Chapter 15 I think your surrogate's boyfriend is lucky
Paul's mouth was tightly glued. He looked around aimlessly, buying time for a reasonable explanation. Suddenly, something clicked. "Ahhh, just forget it. Let me get something to eat first."
Danica narrowed her eyes. She figured that Paul wanted her to cook for him because he caught her cooking most times. "You want me to make you breakfast. Why don't you just say so?"
Paul was just looking for a way to disappear, "Don't worry, I will get Mabel to do it for me."
Danica was persistent. She felt that, for Paul to come and knock on her door because he was hungry was a very big deal and couldn't take it lightly. "Oh, just wait for a little. I will come and do it for you. Let me change and I will be downstairs before you know it," Danica uttered with concern.
When Paul realized that there was no way of escape, he suddenly dropped a hint, "No, you will need a long bath, I'm out," he turned around and left without giving Danica the chance to utter another word.
Danica's mind went into a fleet thoughtful analysis. 'What did Paul mean by long bath?' She asked herself internally. Suddenly, she felt her nakedness under her nightie and closed the door, now recalling the supposed parent had come again.
Instantly, her mind began to play the detective, as she thought about why she fell asleep and why the supposed parent kept coming when she was asleep. She perceived that the supposed parent suspected that she might later come to claim the child if she knew who he was.
However, she wanted to see him, to assure him that she had signed a contract and there was no way she was coming back to claim the child. She was a woman of her words. But all these were assumptions of her mind. She was deeply troubled, having intercourse with a faceless man. Whichever way, she comforted herself with the fact that with every sacrifice she made, it was for her sister, Daniella.
She entered the washroom and was about to brush her teeth when her eyes caught red patches on her skin. She widened her eyes in exasperation. She knew exactly what they were, as her body chilled from shock. She now understood the reason why Paul was suddenly behaving funny at the sight of her.
A strange awareness began to consume her that, the supposed parent was greatly enjoying this. But it was meant to be a business. Why did he have to do this to her? A drop of tears washed her pale face, equally washed by the rain of the shower. She stayed so long under the shower but the warm water wasn't able to wash away the mark of Hickey's on her skin.
She got out of the shower and scrutinised herself in the mirror. Unable to find anything in her closet to cover the patches, she sat back defeatedly and laid on her bed, face-up in deep thought. She was too embarrassed to step out of her room and intended to stay till the patches disappeared, which she was aware might take between 2 days to a whole week.
Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and thought it was Paul. "Go away, Paul."
"It's not Paul, Danica," she heard Mabel's concerned voice and was slightly comforted. She appreciated the fact that Mabel cared about her so much."Please come in."
Mabel walked in with a bowl of soup on a tray. The aroma made Danica hungry. "You have to be well-nourished, remember?" Danica blushed and lifted herself to a sitting position. Although Mabel was always direct, Danica was always embarrassed when it came to issues concerning intimacy but Mabel never thought much about it. Danica was like a daughter to her and she owed it a duty to ensure that she was well fed and nourished for the journey ahead.
Danica took a spoonful of the soup, lifted it to her mouth and was about to drink it when she remembered something, "did you use onions?"
"Of course," Mabel admitted.
Danica poured the content in the spoon back to the bowl, "I'm allergic to onions, but don't worry I will make something else," Danica revealed. She had earlier told Mabel that she had allergies but never had Mabel thought that onions would be one of them.
"You should have told me. This soup is going to be wasted now,?" Mabel pouted and took the tray from her. Putting it aside, she sat on the bed and turned to face Danica.
Danica shrugged, "Well, I didn't tell you because you would have stopped me from cooking if you knew the things I was allergic to but since you don't know, I can use it as an excuse to go and prepare my food." Mabel was about to say something when her eyes caught the hickeys.
"Your face, let's cover it up with some concealer. You youth of today are so wild," Mabel chuckled.
Danica blushed in embarrassment at Mabel's words. She wondered how Mabel freely spoke concerning things of intimacy. She, on the other hand, had no idea about where make-up was kept in her room, talkless of a concealer. She was never a fan of make-up because she saw it to be a waste of time since she would have to wash it off afterwards, therefore no was no essence in applying it.
Whichever way, after Mabel finished applying the concealer, and progressed to make her up fully, Danica sighed in appreciation. She clad in a simple dress and confidently stepped out. Paul was amazed by her appearance and secretly, he snapped a picture and sent it to Loney with a text message. 'Can you elaborate on your text? I see no proof.' Paul was teasing Loney.
Loney was at the field, operating an excavator to clear the forest for his new project when his phone beeped. Usually, he wouldn't check his phone when operating on a machine like an excavator but ever since he sent the text message to Paul, he had desperately been waiting for his response.
Therefore, he stopped operating the machine and checked his phone. When his eyes caught a pop up of Danica's image on the screen of his phone, he stiffened. She seemed to get be prettier and prettier each day. A surge of loneliness filled him, making him long to see her. Danica hadn't overworked herself like she used to do when she was at home, hence, her skin glowed. Then Loney's eyes trailed and focused on the text message below the picture.
A discreet frown appeared on his face as he wondered how the Hickey's disappeared. Paul made it seem as if he hickeys never existed. He intended getting back at Loney since he discerned that the Latter was hiding something concerning Danica and since he couldn't share, he was also not going to make it any easier for him. He succeeded in planting confusion on Loney's mind. Loney zoomed the picture, studying the image critically. Danica was wearing a summer green dress that was slightly above her knee.
However, his eye caught a patch on her shoulder. Mabel missed that one. It could be attributed to old age but that was a bargaining chip for Loney. Loney was moved with the guilt of not planting his seed in Danica as he specified in the statement. Therefore, he didn't want to raise any suspicion concerning the matter. He circled the portion of the picture; the shoulder area and sent it back to Paul.
Pauls' victorious glare diminished and gave way to a contouring frowned when he received the picture. Rivers of disappointment flooded him as be realized his mistake. Suddenly, an evil intention crossed his mind as he texted back. 'I think your surrogate's boyfriend is very lucky. He got a very beautiful woman. Don't you agree? Let's pray that she gifts some of her beauty to your child.'
Loney smouldered in resentment when he read the message from Paul. Strangely, he felt hot with displeasure. He recalled that the first time he saw Danica in the hotel, there were bloodstains on the sheets, which meant he took her virginity and the second time, she was so tight. With that analysis, he concluded that Danica didn't have a boyfriend and texted back, 'She doesn't have one. You can check.'
"Sir, is there a problem?" Loney's assistant, David asked him from behind.
Loney's creased his brow in confusion. "Is anything the matter?"
David pointed to the workers ahead. "They are waiting for you."
Loney snapped out of his daydream instantly, realizing that he had stopped the excavator in the middle of the field and was engrossed on his phone, while his employees waited eagerly to proceed with work. He continued to operate it and didn't check his phone again.
Paul, on the other hand, couldn't get over Loney's confidence. He couldn't believe that a girl as pretty as Danica didn't have a boyfriend and thought of a way to ask but he feared Danica might seize the opportunity to begin her ceaseless nagging and thought against it. The more he avoided her, the better.
Two weeks passed, and in order not to create suspicion, Loney sent Dina to take Danica's samples. However, when Dina got there, Loney was shocked when he heard Dina's phone report...