by Simply BWWM
Luke had suggested that for the best possible transition, she choose a handful of furniture items she didn’t want to live without--and her bed, along with her kitchen table, had made the cut, as had her desk--and then donate or sell the rest, that he’d be happy to furnish the apartment he’d chosen for her.
She had to admit that he had gotten her a great place: just a bit outside of the loop on Ogden Avenue, it had wood floors and gas heating that Elizabeth was sure would come in handy when the weather was cold again--right about when she would, in theory, be heavily pregnant and definitely interested in staying inside as much as possible.
There was a spare bedroom that Elizabeth fully intended to use as her office space, and a fairly generous bathtub. She would need to buy some rugs, but Elizabeth thought that once her initial five-thousand-dollar payment from Luke was deposited in her account, she would have more than enough time and money to decorate the place.
In theory, at least, she didn’t have to work at all; she had more than enough to cover her expenses between Luke paying one year’s rent up front and paying her five thousand a month for carrying his child. She wasn’t sure--they hadn’t exactly worked out--whether the five thousand per month would be once she got pregnant or not.
But just with him covering her expenses to move, including the furniture he’d gotten so far for the apartment and selling some of her own stuff, along with finishing a few projects, she could afford to skip work for almost a full month without any bills piling up.
When she’d arrived at the apartment building, Luke had already gotten her a large, comfortable-looking couch that she’d approved the purchase of for the living room, along with a smart TV, and he’d had someone bring in an armoire for the large master bedroom, along with a matching dresser. Once her things arrived, Elizabeth thought, she would be as comfortable as a human being could possibly be.
Elizabeth’s phone chirped a notification, and Elizabeth checked it; she’d set a reminder for herself for about two hours before she was supposed to meet with Luke to sign the contracts and make everything completely official, so she’d have enough time to get cleaned up and ready and also to find her way to where they’d agreed to meet.
Luke had offered her a driver, but Elizabeth had turned him down; she’d had her car shipped to her new address, and it would arrive about the time the rest of her earthly possessions did, but she didn’t think she’d be doing much driving--there was just too much easy-to-access public transportation. She did have a paid-for parking spot that came with her apartment, so apart from the occasional trip out of the city, Elizabeth thought her car would probably stay there.
She went into the bathroom, where Luke had thoughtfully made sure there were towels and some basic toiletries, and opened up the travel bag that she’d brought with her; she’d remembered most of her essentials, but it was nice to have fresh bottles of high-end shampoo and conditioner and body wash to use. Taking out her razor, toothbrush, and a few other things, she set them out on the counter, and looked around. It felt so strange to be in a new bathroom; nothing was where she was used to it being.
Elizabeth shook off that impression and started the water for the shower, testing it and figuring out the controls until she got it to the temperature she wanted. She stripped off her slightly stale-feeling clothes and climbed into the tub to get under the shower, pulling the curtain into place almost as an afterthought.
She scrubbed her hair and body quickly but thoroughly and worked the new conditioner Luke had gotten her through the tips of her hair, leaving it there as she went over her legs and underarms with the razor. She’d gotten her bikini area waxed; she wouldn’t have to worry about it for a few weeks. The prospect of finding a new waxer in a new city, especially one as big as Chicago, was a bit daunting.
Liz pushed that thought out of her mind and finished up her shower, rinsing the conditioner out of her hair and finally washing her face, letting the water sluice down over her whole body for a few moments before she turned the water off. The colder air hit her as she climbed out the tub, and Elizabeth shivered, grabbing the thick, soft towel Luke had gotten her.
It was, she thought, a little odd; even after they’d had sex together--and they’d ended up having sex three times the night they’d met up--it still wasn’t entirely real to Elizabeth, what they planned on doing. They hadn’t decided on the specifics of whether they would be trying artificial insemination or if they would give the “old-fashioned way” a try first, but she had to admit that she wasn’t averse to the idea of having sex multiple times with Luke just to see if she could conceive that way.
If I’d known he was that good in bed...of course, at seventeen-eighteen, he wouldn’t have been. Elizabeth dried herself off and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was flushed from the hot water, but she had to admit she looked pretty decent; she wouldn’t have to work too hard to look put-together for the meeting she was supposed to have with Luke.
They would--she hoped--come to a decision about the method of getting her pregnant, as well as when the payments would start, and what the finer details of the process would be. She knew already that she would be including him in as many of the doctor’s appointments as possible, but she wasn’t sure how many that would really be; she thought he would probably have her fertility tested first, but that could take time.
There were just too many factors, and time and again, Elizabeth’s mind came around to the fact that she was actually going through with this with a guy who--had circumstances been different--she might have ended up with. Oh, come on--don’t be dramatic and romantic and mushy like that. Even if you had gone to the same college, you probably would have broken up in freshman year.
She dried her hair and went into the bedroom to consult her suitcase. She’d told Natasha about the particular coincidence that had come up, and Natasha had insisted that it only meant that she should definitely go through with it; after all, it was that little bit better to do it for someone she already had a connection to, rather than a total stranger, wasn’t it? Elizabeth wasn’t entirely sure. If it had been a stranger, it would be that much harder for her to follow the child’s upbringing. There would be a clean break as soon as she handed the child over to the parent.
With the parent being someone she’d been romantically involved with, Elizabeth knew that she wouldn’t be able to help herself wondering over the years. What it would have been like to actually have the child with Luke in the “normal” way--as his girlfriend or even his wife--and who was helping him. Whether the child looked more like her or like him as it grew up. Questions that would come up with any parents she had chosen to be a surrogate for--assuming she’d also donated her egg as well as her womb--but which were magnified by knowing the parent she was going to hand the child over to.
“It’ll be fine,” she told herself firmly, picking out a skirt, a blouse, and a pair of tights from her suitcase. Elizabeth decided to wear a blazer with the ensemble, but that would be something to think about after she’d put on makeup and done her hair.
She checked the time again and saw that she had a little less than forty-five minutes to finish getting ready if she wanted to give herself plenty of time to meet up with Luke. Elizabeth had run different routes through Google Maps and thought--hoped--that she knew the quickest one, but she’d learned from her early days in Portland that it was easy to get lost even with the most straightforward route in a city you didn’t know.
Elizabeth had just finished her makeup and was starting on her hair when her phone buzzed; frowning, she checked it to see that it was Natasha calling her. She smiled with relief and accepted the call, setting it to speaker so that she could talk while she worked on her hair.
“So, you’re really in Chicago, eh?”
“I really am,” Elizabeth confirmed.
“Does he have you in a nice place?” Elizabeth considered that for a moment.
“It’s a bit bare right now, but that’s mostly because my stuff isn’t coming for
a few days, and I only had him get a few things for the apartment before I got here--I said I’d go shopping for stuff on my own tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a pretty plush gig,” Natasha said enviously.
“It is, if you forget about the fact that my whole point in being here is to get pregnant and pop out a kid,” Elizabeth pointed out.
“Yeah, but if I could get a hundo? for that? I’d take that deal in a New York minute,” Natasha countered.
“Well, sign up for the site yourself then. There’s bound to be someone else on there looking to pay tons of money for a boutique baby carried by someone else,” Elizabeth suggested.
“I don’t have your sense of altruism,” Natasha said. “I know you would be doing this if it was some random couple who wanted to implant you with a half-dozen frozen embryos and just pay the costs for you to live.”
“True,” Elizabeth conceded. “I mean--I just sort of figured I’d see what it was going to be like and make up my mind. I definitely wasn’t looking for this, specifically.”
“No, I know,” Natasha reassured her. “This isn’t the kind of thing anyone can predict. But you definitely lucked out.” Elizabeth stood back from the mirror, examining the bun she’d twisted and tucked her dark hair into to make sure it was straight and that there weren’t any little stray hairs hanging down.
“It’s still kind of weird,” she confessed. “I feel like it would be easier to do this for a stranger.”
“Probably, but the pay is worth it, isn’t it? Besides, you said he was good in bed--and if either of us needed to luck out like that, it’s you.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “For all I know, he’ll have decided that it’s better to go the artificial insemination route,” Elizabeth countered.
“He’s a man, and from what you said, he enjoyed himself just as much as you did. I wouldn’t put it past him to spend months trying to knock you up the old-fashioned way, if he has to.”
Elizabeth laughed. She had to admit that there was at least some small part of her that hoped that was the case.
“However it is, I’m going to get pregnant if it’s possible, and I’m going to carry his kid and deliver it, and then I’ll be done,” Elizabeth said.
“Sure,” Natasha agreed unconvincingly. “Maybe I’ll come out to old Chi-town and visit you if I can ever get some vacation time.”
“I’ll show you the city,” Elizabeth offered.
“In the meantime, check in from time to time, okay? I want to make sure this isn’t some homicidal maniac who has a thing for knocking women up and then murdering them.”
“The world really lost out when you didn’t decide to become a screenwriter, Tasha,” Elizabeth informed her friend.
“Don’t I know it?”
“I need to finish getting ready, so I can go meet him; I’ll call you tonight when I get back in,” Elizabeth said.
“Okay. Love from the West Coast,” Natasha said, and Elizabeth returned the comment with mid-west flavor before ending the call. She looked the mirror more carefully, making sure none of her makeup had smudged, and decided it was good enough. She had about forty minutes to get to the restaurant that Luke had recommended, which should--she hoped--be enough, even if she got turned around somewhere.
She threw on her blazer against the slightly chilly wind, checked her purse to make sure she had her keys, her phone, the spare battery charger, and the other odds and ends she felt she needed, and looked around the apartment again. It still looked strangely bare and foreign, but it would look like home soon enough.
Chapter6
Luke stood outside of Rivers, glancing up and down along the block, looking for Elizabeth’s s approach. He had the finished contract, as well as the paperwork to start the bank transfers to her account in a folder in his hands, and he thought to himself that he might just be able to convince her to come back to his place--a townhouse on the edges of the city proper--before going to her new apartment. He smiled to himself, glancing once more up and down along the block.
The fact that she had refused his offer of a driver had surprised him, but he had to admit that her logic was fairly flawless: she’d pointed out that she couldn’t expect to really learn how to navigate the city if she was driven everywhere, which was true. She’d also pointed out that Chicago had a perfectly workable public transit system -- certainly, it was more reliable than what she’d been used to in Portland.
Just as Luke was beginning to worry that Elizabeth might have missed a train or gotten off at the wrong stop, she appeared from around the corner. Luke couldn’t help smiling at the sight of her: she looked just as good as she had at their first, awkward meeting, but the shock of recognizing someone he hadn’t expected to see was gone. Dressed in a skirt, a blouse that seemed to cling beautifully to her breasts, and a blazer, she looked every bit as delicious as she had when he’d taken her up to her hotel room, intent on ending his first meeting with her on the best possible terms.
“Good to see you again,” he said as soon as she was close, stepping forward to kiss her on the cheek.
“You too, and I’m glad I seem to be on time,” Elizabeth replied, returning the embrace. It was strangely awkward, but the tension left a moment later, and Luke wondered if he’d imagined it.
“I hope everything is okay with the apartment?” Luke gestured for her to precede him towards the entrance of the restaurant. He’d picked Rivers not just because it was fairly impressive but because he knew that it was somewhere they could talk--a place where he’d had business lunches and dinners in the past, comfortable and cozy but not overly raucous.
“It’s a little weird being in a new place, but it looks really nice--I should probably thank you for that,” Elizabeth said with a little smile. Luke held the door open for her, and they both stepped into the restaurant together.
“Next time we meet up, I need to take you to get some real, Chicago-style pizza,” Luke said.
She laughed.“I have to admit it would be nice to go somewhere that a meal doesn’t cost half the invoice of one of my projects,” she told him.
“That dinner wasn’t that expensive,” Luke protested. Elizabeth shot him a little grin. The hostess noticed them, and she waved Luke forward.
“We have your table ready, Luke,” she said with a smile, and if the blonde woman gave Elizabeth a quick, slightly disapproving look, Luke was fairly certain that Liz herself hadn’t seen it.
In a matter of moments, they were seated at a table for two, with menus in front of them, and Luke set the contracts and paperwork down on the table where they wouldn’t be in the way of anything; plenty of time later to tackle those details. “Why don’t we wait to order, and then we can get into the nuts and bolts of this?” Luke suggested, gesturing idly to the folder.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Elizabeth agreed. “Less chance of getting interrupted that way.”
They made small talk as they waited for the waiter to arrive at their table, looking over their menus and exchanging ideas. Luke looked around the room from time to time, feeling oddly at ease and yet tense all at once. It’ll be easier once the whole situation with contracts and setting things up is done, he thought. The server arrived, and Luke let Elizabeth order first: she got the Lake Superior whitefish with the sauvignon blanc that the server recommended, while Luke chose the five-spice duck breast and a draft pilsner.
“Should we share an appetizer?” He could tell the server was more than a little interested in them having more to eat--after all, the larger the final bill was, the greater his tip would be.
“The crab cake appetizer sounds delicious--if you’d want that, I’d be game,” Elizabeth said.
“We’ll take that then,” Luke told the server, and they both handed over their menus.
“So, I guess we should talk about what this is going to look like, from a practical perspective,” Elizabeth said when they were alone once more. Luke nodded.
“I think we’re both agreed that we’ll try to get you
pregnant through more or less the natural way first?” He raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t even truly known how much he’d been waiting to hear that Elizabeth wanted to have sex with him again until he asked the question.
“Oh, absolutely,” Elizabeth agreed, her lips twitching with the start of a wry smile. “I mean, if we can avoid needles and hormones and stuff like that, I would definitely prefer it that way.”
“Don’t sit there acting like you’re just doing your duty for God and Country,” Luke said tartly. “You enjoyed yourself last time; admit it.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but he saw the flush in her cheeks, the curve of her lips.
“I did,” she confessed. “I just wanted to make sure we were going to be able to keep things sort of...professional between us, I guess.”
“I think we can manage that,” Luke said. “While you’re living here, you can work as you like--or not, if you’d rather just enjoy the city.”
“You make it sound like we’re just going to be meeting up a couple of nights per week for sex and then maybe going to the doctor together to see if I’m knocked up,” Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow.
“You were the one talking about wanting to keep things professional,” Luke countered. “If you’re lonely in the city, of course I’m free a good bit of the time--we can see the sights, I can show you some of the things I like to do here.”
“I think I’d like that,” she said.
“How about we start tonight? Millennium Park is only a handful of blocks away from here,” Luke suggested.
“After this dinner, we’ll probably need the exercise,” Elizabeth agreed with a faint smile.
“I could also show you my place--we never really got around to it during the first weekend,” Luke added.
“Once I have everything moved into my place, maybe you could come and see what I’ve done with it?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in question, and Luke nodded.
“See? Already being nicely social,” he told her. Elizabeth snorted and rolled her eyes at that, and their drinks arrived, along with the crab cakes.