Chapter Five
Ethan
One Billion Fantasies was a sleek, modern office not far from my penthouse in the Upper East Side. All the furniture was inky black and finished with gold trim. The walls and doors and practically everything were also black. I admired the expensive taste of the decorator as the receptionist brought me to a small office with a wall of windows facing an apartment building across the street.
There were a middle-aged man and woman sitting across from me at a massive black marble desk. They smiled politely when I entered and stood to shake my hand.
“Good morning, Mr. Garrison,” the man said. “My name is Henry, and this is Claudette. We’re the owners of One Billion Fantasies, and we’re thrilled to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I said, taking a seat in one of the high backed plush chairs across the desk from them. “Reginald spoke very highly of you when he recommended your services.”
“Reginald is a dear friend to us,” Claudette smiled. Her lips were most definitely not her own. Her smile was stagnant and painted red.
“I feel the same way about him,” I said, clasping my hands in my lap.
Claudette nodded and then leaned forward to rest her elbows on the desk. “So, we hear that you are looking for the opportunity to have a child, Mr. Garrison.”
I liked how forward she was. Quick and to the point. That was how I liked to do business. “Yes,” I said. “I want to make sure I can keep my company and my wealth in the family, but I know my sister doesn’t want to run the business. She’s not the right fit. But a child would be perfect.”
“This is actually more common than you might expect,” Henry said.
“Really?” I asked, a little surprised.
“Yes. In fact, we have a young woman in the waiting room down the hall. She is here to discuss the possibility of becoming a surrogate. She needs the money to pay for her tuition. Based on the short amount of time we’ve spent with her, we’re confident she will follow through. She is desperate for the cash. Would you like to take some time to meet her right now?”
I blinked. This was all happening a little quickly. I assured myself that was a good thing. I was a busy guy. I didn’t have time to go back and forth with this kind of thing. If they already had someone who was willing to go through with this, I needed to seize the opportunity.
“Sure,” I said. “I’d love to meet her.”
“Excellent,” Henry said, slapping his hands together like the deal was done.
Claudette picked up the phone on the corner of the desk. “Hello dear, please escort the young lady in waiting room B down to our office. Yes. Yes, there is a gentleman here who would like to meet her. They might be a great fit for the surrogacy program.” Claudette hung up the phone and gave me that expensive smile of hers. “They will be here shortly, Mr. Garrison.”
“Ethan is fine,” I said.
“Ethan,” she nodded politely.
We sat in comfortable silence for less than a minute before someone knocked gently on the door. Henry called for them to come in. A young blond girl with thick-framed glasses and a face full of freckles opened the door and stepped inside. She waved in a beautiful young woman with shiny, dark brown hair, brilliant green eyes, and fair skin. I admired the curve of her hips and her slender waist before I met her stare.
Recognition washed over me and left me momentarily speechless as the blond receptionist left and closed the door behind her.
“Ethan?” the young woman said, sounding as shocked as I felt.
“Devon,” I said as I got to my feet in an effort to appear like a gentleman. “What are you doing here?” I wanted to slap myself for asking the question. I knew why she was here as well as she knew why I was. This was awkward.
“I need money for school,” Devon said. “My tuition is pretty expensive. It’s been a long time. Heather still talks about you all the time.”
“Yeah, it has been a while,” I said. “I’ve been busy.”
“I’ve heard.”
“Can we keep this between us? That we ran into each other like this, I mean,” Devon asked. I noticed the way she was fidgeting with a loose thread on the pocket of her jeans.
“Of course,” I said.
Claudette cleared her throat, and Devon and I both turned to look at the owners behind their elaborate marble desk. “So, you two know one another? Will this still be a good match for you?”
“Yes,” I said quickly.
“No,” Devon said at the exact same time.
We looked at each other.
“Do you mind if Devon and I have a moment to talk alone?” I asked.
“Of course,” Claudette said, getting to her feet. Henry remained in his seat. “Henry,” she whispered, slapping his shoulder gently. “Come on. We will give our clients some privacy.”
“Oh, yes, yes of course,” Henry said, springing to his feet beside Claudette who, I was surprised to see, was a good foot taller than him. They both exited the room and closed the door behind them.
Devon and I stood in tense silence for a moment before I finally gathered the nerve to speak. “I know this isn’t what you expected. It’s definitely not what I expected, either. I don’t see why this is any reason for us not to proceed. I need a child. You need money. We can both give each other the things we seek without having to do this with a stranger.”
“I don’t know,” Devon said. “It feels … strange. Heather wouldn’t like it.”
“It’s not up to Heather,” I said flatly. “And besides, she never has to know.”
“How would I keep that from her? Pregnancy has a tendency to be kind of obvious after a certain point,” she said dryly. I remembered that dark humor of hers and smiled to myself.
“I’m sure we could figure it out. Come on, Dev,” I said, catching myself calling her by her old nickname that Heather still used whenever she talked about her. “We both need this. I don’t want to keep waiting. And you can’t afford to. How long are you willing to put off school for?”
She pursed her lips and looked at her feet. “I’m not willing to put it off at all.”
“So, in that case, why not go for it? You’ll be financially set after this, Dev. It will be worth it.”
She sighed and looked at the ceiling. “All right. All right. Let’s do it. But promise me this stays between us. Heather won’t find out.”
“I swear,” I agreed with a serious nod.
“Okay, good,” Devon muttered. Then her cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of pink, and I couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked. “I’m actually on my fertile week right now.”
“Huh?” I said,
“You know. For getting pregnant. My chances this week are higher than the rest of the month.”
Just then, the office door opened, and Claudette and Henry came back in. We all took our seats around the marble desk, and Claudette spoke first. “So, are we all on the same page? Would you both like to proceed with the surrogacy pairing?”
Devon and I looked at each other.
“Yes,” she said.
I nodded my agreement.
“Very good. Congratulations, you two. I think you’ll be a perfect pairing,” Claudette said. Then, she withdrew paperwork from the top drawer of her desk, and we all went through the somewhat tedious process of signing all the appropriate documents.
When it was all done, Devon would be one million dollars richer. I wrote them the check for my portion of one and a half million dollars. Five hundred thousand went to One Billion Fantasies. They wrote Devon a check to cover her tuition and agreed to pay her the remainder of five hundred thousand once she was pregnant. Then she would receive the final half million when the baby was born. Devon kept a straight face the whole time, but I noticed the shaking in her hands.
Her whole world was about to change.
So was mine.
When the meeting was done, Devon and I returned to the waiting room. I turned to her and found her staring up at me with those big green eyes I had completely forgotten she had. “Would you want to come by my place for dinner tonight?” I asked her.
Her cheeks flushed again, but she nodded. “Sure,” she said softly.
“You remember where it is?”
“It’s hard to forget,” she said, a small smile dimpling her cheeks.
I chuckled. “Fair point. I’ll see you around seven?”
“Sounds good,” she said.
Then we both parted and went separate ways.
My mind raced as I rode the elevator down. Devon Mansfield. She was as beautiful as I remembered despite there being something different about her. She was all grown up. She was a woman, not the teenager I remembered. Her body was fuller now in a good way. It had been difficult keeping my eyes on hers throughout our conversations.
A little trickle of excitement went through me at the idea of her in my apartment that night.