tempted to let out a whoop but refrained herself.“One more question, Elizabeth.” Jason’s voice stopped her hand on the door knob.“Yes?” She said turning around to face him.“You are not a virgin, are you?” He asked, eyebrow raised.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
CHAPTER THIRTEEN“Are you okay?” Jason asked Elizabeth who had her eyes squeezed so shut he was sure she would get an headache.“I’m fine, I am really motion sick and the fact that I am going to some strange place is not helping matters.” She said, her eyes still shut.“You can hold my hand if that would make you feel better.” He offered.Hold his hand, how would that make her feel better? Elizabeth thought to herself.“No, thank you… just keep your hands on the steering and eyes on the road please.”Jason suppressed laughter at her scrunched up face and his eyes moved involuntarily to her lips; full lips so succulent and as if on cue, her tongue snaked out to lick them. He suppressed a groan this time, wondering if she knew how being in close proximity with her was making his body react, he was sure she would bolt like a deer caught in the headlights she even had an inkling of what he was thinking of.“You should at least leave your eyes open, it is weird seeing your eyes closed.” He