Kelly

 

The next morning went by more quickly than I thought possible. Between taking care of Mom and searching for job leads on my computer, I was so stressed out I wanted to rip out all of my hair one strand at a time.

 

My cell rang, and I groaned. I wearily rubbed my tired eyes and answered it. “Hello?” I ran a hand down my face. All I wanted to do was to go back to bed. To go back to yesterday and find a way to keep my job. No. To go back to before Mom’s diagnosis. No. Even farther back, so I could force Mom to get checked much earlier. If the cancer had been found earlier, maybe she would’ve been cured by now.

 

But that was all wishful thinking, and wishes were for fools.

 

“You aren’t the only one having a hard time right now,” Stacy said gloomily. She sounded far unhappier than she had in a long, long time.

 

“Uh-oh,” I said sympathetically. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so tired anymore. “What happened?”

 

“It’s…” She sighed heavily. “I don’t wanna dump on you. You have so much more on your plate, more than anyone should have to deal with and—”

 

“Stacy, I’m your best friend. Of course I want to know what’s going on. Just because my life is going down the toilet doesn’t mean I can’t still be here for you.”

 

“You sure?” When I didn’t respond, she added, “Well, after I tried to find you leads, I went out with Aleksey.” She paused.

 

I grimaced. Stacy liked bad boys, and Aleksey was probably the baddest out of all of the ones she had dated. I didn’t care for the guy, personally, but Stacy had been head over heels for him. She really thought he might be the one. Of course, she thought that with every guy she dated.

 

And the worst part about Aleksey was that he was probably a mobster. Seriously. Who would date a guy like that? Yeah, even I thought he was hot, but that shouldn’t be enough to make someone turn a blind eye to his flaws. Stacy liked to walk the wild side, and while I liked bad boys myself — more accurately, I had a major weakness for them — a mobster? Never!

 

“What happened?” I asked, kinda hoping he had dumped her because Stacy wasn’t even considering that, and she just plain didn’t see he was no good for her. She deserved someone who would treat her like gold. I’d never forget the time she called me in tears because Aleksey cancelled plans on her at the last minute. She’d spent a pretty penny on tickets to a ball game for the two of them for his birthday, and something came up and he just dropped the, well, he dropped the ball.

 

I clicked on the next link for a company looking for a secretary. Not much of a web presence and it would be an hour commute. Too far. If something happened to Mom, I needed to be much closer to home. Cross that one off the list.

 

“Did you hear me?” Stacy asked. Her tone suggested mild annoyance, which actually made me feel a little better since I’d rather her feel angry with me than for her to wallow.

 

I winced. The last thing I needed was to push my only true support away. “I’m sorry. I’m a little distracted. What did you say?”

 

“He dumped me,” Stacy wailed. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I gave him everything he could have asked for. I was the perfect girlfriend for him. I was kind and loving and not too clingy. I just don’t know what went wrong.”

 

“It’s a good thing,” I muttered without thinking.

 

“What was that?” she asked, her tone sharp.

 

Crap. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Me and my big mouth. “It’s—”

 

“It’s not a good thing!” she fumed. “How could you say that? Seriously, Kelly! You know how much I cared for him!”

 

I winced again. “I didn’t—”

 

“I heard you!” she shouted.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m overwhelmed. I’m trying to find a new job and—”

 

“You want a new job? I got one for you.” She still sounded pissed, so whatever job she was going to mention was going to be completely off the wall. “Maybe you should get with Aleksey’s boss.”

 

“His boss?” What was she talking about?

 

“Yeah, some guy named Andrei. I’ve met him a few times.” She didn’t sound quite so pissed any more, at least. “I thought Aleksey was hot, but even he has nothing on Andrei.”

 

Now that was saying something. What did this guy look like? “What about this hot Andrei?”

 

“You should get with him,” Stacy said. “Andrei’s looking for a woman to give him an heir. He wants to knock someone up, and it sounds like he’s willing to pay big money for it.”

 

What the heck? How in the world could Stacy even propose such a thing for me to do? She must be really ticked off that I hadn’t been listening to her. Or she really was seriously bent over Aleksey.

 

But even more than her suggesting it, I was taken aback by the whole idea of needing an heir. “Isn’t that really archaic?” I asked.

 

“Kinda. It’s probably a Russian thing. It’s kinda strange, I know.”

 

Too strange for me. I shook my head. “Hey, I really am sorry I wasn’t listening to you more. You just know how I feel about Aleksey. You deserve better. I’m just looking out for you. You know I always have your back.”

 

Stacy blew out a breath. “Yeah, I know you always hated him,” she muttered.

 

“Hate’s too strong a word. I just love you enough to be real with you. You need a guy who can be there for you. How many times did he blow you off for unknown reasons? He always had excuses, but he never bothered to share them,” I pointed out.

 

“You have a point. It’s just…he made me laugh and smile, and yeah…you might have a point. I wasn’t completely stupid for being with him, was I?”

 

“No,” I assured her. Aleksey, for all of his faults, had made Stacy happier than some of the other guys she’d dated.

 

“Well, my lunch break is just about over. Gotta run.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry I brought up the whole Andrei thing. I know it’s not your thing.”

 

I laughed without humor. “Right? Totally crazy.”

 

We hung up, and for the next hour, I called around to a bunch of companies to see if they had any job openings. I even called up that place that was way too far of a commute. Nothing worked out. They either weren’t looking to hire anyone or else had already hired someone and so any positions were now unavailable.

 

This was unreal. I couldn’t believe it, but I was so incredibly desperate I was actually thinking about it. The idea of Andrei needing an heir, it sounded so old-fashioned, and it also made me think about the notion of old money, too. This Andrei…would he be willing to pay top dollar to the surrogate? Just how much money were we talking? Stacy had mentioned big money, but just how big?

 

No. This was crazy talk. There had to be another job out there. There had to be.

 

I did more digging and found a few small restaurants that were looking for waitresses, but the pay was laughable and the area of town they were situated in meant tips were not going to be stellar. Hell, I might make more money collecting from unemployment than if I took one of them. Maybe instead of waiting on tables, I should dance on them.

 

Which had me cycling back around Andrei and his heir.

 

Just then, coughing sounded. I raced to Mom’s room. She was sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning. She had lost a lot of weight since her diagnosis, and there were times when I almost didn’t recognize her. She was so frail. Treatment was almost running her more ragged than the cancer itself. I hated seeing her so weak and worn all the time. She used to run me everywhere. I did a bunch of sports in school, and she got me clothes and equipment from secondhand stores. After Dad died, we didn’t have a lot of money, but I never wanted for anything. She gave me everything I could have ever hoped for.

 

Now, her remission was all I hoped for.

 

I closed the door quietly and walked away. I would do anything for Mom. I would go to any length to ensure she could still receive treatment, so she had her best chance at remission.

 

Which meant I knew what I had to do.

 

I was going to seek out this Andrei guy and offer myself as the mother of his child.