The Married Billionaire’s Surrogate

“Do they treat you nice there, honey? Does this Mr. Wyatt care about you?”

“Yeah, he does. They’re all especially wonderful with me. Even Mrs. Wyatt. I haven’t met such kind employers before,” Alicia said and lowered her head so that her mother won’t see the tears traveling to the corners of her eyes, ready to fall any second now. But they didn’t. She stabbed her nails in her palm and braced herself from the look of her mother. She had to be strong for the both of them in those tough moments.

And just like that a whole week passed before Alicia could even turn back and see where all that time had gone. In and out of the hospital, in between washing clothes and cleaning – it had been definitely one of the fastest weeks since she was a child. The only bright spot in all of that rush was her mother’s improving health and Dr. Mullins’s statement to let her go home.

However, for Alicia, letting her mother go home meant paying the hospital bill as fast as possible and that definitely wasn’t something she was ready for, still. Even though in the past three days she had phoned all her relatives to ask about money, each and every one of them had refused coming up with what she thought was an excuse and left her at the beginning once more. Who could blame them? She, herself, didn’t have any cash left aside for her and her mother, let alone to lend some.

All of that led her to the silly thought to go to Mr. Wyatt and ask for a loan, but once she came before his study she couldn’t even knock on the door. She had stumbled upon him a couple of times later, yet still the words didn’t escape the tip of her tongue. On the bright side, the previous week for Alicia also meant rarer meetings with Mrs. Wyatt and rest from her harsh behavior. All in all, life had to go on and Alicia embraced that, fixing her hair and entering her mother’s hospital room.

“You okay, mom?” Alicia tried to make a cheerful expression despite the burden with the bill weighing her down. To her biggest surprise, her mother was standing up dressed in her best pink dress with yellow flowers all over it as Christina was helping her out. “Where are you going?” She turned to her best friend with question marks written in her eyes.

 “You don’t know? The hospital expenses have been paid. We’re going HOME!” Christina squeaked happily.

“H-how? Who could have done that?” Alicia confusingly asked.

“It wasn’t you?” Her mother interrupted.

Alicia shook her head exchanging glances with Christina. Who indeed? Could it be her relatives finally answering the call of their blood or some people from an association that were saddened by the whole story? In any case, Alicia owed them her life and she was determined to find out who they were.

“Let’s go then. The neighborhood is dying to see you.” Alicia caught her mother under the elbow and they left the hospital smiling, Christina following up their lead.

By the time Alicia arrived in the mansion, she was exhausted, a headache killing her and her mind buzzing with names of possible payers. She closed the door of her room and threw herself on the creaking bed, a deep sigh glued on her lips.

The ringing of her phone pulled her back to reality and as she reached and picked it up, her blood froze in her veins. The name ‘Steven Wyatt’ was written on the screen. She gulped once, twice and opened the line.

“Hello, sir,” she quietly spoke.

“Hey, Alicia. What’s up? Are you in the house?”

“Yes, sir. Yeah. I’m lying. I mean on the bed, not like not telling the truth. I’m in my room, yeah.”

She heard him chuckle from the other side and smiled herself. “Awesome! Can you please come to my study?”

“I’m coming this instance,” she mumbled in the phone and immediately got off the bed, headache forgotten.

She ran up the stairs and headed for the end of the corridor. It was a very beautiful part of the house, several doors were put on both sides which when opened would reveal the spacious master’s bedroom, the guest rooms and the bathrooms. A vase was put next to each room and Elizabeth wanted a new bouquet of roses sitting in them every day.

Alicia quickly found herself knocking on the study’s door and entering. Mr. Wyatt was sitting behind his desk piled with documents and a laptop. She couldn’t help but look at the garden visible from the floor-to-ceiling window behind him.

“I am here, sir. What do you need me to do?” She asked in a calm voice. Her heart was fluttering from an unknown reason.

Steven’s legs were crossed and a couple of sheets were lying in his lap. At the sight of her, he lowered down the one he was closely inspecting and said, “Um, I wanted to tell you that my parents are coming from Europe tomorrow. They’ll be staying here maybe three days, maybe a week – nothing’s certain with them.”

“How lovely, sir. I will ready the rooms and are there any specific dishes I should make?”

“Oh, yes. About that… My mother especially likes Pinot Noir, so pretty please try to find it and my father… he loves his meat raw, so make sure not to cook it a lot. And that would be it.” He seemed very keen on pleasing his parents and Alicia obediently nodded.

“It will be taken care of, sir. Anything else?” She put her hands on her back.

“Nothing, really. I would be very thankful if you do just that… Oh, I almost forgot, stupid me, wish everything well to your mother. I trust she’s okay now.”

“Thank you, sir. I truly appreciate that. She’s doing great.” She went to the door, but something clicked in her mind and she returned. “Sir? Can I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.”

“Did you do it? Did you pay the hospital expenses?” She couldn’t believe what she was saying, but it was already too late.

He just smiled from ear to ear and winked at her.

“Thank you, sir. I cannot… I cannot possibly think of a way to repay you enough. I will scrub the floors twice and wash your clothes thrice and–“

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Alicia, truly. You cannot imagine what you’ve done for our house and for me and Elizabeth. The rooms will crumble down and rot without you.” He continued smiling and she was almost a hundred percent sure that her heart was slowly melting inside her chest.

“Thank you,” she uttered with flushed cheeks and hurried out of the room.

*****

The arrival of Steven’s parents were a holiday for the mansion; Alicia could feel the walls pulsing with anticipation and awe. Even Mrs. Wyatt was unnaturally quiet and avoided leaving the room which Alicia found quite liberating. At least that way she could focus on making the house glisten with all the rooms being cleaned, the floors polished and the sheets changed. She couldn’t understand all that fuss around the visit, but then again she had never seen Steven’s parents in the two years she was working there.

When the next day dawned and she had eventually finished with the rooms on the second floor and cooked the meals for the night, she was summoned upstairs to iron the clothes her bosses intended to wear.

“And be careful with the silk, Alicia. I got it exclusively from China the other day,” Elizabeth warned her, placing a cream silk dress neatly on the ironing board.