His Surrogate For Hire: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance (2 page)

No one did. Everything was pretty calm. There was not much movement
in the neighborhood. A woman jogged by with her dog and a few doors
down, some children played in their front yard and they seemed to be
the only signs of activity.

For a moment, a feeling of dread came over Diana. The fact that she
made this appointment was not something she chose to disclose to
anyone. It was the kind of thing that did not get brought up in
conversation often. Not only was Diana not sure who she would tell,
she was not sure what she would tell them. She was not completely
sure herself what was happening or what would happen moving forward.
She did want someone to know where she was in case something unsafe
happened.

Before heading to the house, Diana sent a quick text to her friend
Teresa telling her that she was out on a new side of town going to an
appointment and that she wanted someone to know where she was. She
told her she would update her on what was happening afterwards.
Teresa text back with a message for Diana to call her when she was
finished.

Checking in with someone made Diana feel slightly more safe. She was
not sure what she was getting herself into. Taking a deep breath, she
made her way up the steps to the porch. As she raised her hand to
knock at the door, a petite blonde woman with much too much makeup
swung it open.

"5837?"

"Yes," Diana responded.

"Welcome. Come in."

There was not much in the house. A sofa and a loveseat, a cocktail
table and a potted plant were the only things in the living room.
Diana tried to take a peek toward the back, but the woman smiled and
led her toward the living room.

"Have a seat."

Diana was not sure if she should, but the woman continued smiling and
holding her hand out, motioning for her to sit.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"No. I always carry bottled water with me. Thank you."

"Alright. Well, let's get started then."

For such a petite woman, she was a ball of energy.

"I'm Charlotte. I will be asking you a few questions. Kind of an
interview. Just be open and honest and then we will have you fill out
a profile. You can put your first and last name on the profile. For
the purpose of the interview, you will be 5837 okay?"

"Okay, Charlotte."

The inquisition began and it was not as painful as Diana anticipated.
Charlotte asked everything about Diana's background from where she
grew up to what kinds of extracurricular activities she participated
in as a kid. She asked all kinds of questions about her current love
life, relationships with family and friends, and career goals and
aspirations. Diana was slightly exhausted after all of the questions.

"Are you sure I can't get you some tea or something to eat?"
Charlotte asked when they finished.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

Charlotte clasped her hands together. "Alright. Then we will
move on to the profile. I will give this to you and you take your
time to fill it out completely and honestly." She passed Diana a
clipboard.

"I'll leave you to it. Just call my name when you are finished."

Diana nodded and looked down at the profile. It seemed as invasive as
the interview.

What have you gotten yourself into?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. All of the thoughts of
losing her job and her dwindling bank account flooded her mind. The
tears were welling up.

"Are you okay?'

Diana slowly opened her eyes. A tall, lanky man was standing before
her. He was dressed in a white long sleeved button down shirt, blue
jeans, and a pair of loafers. Clean shaven and obviously meticulous
about his sense of style and dress, the man entered the room and was
the type to command attention.

"I'm fine. Thank you." She tried to gather herself quickly
as the man stared at her.

"Are you sure?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets,
speaking softly.

"I am fine." Diana tried to squeeze out a smile.

"Good. I would hate for a pretty girl like you to be stressed or
unhappy."

She could feel her cheeks warm up. Obviously the stress was wearing
on her.

"Actually, I am having a pretty good day so far. How about
yourself?"

His green eyes lit up. "Have you ever been looking for something
and you find it and you know right away that what you found is the
answer?"

"I hope to one day know that feeling." Diana looked back to
the clipboard. She had about twenty more questions. She did not want
to share much more information with this stranger. Being there in the
house was already awkward enough. To tell a stranger that she was
filling out a questionnaire to be a potential surrogate because she
desperately needed the money was not the kind of conversation she
wanted to have.

"You will soon enough. I have a feeling. It looks like Charlotte
has taken good care of you. I'll excuse myself."

Diana turned her attention back to the clipboard. It was enough for
the man to understand and walk away. The last thing she needed, or
wanted, was other employees coming in and getting all up in her
business. She suddenly had the urge to finish up the paperwork
quickly so she could get out of there.

She did not want to give herself time to stop and think about what
she was actually doing. If she did, she would pick up her purse and
haul ass on out of there. She marked the answers to the last of the
questions and sat the clipboard on the table. On second thought, she
picked the board back up, quickly fearing that someone else would
walk in and glance at her personal info.

"Charlotte?" Diana got up and walked toward the next room.
Charlotte appeared out of nowhere.

"All finished?" She was so cheerful.

"I am." Diana passed her the clipboard.

"Can you hang on a moment?"

"Uh, sure." Diana did not know what she needed to stick
around for, but she had a few minutes to spare.

Charlotte glanced at the clipboard, and with a smile, she turned to
leave the room. There was a bounce to her step when she walked that
was just as peppy as her personality.

Diana tapped her fingers on the table, trying to calm her nerves.

"Diana, would you come on back?"

She looked up. It was the first time that day she had been called by
her name.

Charlotte stood there waiting.

"Okay." Diana hoisted her purse up higher on her shoulder.
Her heart was racing, trying to figure out where she could be going.

As Diana followed the woman back through the hallway, she tried to
take in all of her surroundings just in case. What if there was some
murderer back there waiting for her? What if she was walking into the
lion's den? Even if those things were happening, it felt like it was
too late to turn back. If she walked away now, there was a chance she
could be walking away from an opportunity that could change her life.

Charlotte seemed innocent enough. The two women walked back to a
patio filled with white wrought iron furniture and more of the same
colorful flowers that were in the front yard.

"I would like you to meet Mr. Marshall." Charlotte stepped
out of the way, giving Diana plain view. The man in front of them was
the same man that had been so pleasant to her in the front room.

He extended his hand. "How do you do? Just call me Clay."

"Diana. A pleasure to meet you again."

Clay pulled out a chair and motioned to Diana to take a seat.

"Thank you."

He walked slowly around to his chair. "Such a beautiful day
today."

Diana just stared at him, not wanting to do too much small talk. She
thought it better if they got right to the point, but she decided to
follow his lead.

"It is a beautiful day to get to know one another, Clay."

"That sounds wonderful to me. I would love that Diana. As a
matter of a fact, I would love for us to sit down to lunch. Maybe we
can talk over a small meal."

Diana was not sure what to say. All she knew was that she was staring
an opportunity in the face and she did not want to miss out.

"Lunch sounds wonderful. What do you suggest?"

"I actually have some food coming shortly, if you can stick
around, Diana."

"That sounds great. I have an appointment later this afternoon,
but I can stay for a while now." She really did not have any
appointments that afternoon, she just did not want to appear to be
too eager or available.

"That would be nice. I would love for us to get a chance to see
how we connect."

A silence settled between them. There was nothing but the birds
chirping and a calm breeze around them.

"I'm sure you want to know more about what this is all about."

Clay looked a bit nervous, like he did not know the right words.

"I want to say this situation is a bit bizarre, but if I do
that, I would have to admit that my part in it would be just as
strange."

Clay nodded with a chuckle as he clasped his fingers together. "True.
I think that both of us are looking for something. This could be a
way to fulfill both of our needs."

"I could be inclined to agree with that. How do you propose we
fill those needs?" Diana found his green eyes mesmerizing. Clay
was an attractive man and there was something charismatic that was
drawing her to him. He was the kind of man that commanded attention
when he was in the room.

As soon as she asked the question, Charlotte appeared with the food.

"I have something here for everyone. Diana, I hope that you like
Thai."

"I never had it before, but it's worth a try."

Charlotte left two big bags of food and walked away. Clay quickly set
about setting out the plates and the food.

"As we were saying," he continued. "I want you to know
that you are the first of the interviews I extended an invitation to
in reference to staying on for further conversation."

Diana was flattered. "Thank you. I think."

"It was a compliment. Diane, do you believe in intuition and in
instant attraction?"

She shrugged. "I never thought about it."

Clay looked at her, brow raised. "Well?" he asked, almost
forcing an answer.

Diana pushed the fork around on her plate. "It's possible.
Anything is possible."

"Ah, a realist I see."

Diana giggled. "Not really. I just have so much going on in my
life, I rarely sit and daydream about falling in love or having this
mind blowing connection to anyone. That's what fairy tales are for."

A wide grin spread across his face. "Fairy tales? So you don't
feel like you could meet someone and fall in love at first sight?"

"I don't know. What would you be falling in love with when you
don't know who that person is?"

"Touché. I like the way you think, Diana."

"How about you? Do you believe in instant attraction?" She
decided to flip it around and have him answer his own question.

Clay finished his food. "I believe you can make things happen.
Help them along. Create the proper climate for all of the right
things to occur. Does that make sense?"

"It does. More akin to what I believe. Sometimes things don't go
the way you would like. I believe that you can point things in the
right direction."

"Sounds like we have something in common, Diana."

His eyes sparkled, twinkling a bit. Clay seemed like a sweet man. But
Diana was smart enough to know she needed to fully understand what
she was getting in to with this eccentric stranger.

They finished lunch with casual conversation. Diana liked the fact
that nothing was forced and that she did not have to try to figure
out something to talk about with him. Things flowed smoothly and she
actually found Clay pretty amusing. They did not talk about work or
politics or anything stressful or controversial and they never
discussed the fact that she was there to interview for a surrogacy.

By the time she glanced at her watch, she had been there for almost
three hours.

"Clay, I really must get going. I did not realize we have been
here talking for over three hours."

"Wow. Has it been that long?"

She nodded and pointed at her watch.

"Time passes by so quickly when you are in good company."

"It does."

Her dyed strawberry-blonde and black hair blew around with the
breeze. She tried to tame it by tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I would like to say thank you for coming over and spending time
with me today, Diana. I know it must be quite difficult to answer
such an ad and to come to a place where you may have been unsure of
your safety and what it was all about."

She appreciated the fact that Clay could even acknowledge the things
that filled her with anxiety.

"Thank you."

He helped her out of her chair. "Can I walk you to the front
door?"

"Please do."

The two of them walked slowly as if they did not want the time to
end. Diana wanted to know a concrete answer on what the decision was.
She had been silently agonizing over it all afternoon, waiting for
Clay to say that he chose her as the surrogate.

He said nothing of the sort, simply guiding her to the front door
with a smile.

"I had a wonderful afternoon, Diana. I will be in touch."

Diana nodded. "Have a good afternoon." She lingered for a
moment, hoping he would come back and say that he had in the spur of
the moment, made a decision that she would the one he wanted to birth
his child.

That she would be the one that would live in the lap of luxury for
the next few months so she could stop worrying about her financial
situation for a while. By the time she made it down the steps of the
front porch he had closed the door.

Diana had no more confidence than she had when she walked in.
Although the encounter had been pleasant, she tried to keep in mind
that it was an interview and that the man was sizing her up as a
potential to carry his child. There was nothing more and nothing
less. It was just like any other job interview; she showed up, did
her best, and now she would have to wait to hear back from Clay to
see if he chose her.