CHAPTER 5

Daisy's POV

My 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. I don't know if it is from the hangover of last night or as a result of the news from him.

I need the money. I need to pay my fees and I need a new apartment.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" He questions me with a smile, probably to make me feel this isn't a big deal but it is.

I am just 23 years old and I never had the thoughts of becoming a mother this soon. I still have a long way to go. 

"You have nothing go worry about. I have everything covered. Once the baby is gone, you can leave."

He said that, as though he can read my mind.

I don't even know him yet he is bringing this to my table. How can I trust him?

I have a lot of questions to ask him but I can't ask him because I can't do this. I shouldn't do this.

My academics comes first.

"Have you decided? You look like you have?"

Before I can say anything, the car comes to a halt and I realize we are in front of the campus already.

I shake my head vigorously and mutter. "No. I don't need your help."

Quickly, without waiting for a reaction from him, I turn to open the car door and I step out. I am in a haste to run far away from him. He isn't going to help me. If he wants to, then he should do that without asking me for something in return.

I can't allow him use me. I should probably find another solution.

I quicken my step, thinking he is going to follow me.

I can't do this. There should be another way around this.

As I approach my department, I realize he isn't following me like I thought he would and he isn't shouting for me to come back. Unconsciously, I heave a sigh of relief for that, happy that we won't cause a scene.

Out of curiosity, I twirl back to see if he is out of sight but surprisingly, the car is still there but I can't see him. I don't know if he is watching me from the car.

Instinctively, I lift my legs off the ground to run when I bump into someone.

Before I can fall to the floor, a pair of strong arms catches me and the green eyes of the only boy who gives me attention in my class comes into view.

He is a nerd and other people avoid him. I guess that is why I am always comfortable around him and I really do not want to be friends with him.

I wrench myself from his hold and stand upright while he adjust the glasses sitting comfortably on his nose bridge

"Daisy", he calls with an apologetic voice. "I'm sorry I bumped into you, are you ok?"

His eyes pierce into mine intently and a handsome smile creeps to his face.

"I'm fine." I answer, swallowing a big lump with embarrassment creeping slowly to my face.

I am embarrassed because the wealthy man who offered to solve the problems I am faced with in return for a huge favor might still be watching from his car. 

What will he think of me?

"Have you heard the news?" He asks without noticing my discomfort at the way we are standing awkwardly in front of the department.

This is when it dawned on me that I didn't even check my appearance in the mirror before coming out of that man's car.

How do I look?

Slowly, I lift my lowered head to meet his sympathetic gaze again.

"What news?" I find myself asking out of curiosity.

"The new counsellor has ordered the department to submit the closing date for the school payment", he begins and my heart beat increases. "It turned out that this has been going on for a while and we didn't know. I just got to know today and I have been tasked with the job of doing the submission."

This is when I see the file in his hands. It looks like there are a lot of printed papers in the file.

Julian is my class representative. He knows almost everything going on in the department which ordinary students like myself don't know a thing about.

Rumor has it that his mother works in the school senate which is why he was appointed the representative but other people claim he is intelligent and that is why.

Quickly, I find myself trying to grab the file from him with shaky hands. I want to know the closing date. I should know so I can look for the money somewhere before it closes. 

Julian stops me from taking the file from him. He shakes his head slowly at me and I finally release my hold from it.

It is wrong.

He has done wrong by telling me too. The news would be updated on the school website for everyone to see but I am grateful that he is telling me. By the time it is released on the school website, maybe it would be too late.

With my hands together in plea. "Can you please tell me when it closes?"

He knows I haven't paid my fee. I really do not know how they all know but they know. The sympathetic stares I always get are doing me no good.

"It's tomorrow, Daisy", he announces and for a split second, I imagine my world crumbling again and the memories of last night come rushing.

I'm doomed.

"Tomorrow?" I ask to be sure I hear right. My voice is shaky. My hands are trembling.

"Yes. It closes tomorrow morning", he confirms before patting me on the back and walking away.

I almost stumble back in shock. This means I have to find a way to pay up before the day ends.

Oh, Goodness!

Before tears begin to roll down my eyes, my mind goes back to him.

The wealthy man who dropped me off a few minutes ago. The man who wants me to carry a baby for him, for a reason best known to him.

The same man who offered me a bed to sleep in last night when I thought something bad would happen to me. I thought drinking myself to stupor would give me enough confidence to approach a man for sex and ask for money in return but getting drunk did nothing good to me. I found myself sleeping in his big bed.

He didn't take advantage of me. I doubt if he also slept in the same room.

He offered to help me without me asking. 

What more do I want? Do I want to be thrown out of college after years of suffering just because I have my dignity to preserve?

What dignity when people give me sympathetic stares here and there? What dignity when my friends jeer at me for not coming from a rich home?

Even if I give up on my studies, where do I start from? Where do I go from here? I don't even have a place to stay.

It strikes me suddenly that this is a good opportunity that I am throwing away. He wants a baby, not me. He wants us to go for surrogacy, not sex. He wants to help me, not use me.

I twirl back abruptly and find myself running towards the school gate so I can see for myself if he is still there waiting for me to come back and give him a response.

While running, my heart pounds harder than usual. I don't want to give that a thought. I don't want to figure out if it is pounding out of nervousness or out of fright.

This is what I need to do for myself. Isn't this better than becoming a prostitute like Brenda?

I run out of the school gate and glance around for the black car which dropped me off a few minutes ago but all I see is cars of different colours which belong to the students, driving into the gate.

Then, it dawns on me that I have lost yet another chance to stay in school. The wealthy man will find another woman to become his surrogate.