Alexander's POV
That voice.
It was a female's voice. It was a woman bawling her eyes out in a male's restroom.
But it exuded nothing but pain and agony.
The sound of the shower running reminds me of the sound of her crying and I find myself wondering why she would be crying that way in a restroom.
It is unhealthy.
Who is she anyway? Did she get ditched by her boyfriend and the restroom was the only place to let out her hurt without anyone knowing? Did she catch her boyfriend banging another woman?
That must be it! This is a club after all.
Waving the thought of the crying woman away, I turn off the shower and get out of the bathroom, in a hurry to get dressed and get to work.
I came to the club for a reason. First, because Chase owns the club and, secondly because he insists that I come here to find the person I was looking for.
Even though I succumbed to his wish, I still came here with work. I haven't been to New York for years and I am back with a huge load of responsibilities on my shoulder.
I have a lot to handle tonight because work began officially today and I have a lot of new implementations to introduce to the hotel's running as well as the company I would be inheriting some months from now.
I want to prove to my father that I am capable. I am capable of anything.
I grab a towel and dry my hair with it when a knock comes on the door. My brows crease in frustration.
I thought Chase had gone home already. He has two other clubs in New York and this is the first time I am visiting this club.
Apart from him, no one knows I am here. This is the last floor and this suite is meant for me alone.
Who could it be? Did Chase change his mind about going to the other clubs?
I drop the towel lazily and stroll to the door with another towel laying dangerously low on my waist.
I fling the door open and a woman who has hair all over her face pushes past me and enters my room.
My frown deepens as I leave the door ajar and spin around to face her just in time for her to land on her buttocks.
She lets out a groan. Instead of pushing her out, I fold my arms and watch, expecting her to stand up.
The door is still ajar and my temper is beginning to rise for the interruption and waste of time.
I don't have all day. I have work to do. Who the hell is this?
Before I can say anything, she puts her hands together and finally raises her head for me to see. Her disheveled hair covers most of her face and she looks drunk.
"Please, help me", she says and begins to sob.
It clicks.
The voice. That crying voice. Is this the same woman? Is this the same woman in the restroom?
I was on my way up to get settled into the suite for the day when I realized I didn't come up with the keys to the suite. I had to go back downstairs to take the keys from Chase before he left.
Before going downstairs to meet Chase for the keys, I needed to use the bathroom. Unable to control my desire to urinate, I stroll into the general restroom.
That was when I heard this woman crying. This heartbroken woman.
"Please let me stay here for the night", she mutters, dropping her head to the tiled floor, more like someone performing an act of worship.
Do I look like a random person you can just run to for help?
I am about to voice out my thoughts when her voice stops me again. "I don't have anywhere to go. Please help me. I don't want to become a prostitute, I want to live a decent life but it is just so hard to do that. I am homeless and jobless now all thanks to that idiot who fired me for no reason", she rants and stops to belch. "Please, help me. Let me sleep in here but don't touch me. If you do, I won't forgive you."
I can no longer hold it in. I point to the door and yell in anger. "Get out!"
She hoists her head up with shock evident in her expression. This is when I see her.
The lady from the club. The one dancing like a maniac. The drunk woman wouldn't stop dancing even after the music was put off.
I found her actions amusing and I took my eyes off her for a minute. When I turned back to continue watching, she was gone.
I thought she had realized what a fool she was making of herself which was why she ran away but now I know she didn't run away.
She was the same woman crying in the bathroom.
"I don't have time for this bullshit. Get lost!" I say, ignoring the curiosity in me to know why she was weeping in the bathroom, of all places.
Before I can tell her out again, she begins to cry, dropping her forehead to the floor again and crying loudly.
In irritation, I storm to where she is sitting carelessly on the floor. "I said get out!"
"Please, I am telling the truth. I don't have a home. I just need to sleep here for the night. I have no one to help me. Please, I will be quiet. I will…" she trails off and I seethe in anger, rising with my arms akimbo.
What the hell is all of this?
I am really refraining from doing something rash. I don't want to maltreat her because of her gender.
They are too flexible.
I take long strides towards the desk where my laptop is sitting open so I can use the intercom to have the security here to get her out.
Before I can touch the button, something else catches my attention.
A card.
An ID card that looks the same as the one I have seen somewhere.
"Alex or whatever your name is, I hate you for doing this to me. I hate you for firing me without knowing how diligent I can't be. I fu***ing hate you!" She screams in between her sobs and my hand hangs halfway with my mouth agape.
"Alex?"
I am Alexander Lorenzo. The new CEO of A&A Lorenzo Hotels.
I didn't fire anyone so why is she cursing at me? Isn't she sober yet after the long hours of tears?
Does she work in my hotel? Did my father lay off some staff before I came?
If he did that, then it means he is only doing his job. How in God's name is he supposed to know that she is homeless?
I drop my hand and move back to where she is laying on the cold tiled floor.
"I hate you!" She hits her hand on the floor and winces in pain.
I pick up the ID card and I see her name.
Daisy Marcello. A final year student at The City College of New York.
No wonder I found the ID card familiar.
"Where do I go now? Should I become a prostitute? Should I give Brenda a call? Should I go back to beg Mrs. B to give me another month", she belches again and stops talking.
I let out an exasperated sigh and drop the ID card beside her. Thinking of what to say to her and debating on whether to still go ahead and call the security men to take her out of my room, I remain silent.
I am not responsible for her situation.
She should be responsible for everything in her life. If she had been consistent with paying her rent, maybe she wouldn't be homeless now and I wouldn't be interrupted at this time of the night when I am supposed to be drafting out new business plans for our hotels.
There is nothing I can do. I am sure she wasn't the only one who was fired. The others didn't get drunk and they aren't homeless.
Why will she even work part-time despite being a student? One will take more of her time and I am sure that must be the reason why she was fired.
If she works for me and I find out she is still in school, I would have done the same thing because I need to work with people who are focused and efficient, not some college student who knows nothing about what I want for my company but to come to drink to stupor.
I am making a mental note to ask dad about her tomorrow when we see them. I want to know if the Alex she is talking about is me or someone else and also to know if she was among those he must have fired before I arrived in New York.
Realizing what I am doing, feeling sympathetic towards her, I shake my head to wave all the emotions away.
This girl only wants to make me feel bitter. But I don't care.
I can't help her when she is nothing but a total stranger.
I rise and return to the intercom so I can call security to come up and get her out of my suite and I can get to work afterward.
Then, I hear a sound.
I am thinking it is from my imagination initially but I can't touch the intercom button to make the call I want to make because the sound seems like a snore.
I rush back to the girl and lift her head. But she is asleep already.
Fast asleep.
With a loud snore coming out of her slightly parted mouth.
Daisy's POVI am falling off a building but I can't make a sound because my eyes are tightly shut waiting for the impact of the floor and for my head to break into pieces.But I didn't hit my head.A sound eventually comes out of my mouth. Not a scream in fear of death. A wince.This is when I realize my arm hurts. Then, my eyes flutter open to meet reality.I am not in school, not at work, and not on the floor after jumping off a ten-leveled building because I want to give up on living.Where the hell am I? I ask inwardly as I try to stand up from my fall.A pain sips through my arm and my head bangs severely. My gaze shifts to the huge bed and it dawns on me when the memories of last night come rushing back.I fell off this huge bed thinking it was from a building. I didn't sleep on the streets last night because I….I gasp.I saw a stranger. The same man watched me closely at the club last night like a predator watching over its prey."Goodness!" I scramble up and rush towards the
Alex's POVI watch her debate within her on whether to get in just like I have ordered her to or not. She is biting her lower lip like someone in deep thought in a math class, desperate to find answers to the math solution on the board.She shakes her head and continues to walk."Hey", I call out, my anger rising and my hand balling into a fist. I helped her last night, is this what I get for helping her?The driver moves the car further before I can instruct him to and she stops when the car is beside her.With rage, I shout. "Get into the car now!"She jerks backward, startled by my tone and loud voice.She stares down at me, probably to figure out if I am here for a good reason or if I want to kidnap her and sell her off to some men.Kevin gets down from the car and opens the door for her. I shift to the other side, waiting for her to climb in next to me.It takes a while before she makes up her mind. She nods at herself and gets in, careful not to let her legs touch mine.Kevin cl
Daisy's POVMy jaws are dropped in shock and after a moment of silence between us, without him offering more explanations to the reason for this type of favor, I blink then shut my mouth.Surrogacy?He wants me to carry a baby for him? Why? Why me?Is this the condition for helping me? What about school? How do I manage to carry his baby and going to school?Wait, did I just think of accepting the offer? Why the hell am I thinking of how to cope with carrying a baby and going to school? Is this how desperate I am?Well, you are desperate. You are the true definition of desperate, my subconscious retorts."You don't need to give me a reply immediately", he mentions, pulling me out of my reverie. "I can give you a day to think about it but after a day and I don't hear from you, I guess I will find someone else."He looks so confident and sure of what he is saying. He doesn't look shaken as though he has done this with a woman before.I don't even know what to think. My head is spinning.
Alex's POVSympathy is all I feel for her. That night at the party and after knowing that she was the one crying in the bathroom, I thought she was about to commit suicide because she had given up on life.Then when she told me about her inability to pay her fees, the sympathy increased ten folds and I knew I needed to help out.I went to the party for a reason. I am not the type who dates women. Not because I don't find them attractive but because I fear attachment.When I was in high school and my father was bankrupt, we had to move from Boston to Los Angeles and from Los Angeles to New York. We almost left America.When we were in Los Angeles, no one knew me as the son of a man who was considered wealthy and whose business was going through a difficult time.I loved the quiet atmosphere of the school I attended and the fact that I wasn't getting any attention but my girlfriend left me before we left BostonShe left because we were going through a hard time with our finances. I no l
Daisy's POVI didn't ask him where he was taking me but I felt safe with him. It is better than allowing Brenda to drive me to her place and allowing her to flaunt her wealth in my face.She came to ask me to get into the car for a reason. She wants to convince me one more time to join her. She wants to mock me for my inability to pay my fees.I don't know how they got to know about my situation. If Julian wasn't a nerd and a good guy, I would have assumed he was responsible.I have cried and cried. I couldn't cry in the classroom where there are thousands of eyes on me so I went to the bathroom to do that.These past few days, the bathroom has been my place of solitude.When we drive into a place I assume is his house, I can't help but stare in awe. It is magnificent."Are you ok?" I hear him ask again for the umpteenth time as he jerks me out of my reverie, my gaze shifting to meet his."Yes, yes!" I chant, swallowing a lump that has gotten stuck in my throat since we arrived.Why d
Alex's POVAn idea stuck with me last night before I eventually fell asleep.Daisy is helpless. I never thought she was going to give me a reply so soon considering how upset she looked when I first presented the offer to her.I was relieved last night after she told me yes.But then, another idea is hitting me hard. An idea that will work in my favor.Daisy is going to be staying in this mansion with me. She is going to be my surrogate and that means asking her to pretend to be my girlfriend won't be a huge and difficult task.It will make my story all the more plausible. What was I thinking of telling my mother after the baby was born? Where would I tell her I got the baby from?Right now, all I need to do is introduce Daisy to them and everything will become easy. When the baby is born and Daisy is nowhere to be found, then I can confidently tell them the truth or probably tell them that Daisy is gone.But for now, I can't bring up the talk of a surrogate because it will never be a
Daisy's POVNervous is the word for how I feel right now. Even though I agreed to this, I don't know if this is right.The doctor is examining me and all of a sudden, she rises, gazing at me intently. I have undergone a series of tests and I think this is the last.I can practically hear the sound of my heartbeat and I wonder if the doctor is just not paying close attention to it or maybe she isn't hearing it."Do you have any objections to taking a lot of medications?" She questions with a raised brow, watching something on an unrecognizable instrument.I don't know if she is reading from there or if she is casually asking me the question.I think about the question again and I realize I don't understand what she means. "What do you mean?" I sit upright, my brows furrowed in confusion.She looks up, surprised that I am asking such a question.She doesn't look all too nice. She looks like someone who is harsh and super rude but I am not one to be judgmental of someone I just got to k
Alex's POVDaisy is an amusing piece. She acts naive sometimes and then other times, she seems to be one hell of an experienced woman, not a college student.I have no idea what made her ask me such a question but I am sure her inquisitiveness is involved.Maybe she doesn't trust me yet but that isn't even needed. This contract is for a short while. The baby should be here in 9-10 months and that is when we can part ways. It doesn't matter if she trusts me or not.Doing this with her means I am trusting her with my baby. I have been thinking about her question since I dropped off at the office. I didn't reply to her, though. I only chuckled because it was too hilarious.Why would I be doing this if I have a wife? Why will I even invite her to come to stay in the mansion with me if I already have a wife?Not having a girlfriend or a wife is the problem here. I want someone to not only take that position just so my parents can look at me from a different perspective, but also have a c