PRESENT DAY.
Wendy eagerly awaited the arrival of her second choice of adoptive parents. Silvia gently held her hands to ease her tenseness as she was wildly shaking her legs. Considering her current state of mind, she was certain that this was what would work for her after giving it some serious thought for several days. She loosened Silvia's gentle hold on her and signaled to her that she would like to use the restroom.
"Will you be fine by yourself?" Silvia inquired with concern written all over her face.
"Sure." She nodded and walked blindly toward the passage that would lead her to the restroom.
She didn't notice the man in a suit approaching her early enough, so she collided with him as he walked briskly in her direction. His phone flew to the floor, and the gentleman who was being guarded heavily let out a soft curse.
“I’m sorry, sir; I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Watch where you’re going, woman."
He leaned down, locking eyes with Wendy as she also bowed simultaneously to retrieve his phone.
“Wait. Have we met?"
Almost without thinking, the young man paused to examine Wendy more closely.
"Sorry, sir, but I do not have any memory of you.”
His guards made a move toward her, and he gestured that they should stop. Wendy scurried off, and the man's inquisitive eyes followed her movements until he heard a voice calling his attention.
“Mayor Crawford, sir?” Mrs. Thompson, the manager of Pairtree, addressed Mayor Crawford respectfully as she walked over to him.
“Mrs. Thompson?”
With a friendly smile, Mrs. Thompson nodded in agreement. The mayor remained motionless, as though he were waiting for the young lady to reappear.
The mayor came to Madison for several reasons, and one of those reasons was to discuss how to establish a branch of Pairtree, an adoption help center, in the little suburb where he grew up. He was in Pairtree to discuss further with Mrs. Thompson.
“This way, mayor. I hope you did not encounter much trouble coming to PairTree.”
Mrs. Thompson made a hand gesture to direct the mayor to her office, but the mayor was still reluctant to move.
“Not at all, Mrs. Thompson. Who was that?” It was obvious that Mayor Crawford had an interest in the young woman who bumped into him.
“One of our clients, mayor. I hope she did not cause you any trouble.” Mrs. Thompson was wondering why the mayor looked curious about the situation. She pondered how important the woman's presence would be to his visit.
“She looks very familiar, I must say. What business does she have here?”
Mayor Crawford asked, glancing toward Mrs. Thompson and keeping a tight focus on her eyes to make sure she wasn't lying.
“She’s a client. For confidentiality, I can’t disclose her personal information.”
Mrs. Thompson gave him a polite response.
“Her name, at least. We are here for a long-term relationship, and we should have a good start, Mrs. Thompson. Shouldn’t we?”
Mayor Crawford's voice sounded persuasive. Mrs. Thompson recalled her husband’s warning to make the mayor as comfortable as possible and reluctantly gave out Wendy’s first name.
“Wendy.”
“Wendy?” Mayor Crawford raised his brows suspiciously.
“Why is she here, Mrs. Thompson? Is she pregnant?”
“I can’t disclose that information. It’s confidenti –”
“Stop that woman!" the mayor yelled at the sight of Wendy without waiting another moment for Mrs. Thompson to finish her sentence.
Wendy had known from the moment their eyes met that it was him, but she assumed they would part before she came back. There she stood, unwavering, her steady gaze fixed on the mayor. She stood quite a distance away from them, so Mayor Crawford strode forward to meet her.
“It’s you, Wendy. We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“For how long did you plan to keep it from me? You’re with my child, Wendy. It was you that night.”
Feeling a little doubtful, Mayor Crawford kept searching her eyes for signs of deceit.
“How can you claim this child is yours?”
“It’s obvious. The guilt is written all over you. Wait, are you planning to be a birth mom without my consent?”
“What if this child is not yours?”
Wendy’s voice sounded unconvincing.
“Look into my eyes and tell me this child is not mine.”
The adoptive parents were waiting, so Silvia had no choice but to look for Wendy, who was taking so long, and bring her back. But she was stunned that unfamiliar people were clustering around Wendy.
“What is going on? Hey, Wendy. The couple is waiting already.”
As Silvia reached out to pull Wendy from there, the mayor obstructed her path.
Silvia looked at him with surprise. She was sure her memory was not deceiving her because his features were not to be forgotten easily.
“Bloody hell. I know him from somewhere, Wendy. He’s the man from the club.”
“Mayor, miss,” one of his security guards interjected.
“What!” Silvia shrieked.
“How could you plan this atrocity without my consent, Wendy?” Mayor Crawford questioned Wendy.
“Where would I have found you? How could I have shown up to a stranger, insinuating that I was pregnant for him after 3 weeks? Make it make sense.”
“Wendy? I’m short on words. He’s the father? I thought it was - " Silvia began to ask but Wendy interrupted.
“It’s him, Silvia. I felt stupid to say.”
“You must stay out of my life, mayor. This is not yours to bear.”
“Can you hear yourself? You can’t put my child up for adoption. Mrs. Thompson, stop the adoption process. This is ridiculous.”
“You can’t force me to have your child, Mr.”
“Thread carefully with your words, Miss Wendy. He’s the mayor of Green Bay,” Mrs Thompson spoke softly.
“You’re a mayor?”
“A fearful and respected one at that,” Mrs. Thompson chipped in.
“Why would you be in a club if you were? I thought mayors were noble people."
“They also have a life to live, Wendy," Mrs. Thompson uttered in defense.
“Mrs Thompson?”
“Your honor.”
“Whatever happened here must not leave this premises. Get ready for a deeper conversation, Wendy. Mrs Thompson? After you, please. Let us finish our business for today before I proceed with personal matters.”
* * *
“You can’t raise the heir of the mayor in this cubicle, Wendy,” uttered the mayor’s strong voice. “I am planning to bring Pairtree to Green Bay for the sake of other children, and you want to raise my child in this mess? I can’t let you disrespect me by proving stubborn.”
The mayor had stormed Silvia’s home where Wendy was living for the time being without prior notice to confront Wendy and exercise his parental rights.
“I can’t let a man raise my child,” Wendy declared.
“Then it is settled. Let the child bind us in a contract marriage. Be the woman in my child’s life till it’s of age. I will take care of all your needs.”
“Marriage?”
“Yes, Wendy. We will seal this union with a contract. I will get my lawyer to prepare the papers as soon as possible.”
This was a golden chance for the mayor to have a child and wife in a way that he always wished, to save him the drama of a real marriage. He had been considering how to enter a contract marriage for a while, but because of his societal position, he paused at the thought of carrying it out in Green Bay.
He was a young billionaire, fearless, and powerful in Grey Bay. He only held the title of mayor for his political ambitions and donated to Grey Bay out of his benevolence. To give him a stronger stand in society, it was only right that he made someone his mayoress so he could clip down the tongues of his opponents who argued that he didn’t have a decent home.
Wendy, on the other hand, couldn’t make much sense of what the mayor was asking of her. She was speechless for a while to get herself to think about the mayor’s words before giving any response. She had become scared when she realized that she had copulated with the famous billionaire mayor of Green Bay. She had only been privileged to read him on papers and she never thought a moment would come when she would be pregnant for him, a man from a different world from hers.
While she was still drowned in thoughts, the mayor moved closer to her and voiced out softly, “Have this child for me, Wendy. I will take care of you.”
The mayor made this impossibly difficult request again while casting a longing glance at Wendy.
“I can never trust men. I want to be on my own. The child can be yours to fend for, but I do not want to be under a man’s roof. Let me be.”
It was with doubt that Wendy uttered these words, unsure that this was what would truly save her from further anguish. The mayor released a gentle sigh and approached Wendy more closely, allowing his potent body cologne to envelop Wendy’s olfactory nerves.
“This child is mine. You can’t raise my child outside of the mayor’s home. Let there be a contract marriage, and I will be bound to you only through this child. You will come with me to Green Bay and let me give you and my son a befitting life. All you must do is agree to this, and we will seal it off with our signatures. I do not want even a scratch on you while you’re growing my child.”