His Surrogate For Hire

Chapter 2

There had to be some perks for making it to the appointment early. Diana was not sure she was in the right place. She passed the address three times before turning back around to walk up the block again. Her destination was a small brick house in a residential district. It was surrounded by a white picket fence and a front yard filled with yellow and red flowers.

She had never been to this side of town, but she found the location according to the directions just fine. Diana wanted to check out her surroundings so she parked a few houses down and sat in her car, waiting to see who would possibly come in and out of the house.

No one did. Everything was pretty calm. There was not much movement in the neighborhood. A woman jogged by with her dog and a few doors down, some children played in their front yard and they seemed to be the only signs of activity.

For a moment, a feeling of dread came over Diana. The fact that she made this appointment was not something she chose to disclose to anyone. It was the kind of thing that did not get brought up in conversation often. Not only was Diana not sure who she would tell, she was not sure what she would tell them. She was not completely sure herself what was happening or what would happen moving forward. She did want someone to know where she was in case something unsafe happened.

Before heading to the house, Diana sent a quick text to her friend Teresa telling her that she was out on a new side of town going to an appointment and that she wanted someone to know where she was. She told her she would update her on what was happening afterwards. Teresa text back with a message for Diana to call her when she was finished.

Checking in with someone made Diana feel slightly more safe. She was not sure what she was getting herself into. Taking a deep breath, she made her way up the steps to the porch. As she raised her hand to knock at the door, a petite blonde woman with much too much makeup swung it open.

“5837?”

“Yes,” Diana responded.

 “Welcome. Come in.”

There was not much in the house. A sofa and a loveseat, a cocktail table and a potted plant were the only things in the living room. Diana tried to take a peek toward the back, but the woman smiled and led her toward the living room.

“Have a seat.”

Diana was not sure if she should, but the woman continued smiling and holding her hand out, motioning for her to sit.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“No. I always carry bottled water with me. Thank you.”

“Alright. Well, let’s get started then.”

For such a petite woman, she was a ball of energy.

“I’m Charlotte. I will be asking you a few questions. Kind of an interview. Just be open and honest and then we will have you fill out a profile. You can put your first and last name on the profile. For the purpose of the interview, you will be 5837 okay?”

“Okay, Charlotte.”

The inquisition began and it was not as painful as Diana anticipated. Charlotte asked everything about Diana’s background from where she grew up to what kinds of extracurricular activities she participated in as a kid. She asked all kinds of questions about her current love life, relationships with family and friends, and career goals and aspirations. Diana was slightly exhausted after all of the questions.

“Are you sure I can’t get you some tea or something to eat?” Charlotte asked when they finished.

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

Charlotte clasped her hands together. “Alright. Then we will move on to the profile. I will give this to you and you take your time to fill it out completely and honestly.” She passed Diana a clipboard.

“I’ll leave you to it. Just call my name when you are finished.”

Diana nodded and looked down at the profile. It seemed as invasive as the interview.

What have you gotten yourself into?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. All of the thoughts of losing her job and her dwindling bank account flooded her mind. The tears were welling up.

“Are you okay?’

Diana slowly opened her eyes. A tall, lanky man was standing before her. He was dressed in a white long sleeved button down shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of loafers. Clean shaven and obviously meticulous about his sense of style and dress, the man entered the room and was the type to command attention.

“I’m fine. Thank you.” She tried to gather herself quickly as the man stared at her.

“Are you sure?” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, speaking softly.

“I am fine.” Diana tried to squeeze out a smile.

“Good. I would hate for a pretty girl like you to be stressed or unhappy.”

She could feel her cheeks warm up. Obviously the stress was wearing on her.

“Actually, I am having a pretty good day so far. How about yourself?”

His green eyes lit up. “Have you ever been looking for something and you find it and you know right away that what you found is the answer?”

“I hope to one day know that feeling.” Diana looked back to the clipboard. She had about twenty more questions. She did not want to share much more information with this stranger. Being there in the house was already awkward enough. To tell a stranger that she was filling out a questionnaire to be a potential surrogate because she desperately needed the money was not the kind of conversation she wanted to have.

“You will soon enough. I have a feeling. It looks like Charlotte has taken good care of you. I’ll excuse myself.”

Diana turned her attention back to the clipboard. It was enough for the man to understand and walk away. The last thing she needed, or wanted, was other employees coming in and getting all up in her business. She suddenly had the urge to finish up the paperwork quickly so she could get out of there.

She did not want to give herself time to stop and think about what she was actually doing. If she did, she would pick up her purse and haul ass on out of there. She marked the answers to the last of the questions and sat the clipboard on the table. On second thought, she picked the board back up, quickly fearing that someone else would walk in and glance at her personal info.

“Charlotte?” Diana got up and walked toward the next room. Charlotte appeared out of nowhere.

“All finished?” She was so cheerful.

“I am.” Diana passed her the clipboard.

“Can you hang on a moment?”

“Uh, sure.” Diana did not know what she needed to stick around for, but she had a few minutes to spare.

Charlotte glanced at the clipboard, and with a smile, she turned to leave the room. There was a bounce to her step when she walked that was just as peppy as her personality.

Diana tapped her fingers on the table, trying to calm her nerves.

“Diana, would you come on back?”

She looked up. It was the first time that day she had been called by her name.

Charlotte stood there waiting.

“Okay.” Diana hoisted her purse up higher on her shoulder. Her heart was racing, trying to figure out where she could be going.

As Diana followed the woman back through the hallway, she tried to take in all of her surroundings just in case. What if there was some murderer back there waiting for her? What if she was walking into the lion’s den?