His Surrogate For Hire

When she jumped off the bed, she almost tripped and fell because she was rushing. Fishing through her purse, she could not find the ad. Diana tossed the contents of her purse on the bed, rummaging through still not finding what she needed. She then remembered that she folded the sheet of paper and stuck it in the pocket of her jacket at the last minute.

She tip toed to the living room and found her jacket on the floor in the heap of wet clothes.

“Damn it!” she cursed to herself. The paper was wet and barely legible. Anxiety built up inside of her as she peeled the paper open. All of the numbers were visible except the last digit, which was slightly smudged. She ran with the paper to her bathroom. The only way she could think to dry it was with her hair dryer, which she put on the highest setting.

After a few minutes, the paper dried. The last digit was slightly more visible, leaving Diana to guess that it was either a six or an eight. She would have to work with that much.

Impulsively, she dialed the phone number, choosing eight as the final number.

“Hello, Marshall Incorporated. How can I help you?”

Diana pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the number. She had dialed it correctly.

“I’m sorry. I must have the wrong number.”

“Okay, thank you.”

She ended the phone call, then dialing the number with the six as the last digit.

“Hello?”

The voice was that of an elderly woman. That was the definitely the wrong number. Diana apologized and hung up.

She hopped on the internet and quickly researched the company Marshall Incorporated. A site popped up for a multi million dollar company that made its money off of real estate ventures. It said that the CEO’s name was Clay Marshall and that he was a world renowned consultant that built his company from the ground up.

Maybe Clay Marshall was the businessman that the ad spoke of. She dialed the number again and waiting for an answer.

“Marshall Incorporated, how can I help you?”

Diana read the ad and mentioned the reference number that was listed.

“Yes, I’m calling about reference number 5837, please.”

“Wonderful. Let me connect you.” The woman was pleasant and made Diana feel more comfortable.

“Hello, what is your reference number please?” The next voice was not so calming and comforting.

“Yes, it is 5837.”

“Alright. Do you have a pen and paper?”

Diana scrambled to find a pen and paper. “I do.”

The woman that answered the phone rattled off an address. “Please be there at six o’clock tomorrow night.”

“Okay, is there-“

“Thank you very much. Have a good day,” the woman said interrupting to close the conversation.

The call ended, leaving Diana wondering what she was about to get herself in to. She sighed, throwing her phone on the bed. With only enough money to make it through possibly the next month, she did not have many options.

Diana went back to the computer to do an internet search. She typed in the words ‘becoming a surrogate’. There were more websites than she expected on the subject, making it completely overwhelming to find a place to get started.

Instead of worrying about it, she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

Tomorrow could not come fast enough.