All Chapters of The Perfect Match; Billionaire's Surrogate Mother : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Louisa's point of view The cafeteria here was better than anything my previous jobs had ever offered. I nearly teared up once, realizing I might never have experienced any of this if my path hadn't crossed with Damien's. I might never have experienced a lot of things without him. My mother might not even be alive right now if not for him. The thought sobered me for a moment, pulling in a small tide of something that felt close to sadness, though it wasn't quite that either. I'd just unwrapped my sandwich when the chair across from me scraped back, and Claudia dropped into it like she'd been invited, interrupting my thoughts entirely. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, already seated. I caught myself rolling my eyes at the question. Maybe I shouldn't be so hostile toward her. She'd never done anything to me directly, and it wasn't her fault that she and Damien went that far back. "Sure." I forced myself to sound reasonable, even managing a small smile. "I won't stay long." She se

Louisa's point of view I woke up before my alarm, which never happened, and lay there a moment staring at the ceiling, replaying the fight from the night before, and everything that had led up to it, until my chest went tight all over again. I got up quickly, shaking the thoughts out of my head. I didn't have time for this. That was the thought I kept circling back to, the one I used to force myself out of bed and into the shower. I had two PR crises still unresolved from Monday, a board still rattled from whatever had gone wrong in that meeting, and I would genuinely die if anyone brought up the idea that I was only in this position because of a man. Which was technically true, and I hated that it was. I thought about Damien through the entire shower, whether I wanted to or not. What was wrong with us? First I had to accept that he'd always love someone else. Then I had to tolerate his friend being obsessed with him. And now he thought I was the kind of person who'd steal hi

Louisa's point of viewI woke up in a genuinely good mood for the first time in what felt like weeks, which should have been my first warning that the universe was about to test it.Damien had left early for a call, but he'd left a note on the counter with actual pen and paper, which felt almost comically comedically romantic, like I was the star of some 90s romcom movie.“Early morning today. See you at work darling” with a little heart emoji at the end. I read the note over and over again till I forced myself to accept that I've read it enough times and stuffed it in my pajamas back pocket. Heading to go get ready.I had my morning coffee and entire routine in a type of silence that felt weird but nice. My head space felt blissfully calm and quiet. It was nice.I smiled the whole drive to work.The good mood lasted until roughly ten thirty, when I walked into the marketing department's shared space to grab a folder and caught the tail end of a conversation that clearly hadn't been

Damien's point of view Sean found me in the middle of a call, grinning like he'd just heard the best gossip of his year. "You're doing a photoshoot," he said the second I hung up, not even bothering with a greeting. "Word travels fast." "Word travels at the speed of Renee from marketing telling literally everyone within earshot that Louisa 'got you to agree, just like that.'" He made an impression of her voice that was somehow both accurate and deeply unflattering. "I didn't realize you were the type to be talked into modeling." "I'm not being talked into anything. I agreed." "Because she asked nicely, I heard." "Get out of my office, Sean." He left, still laughing, and I sat there a moment longer than necessary, oddly pleased by the whole thing despite myself. I hadn't modeled since Caroline, had tried my best, she was the one I did most of it for because she loved it and after she died there seemed to be no point in it anymore. But now… It didn't feel as dreadful as I wo

Damien's point of view Louisa came home practically glowing, dropping her bag by the door and crossing straight into the kitchen where I was pulling together something for dinner whilst wondering why I didn't just order takeouts. "You would not believe the day I had," she said, hopping up onto the counter, feet swinging. "Nadia's friends are actually amazing. There's this guy Theo, who's gay and somehow even funnier and Marcus who kind of reminds me of you, he's so chill, and we just — clicked. Like immediately. I haven't had a day like that in ages. I didn't get to meet Beatrice though, bad a shoot to attend to, she's actually so chic I wish I'd get to meet her.” "Sounds like a good time." I leaned against the counter across from her, watching her talk with her hands the way she did when she was genuinely excited about something, and found myself smiling without meaning to. "It was so good. We did brunch, then walked around the market, then ended up at this rooftop place with th