Page 18 of Sassy Surrogate
By the time he’s done laying out his idea, I’m speechless. I can say, with all certainty, it was not what I had expected him to say at the beginning of this conversation. However, knowing him as well as I’ve come to, I can’t honestly say I’m surprised that he’s found a way to fulfil his wish. He is one of the most determined and resourceful people I’ve ever met. If anyone can make it happen, he can.
9
Danica
That has got to be the weirdest phone call I have ever received.
I mean, I’ve met the man a handful of times for brief moments, and now he’s calling me. In the middle of the night, unexpectedly. With a business proposal, no less. To be honest, even though I don’t know the man, I can’t deny I’m intrigued – especially considering my current predicament.
I need to finish locking the house up for the night as he caught me just arriving home from Rebecca’s. Since my father’s breaking-and-entering trick, I’m particularly aware of how vulnerable I am and how lacking my security is. Something I need to fix as soon as I’m able. If Dad can get in, then so can his “friends.” I definitely don’t need that.
Catching myself circling the house for the third time to ensure windows are closed and doors are locked, I make my way to bed. I’m tired, ratty, and more than ready to climb under the covers and pull them over my head and pretend the world doesn’t exist.
As expected, Rebecca grilled me over the assault incident with my dad. Also, as expected, she restated her case for me using her savings as collateral on a loan to pay the debt. There is just no way I could do that though. God alone knows when next I’ll be gainfully employed and, in the meantime, she’s proposing to pay the loan on my behalf until I am. And now she’s mad at me because I won’t do it.
Rebecca is the best friend a girl could ever ask for. I met her on a school exchange program her high school participated in with mine. My grandparents offered to host a child, and she was chosen to stay with us. For the full year she stayed, we went everywhere and did everything together.
A lifelong bond formed. I took a gap year after school and spent it travelling with her around the United States. When I returned home, we were both heartbroken. Over the years, we’ve done our best to meet up as often as possible somewhere around the world for our annual vacation.
When she let me know that her company was setting up an office in not just South Africa but, more specifically, Cape Town, I was beside myself with excitement. Her boss was coming personally to set the office up, and they’d be here for three years to ensure it was running smoothly.
Distressingly, those three years are rapidly coming to an end, and she’ll be returning to the States soon. With all the other crap going on in my life, I’m trying really hard not to think about her leaving. It depresses me.
Sighing, I do exactly as I’ve been dreaming about since arriving home and climb under the covers, pulling them up around my ears. Snuggling down, I work to blank all thought from my mind, intending to meditate for a couple of minutes to help me sleep. Despite being exhausted, unless I can quiet my mind, there will be no rest for me tonight.
Imagining a beautiful, deserted beach, I count my breaths as I inhale and exhale. I focus on slowing my breathing and my mind when a thought pops into my head, yanking me out of my impending zen. Where the hell did Heath Bailey get my phone number?
I don’t remember giving it to him at any point. Nor his bodyguard slash chauffer. So how did he get it? I doubt Rebecca would have given it to him, and definitely not without letting me know she’d done so.
Cursing, I flop back onto the bed, well annoyed that I’ve lost the requisite quieting of the mind I need to fall asleep. Now all I’m going to do, all night long, is speculate as to how this stranger found my unlisted number.
Finally, by two a.m. I give up and grab my tablet. If I’m not going to sleep, then I may as well read. There’s a hot new release I’ve been waiting to get lost in, and there’s no better time than now. Getting comfortable, I start reading. Before I know it, I’ve devoured the entire book, and it’s now quarter to seven.
Damn it. There’s no hope of getting any sleep now. Mr Bailey will be here at nine thirty, and I’ve still got cleaning I want to do. Yawning, I stretch to work the kinks out. Stumbling into the kitchen, I get coffee going. Then, while I wait, I get started with tidying my little house. It’s not much, but it’s all mine. And I’m proud of that.
Finally, the coffee is ready, and that first jolt of caffeine hits all the right spots. By the time I’m done tidying, it’s time to get ready. Armed with my second cup, I do the necessary. My makeup is definitely going to be working overtime today to hide the designer bags I’m sporting under my tired eyes.
I’m well into my third cup when there’s a knock at my front door. My heart speeds up, and I put my cup down so as not to spill it as I’m now shaking too. Stopping at the door, I take a big breath, letting it out slowly. I reach to open the door just as another knock sounds impatiently on the door, making me jump.
“All right, all right, keep your hair on. I’m coming,” I mutter under my breath.
The door swings open, and I have to catch my breath. Heath Bailey is standing on my front porch, freshly showered and devastatingly handsome. His big body fills his bespoke suit out in a way that makes me want to strip him out of his clothes and find out what he’s hiding under there.
“Good morning, Ms Brand.” His smile is all white teeth and charm.
Sleep deprived as I am, I feel inadequately equipped to deal with all that is this man standing on my porch.
“Morning,” I mumble, standing back to allow him to enter.
He stops in the middle of the living room. I watch him as he takes the modest space in, not missing a single detail. His study is thorough, and I can understand why he’s been so successful in creating his own business from the ground up.
Rebecca once told me the story of how, despite coming from a wealthy family, he built his own company from scratch with no financial assistance from his father. All he has is his because of hard work and, clearly, an eagle eye that seems to miss nothing.
“Can I get you something to drink, Mr Bailey?”
He pivots slowly to face me. “Please, call me Heath. Mr Bailey sound so formal.”
“I– sure. Okay. Please call me Danica then.”
