“Jessika?” someone called out from downstairs. It wasn’t Asher.
“I’m up here,” I yelled.
“Alright. Are you decent? Asher asked me to stop by.”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
I waited in bed, pulling the covers up high to cover all but my face, while Jeremy bounded up the stairs. Outside the door, he knocked.
“Come in,” I said.
He entered, saw me laying in bed, and paused. “Oh. Were you sleeping?”
“I just woke up. Why?”
“Uh, no reason in particular. It’s almost noon, that’s all.”
“What,” I said, panicking. A clock, a clock, I looked for one, but apparently Asher never found it necessary to provide his guest house with a clock on the bedside table. “Is it really?” I asked, nearly forgetting myself and almost tossing off the blankets in a hurry to get up, showing Jeremy my babydoll-clad body.
“Well, it’s nine. Close enough.”
I fell onto the bed, relieved and exasperated. “Nine! Nine isn’t noon, Jeremy. Noon is three hours away. Don’t do that to me.”
“Hey, look,” he said. “Everyone wakes up pretty early here, so nine is practically noon. Asher left ages ago and he asked me to come by. He’s going to talk with Beatrice a little more, but he’s almost positive she’ll agree to his little deal, so he wants to make sure you’re ready. Nice guy, huh?”
“Ready for what?” I asked. “I don’t understand.”
“Are you serious?” he asked.
“Do I look serious?” I thought I looked pretty serious right then.
“It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re huddled up to your chin in comforters,” he said.
“Oh. Well, yes, I’m serious.”
“Listen,” he said. “I don’t know if you’ve thought this through, or if you’re winging it, or whatever, but the whole egg donor thing? Surrogacy? There’s doctors involved, right? And examinations? If you’re staying here during the process, there’s that whole ‘getting your stuff’ thing that people usually do. I mean, you have a home, right? Apartment, house? Something? Maybe you want to feed your cats? Tell your friends? Family? Whatever?”
“Oh,” I said. Yes, I knew these things, but no, I hadn’t thought too much about them. Truth be told, I was a fairly quiet person without a cat(or dog), friends that I spoke with but not every day, and family who was just about the same. They probably hadn’t realized I was gone for a few days, let alone bothered to worry about it. Not that they had any reason to worry, anyways.
“So,” he said. “You want breakfast? I’m your driver for the day. I’ll bring you around wherever you need to go, help you out, that kind of thing. We have to go to a doctor and have them do a physical, though. Check out the parts, whatever. I don’t know what you women do at the doctor.”
“Right,” I said. “Yes. I’ll shower and be right down. Um, I’m kind of not wearing proper clothes, so do you mind?” I shooed him away.
“You’re so difficult,” he said.
“I’m not difficult!”
“You’re so difficult and ungrateful!” he repeated in a playful tone, rolling his eyes. “What do you want for breakfast? How about French toast?”
“Yum. With strawberries and peanut butter?”
“You’re one weird chick, but sure, you got it. Strangest French toast I’ll ever make.”
He left, closing the door behind him. I lounged in bed for awhile longer, letting my body fully wake up. Today was the day and I needed to prepare for it.
Everything, all of it, my arrangement with Asher and the start of a different kind of life. I supposed it wasn’t entirely different, but this was all somewhat sudden. I wanted to do it, though. I felt almost like I needed to, as if there was a driving urge within me to perform up to par.
Except what was I going to tell my parents? Not that they had any real say in the matter, but I didn’t know how to explain this to them. Oh, yes, so, mom? Right, I met a billionaire and he wants me to have his children. Not really in that exact way. It’s for his wife, you see. Except don’t tell Aunt Nell, please? She’s kind of a gossiper. Yes, and…
Ah, well. I had time to think on it still. I’d ask Jeremy to bring me to my apartment first and then see what I needed to gather up. That would take up some time. And maybe I should ask him what to do, too? Jeremy seemed resourceful in those regards.
Everything was going to work out, I thought. Why wouldn’t it?#p#分页标题#e#
…
“Do we really have to stop here?” Jeremy asked.