For some reason that she could never explain, Mimi never cried and as she grabbed the few belongings that she had in the apartment, she longed for home. Not her apartment, not this place, but her parent's home. How long had it been since she had even spoken to her mother? Perhaps it was the last place, maybe the only place, where she had really felt love.
“You don’t have to leave, I will tell you everything.” Smith said.
She stopped on her tracks. She had to know why she was lured to this big home. She stared at Smith and waited for an answer.
“We would like you to have our baby. We are sorry for disclosing it now.”
“What.” She asked.
“We were looking for a surrogate mother and we thought you would be the best candidate…you will also present yourself as Orra’s wife in front of his parents.” Smith said. Orra was silent as he watched. She paced up and down while she thought of what to say.
“You telling me that now?” she finally said.
“Would you have accepted if we told you that?” Orra said.
“What am I getting from all this?” she asked.
“Anything you want, just name it. We will give you the payment for the first assignment and anything else you want.”
“I will draft her contract for you to sign, I don’t trust you anymore.”
“We will do anything.”
“That means I will stay here for as long as I want.” She touched her belly. They all smiled. “Okay, I’ll do it.” Smith stared at Orra. Finally, what they wanted finally came true.
“We are a couple now.” Orra said as he went to his study.
****
Mimi paced up and down in her room, she was used to being a thief but not a surrogate mother. This was new to her. She looked at the phone as she picked it up from its cradle. She dialed her friend’s number.
“Hi,” she said in an excited tone.
Her friend sensed the urgency in her tone. “You sound excited.”
“I found a new job, finally I’m going to retire.” She tapped her fingers on the table beside her bed.
“What is this new job. I hope it’s legal.”
“I am going to be a surrogate mother. I met some nice people and I’ve decided to help them get a baby.” She didn’t want to go into details about the couple.
“I hope you won’t forget about us.”
“I won’t.”
****
Orra dialed his father’s number. He was excited about the news. He waited patiently for him to pick up.
“Hi dad.” He said, his voice full of excitement.
“Hi…..you sound excited.” His father responded.
He paced up and down trying to figure out how to relay the news to him. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” He finally said.
“You know you can deal with the investors alone. You have always handled the company well.”
“It’s not about the company. I want you and grandma to meet my fiancé.” His father went silent for a while, he could hear his father breathe on the other end of the line. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine, I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandfather. This is the best news you have given me in a long time. Your mother will be happy to hear this,” he could hear his father sob at the other end of the line.
“We will come next week to meet the family.”
“You don’t have to mention it, come anytime you want. I really don’t know what to say.” He muttered.
“Have a lovely day and tell mammier the good news.”
“Ok, son.” He was happy to know that it will finally be over. The thought of being a father made him happy. He felt Smith tap him on his shoulder.
“Everything will be fine.” He assured Orra.
“I want this to be over. I can’t concentrate with the pressure.”
“Mimi is all in, so just pull your act together and act like a fiancé in front of them.” He had faked having girlfriends while growing up and this was going to be easy.
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 4 of 24
The Leo Enforcer
Sandy had always felt down about herself for being overweight. Whenever she looked in the mirror and didn’t see the perfect body, or at least something close to it, she beat herself up. She’d tried a ton of ‘get slim quick’ diets, and she’d joined gyms, which she could never seem to commit to. She’d even considered going to get liposuction. Binge eating because she was depressed about it, didn’t help the situation any either.
“I’m gonna order some workout DVD’s today after work.” She texted her friend Brooke while she ate breakfast.
“Hey, you wanna go to the hockey game Friday night? Just a regular girl’s night out. Nothing special.”
“Brooke, you already know how I am. No, I do not want to go to the hockey game. Thanks.”
She cut her friend’s texting short. Brooke already knew how she was. The gesture was nice and everything, but Sandy was a home body. If she wasn’t at work or the grocery store, she was at home, sulking in her own pity.
“Hey Sandy, how’s the weather on your planet?” Fred would ask. He was a guy who always made fun of her at work.
Sandy learned quickly to ignore any form of conversation with him. He would start out talking nicely, like he was a really great guy and then out of nowhere; things took a very insulting turn. Brooke would always tell her that he made fun of people because of his own insecurities, like having a small penis.
For a while, Sandy didn’t know if that was true or not. But knowing Brooke for as long as she had, she knew Brooke didn’t make things up. Brooke had slept with Fred, and that’s how she knew he had a small one. It was actually quite funny to Sandy.
Although she was one of the top vacation sellers at her job, Sandy never got any special recognition. She was sure her boss had some type of beef with her. Everyone else got either a cake or cookies or their pictures were plastered on the white board as rewards for their work, but not Sandy. She didn’t know if her boss was just holding out on the sweets because she was fat, or if she really did dislike her.
One day, they had gotten stuck on the elevator together for almost an hour and they’d barely said two words to each other during the ordeal. Sandy thought for sure that the only reason she’d made it out of the elevator was because her boss was stuck inside of it as well. If she wasn’t, she probably would have left Sandy in there to starve.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna go to the game? It’s going to be fun!”
Brooke was adamant about getting Sandy to come out with her on Friday. She got tired of Sandy sitting in the house alone all the time, but mostly, she was tired of having to go out with their mean, boring, angry bird of a third wheel, Jackie. She was such a buzz kill and now that she wasn’t with her boyfriend anymore, her attitude had gotten ten times worse.
That was one of the main reasons Sandy stopped going out with them. Jackie was worse than Fred when it came to her. She always had some sort of fat joke or backhanded compliment to throw at her. The two of them had gotten into an argument before they stopped hanging out. Sandy wasn’t in the mood for her jokes one day and she’d snapped back with the truth about Jackie’s boyfriend cheating on her.
“Ugh! Brooke. No. I know you’re just tired of hanging out with Jackie and even if you tell her you’re going with me, she’s going to come anyway. You know how she is. She’ll want to come just to get under my skin.”
Before Sandy knew it, she’d texted Brooke about twenty messages, venting about how she felt towards Jackie. They’d all been friends for more than five years, and sooner or later, she knew she and Jackie would bump heads with each other. On the smooth side of things, Sandy used Brooke to practice toughening up. She figured if she could handle Brooke, she could handle anything. So she thought their friendship wasn’t all bad.
“Ok.” Brooke texted back, laughing. “LOL. I only wanted to know about t
he game. Not you and Jackie’s love life.” She joked. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know beforehand. If you don’t go, I probably won’t end up going.”
“All right. Do you want to do lunch? I was going to go over to Sweet Tomatoes on break.”
“Ok. I’ll meet you there, and we can make plans for Friday.”
Not in a million years, would Sandy have thought she would see the other side of the windows at Sweet Tomatoes. It was a salad bar and sandy hated salads. The only time she’d ever eaten one was when she tried to make a good impression on Fred and even then, she had to have it with extra fried chicken strips, lots of bacon and a heaping splash of buttermilk ranch dressing.
She’d had an idea as to what she wanted to order when she got there. She’d never been of course, and she didn’t want to make it obvious by sitting around staring at the menu. Eating that one salad had actually come in handy, she thought.
*****
“My goodness!” Brooke exclaimed, kissing Sandy’s cheek. “Why does it feel like I haven’t seen you in forever?”
It was very rare that Sandy went out anywhere. Brooke was so used to seeing her inside the house, she barely even recognized her.
“It kind of has. Ever since you got that big promotion you barely have time for anything else.”
“Oh my god, I know. This thing is really stressing me out, and Randy said the same thing, that if I don’t make time for him we’re gonna have to take a break. Can you believe that?”
“Well, we are talking about Randy here. Randy is a jerk. I’m surprised you’ve put up with him for this long.”
Randy was a guy that Sandy had gone on a date with once. He had been such a jerk to her, and if it wasn’t for the food being so expensive, she would have left — or made him leave, since she ended up being the one who paid for everything. For a while, Sandy was upset with Brooke for dating a guy she dated, but then she realized it was only one date. It wasn’t like they’d been in an exclusive relationship, which is what she thought would come from her asking him to dinner.
She always made the first move when she saw a guy she liked and had enough courage to ask him out. She couldn’t remember the last time a guy had asked her out to dinner, or a park, or anything really. Except Fred, who’d only asked her because he made a bet with some of the other guys around the office.
While the girls ate their lunch, they talked about everything they hadn’t caught each other up on. Sandy found out that Brooke had gotten pregnant by Randy, Randy didn’t want a baby so soon, and so she had an abortion. Brooke had found out that Sandy was no longer going to the gym.
“Sandy, you definitely need to get out more. Pretty soon you’re gonna be this little old lady with a million cats, and I’m gonna wind up having to come fish your body out of your house before they start eating you.” She laughed.
“I know, I know.” Sandy giggled. “I just hate people so much, you know. Everyone in this town is so cruel and hateful it’s ridiculous. I can’t even check the mailbox without the kids in the neighborhood making fun of me as they ride by.”
Brooke felt bad for her friend. She could only imagine the pain she must have felt when she sat at home all by herself. It broke her heart, which is why she’d always tried to include Sandy in on everything she did and Brooke was no softy. If someone got out of line in front of her about Sandy, she would be the one to put them back in their place. She loved her friend so much, and she didn’t tolerate any disrespect when it came to her.
“That guy keeps looking at me,” Sandy said, pointing towards a man sitting across the way.
“Where?” Brooke asked, under her breath.
“Right there. Up front.”
Just as Brooke figured out who Sandy was referring to, a couple of kids rushed up to him, asking for his autograph. The women hadn’t caught on to why they wanted his autograph, but they knew he was someone important if they wanted it. Kids these days didn’t want anyone’s autograph unless they were famous.
“I wonder what he does.” Sandy blushed, looking down at her salad after locking eyes with him.
“I don’t care what he does. He is gorgeous, and he obviously likes you. You’d better not leave this restaurant without getting his number, Sandy. I mean it.” Brooke lectured.
Sandy had to laugh at the way Brooke said that, like she was going to be grounded if she didn’t. He was indeed a gorgeous man and he did seem to be interested in her. Why else would he keep staring at her? Whatever his reasons, she wished he’d stop, because she was getting turned on.
It had been nearly three years since Sandy had a boyfriend, or had sex for that matter, and she didn’t want to go back to work thinking about what it felt like again because of him. She might just have an asexual orgasm right there at her desk.
After finishing their lunch, Sandy and Brooke stood outside for a minute, discussing their plans for Friday night. Brooke knew she had started wearing Sandy down about that hockey game, because her strong “no” was now a “maybe”.
“Excuse me, ladies.” The man who’d been signing autographs during his entire lunch butted in. “I’m Mike. Mike Kane.” He extended his hand to shake theirs.
“Well hello, Mike,” Brooke said. “I’m Brooke, and this is my friend Sandy.”
“Hello, Sandy.” He shook her hand again, making it very clear who he’d been interested in. “Mind if I walk you to your car?”
“Uh, sure,” Sandy said, looking at Brooke like she wanted to ask her what to say. “I’ll see you later Brooke.”
“Ok,” Brooke grinned. “Let me know about the hockey game before Friday.” She called out over her shoulder as she walked to her car.
Mike was sexy. He was about 6’2, a solid 220 pounds, with fiery brown eyes and he wore his hair cut low, almost like a buzz cut. Sandy could only imagine what his body looked like under his clothes. She had fantasized about it the whole walk to her car.
“You’re thinking about going to the game Friday?”
“Huh?” She snapped out of her fantasy. “Oh, yeah. Brooke wants me to go with her, but I don’t know.”
“Whys that?” He asked, smiling like he already knew what ridiculous excuse she was going to pitch, but he wanted her to say it anyway.
“I just don’t like big crowds.” She halfway lied.
“I’ll tell you what.” He said, swiping his finger across his lips. “If you come watch me play Friday night, I’ll take you out to dinner. How’s that?”
Sandy was in la-la land from the moment he’d did that thing with his finger and his lips. Whatever he’d said after that, she really didn’t care. Or hear.
“Ok.” She said, before realizing what he’d actually said to her.
“All right!” He cheered. “I’ll see you Friday.”
“Wait what?” She asked under her breath as he walked away. “Oh geez. What did I get myself into?”
*****
“Oh my god Brooke!” Sandy laughed. “Ever since I saw that guy and he invited me to the game, I’ve been seeing him everywhere!”
“Yea. That’s all fine and dandy, but what happened when your best friend asked you to come to the game?” She laughed. “You said no, but as soon as Mr. superfine hockey star, Mike Kane asks, you’re all for it huh.”
“It’s not like that. He insisted. He even said that if I showed up, he would take me out to dinner afterward.”
“Well!” Brooke exclaimed, actually surprised. “Did he seem genuine about it?”
“You know, he actually did. That’s what’s so weird about it. What are the odds?”
After hanging up with Brooke, Sandy rushed to her closet to find something to wear. Although the game was two days from now, she wanted to get prepared. She didn’t want to panic at the last minute over her outfit, so she decided to lay everything out now. She wanted to make a good impression on Mike.
“Just my luck.” She sighed, not finding anything in her closet she felt comfortable wearing out with him.
Lying
in her bed, trying to piece together outfits, she finally decided to go shop for one. She had to go out to the grocery store anyway to pick up something for dinner. Sso he figured she would stop in at the mall, take a quick look around and if she saw something she liked, that would be her outfit for the game.
Her first stop was a Charlotte Rousse. She knew she couldn’t fit any of their clothing, but they did have an awesome shoe collection and every time she shopped for an outfit, she would always buy a pair of shoes to match. While she toured the store, she overheard a couple of girls state the obvious.
“What’s she doing in here? She can’t fit anything.” Of course, Sandy took it to heart, but she ignored them, thinking about the date she would be having with Mike.
“Can I help you find anything?” A familiar voice came from behind.
Startled, she turned around before she answered, to be sure her guess was right. It was. The voice belonged to Mike. The whole reason she had even come to the mall. This was a woman’s clothing store, so what would he be doing in here, other than shopping for a girlfriend?
“No thanks.” She smiled, trying not to show her frustration. “What brings you in here?”
“Well, I was actually on my way down to Lids to have a hat made, and I saw you through the window, figured I’d say hey. Again. I know you kind of just met me but, you know.” He chuckled.
Whew! That automatically seized her negative thoughts about him. She was ready to call off the entire outing, just because she thought he was playing her. It was just so hard to believe a man as good looking as him could be interested in her, of all the girls. Even the other shoppers around the store were staring at them in disbelief.
“Are you done here?” He asked, getting a little annoyed at the people staring at them.
“Yeah. I thought I might find a pair of shoes here, but I don’t see any I like.”
“Good.” He said, putting his arm around her and escorting her out of the store.
Sandy could have fainted. She knew why he’d put his arm around her. Quite frankly, she was hoping he would do something to make the shoppers feel stupid, she just didn’t think he would take matters into his own hands.
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