The Surrogate Proposal

Chapter Eleven

Tricia sat before the mirror in the make up room, with her tab, she scrolled down looking for any news about Seth, but nothing, she bit her nails and kept scrolling. She saw a picture of Montserrat and her new husband, she scoffed,
"what do they think they're doing?", She threw the tab on the desk still staring at it. She knew she was making a fool of herself when she paid the journalist to spread the rumour of her marriage but she couldn’t think of a better option.
She looked at the mirror, staring at herself, that's when she noticed the two young models behind her, giggling cause of something she doesn't care to know. She ignored them and took a red lipstick and applied it on her lips. They started laughing and she felt they were laughing at her.
"right! Have you seen the new director?", one asked the other,
"he's here already?",
"yes, this morning, there's a lot of stories about him, but he's crazy handsome",
"I want to see him already",
"shall we?", they left. Tricia dropped the lipstick, her hand is terribly shaking, she held them together and closed her eyes. She had gone against bringing the new director there, she clearly asked to change him, but they brought him after all.
Why?
Because she's no longer valuable to them, so her words and choices doesn't matter anymore. He's going to see her horrible position, she's no longer the queen of the light.
She touched her cheeks, fighting back the tears threatening to fall.
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A knock came on the door, Gina frowned her face thinking it was Seth.
Instead a lady walked in with a smile. She's dressed like a doctor, she must be a doctor, she thought.
"Hi", the lady said, Gina thought she looked familiar, but she's more surprised to see her. She has not seen many people since she came. It's always Seth, or Liam, Rosa, and Cate.
"hi", Gina said back, looking behind the lady to know if Seth is with her.
"oh, he's busy upstairs", the lady said noticing how she's looking at the door,
"oh", Gina said and the lady dropped her kit and smiled, exposing deep dimple on her left cheek.

"yes, don't worry. I am your new doctor, Dr. Lucy reigns",
"new doctor? What about Cate?",
"Cate? Oh, Dr. Lewis, heard she'll be due soon", she said unlocking the kit. She took out her equipments,
"oh my, how's she doing?",
"good I guess, didn’t say she’s sick", she said with a smile while she put on her gloves,
"you don't have to worry about her, she's a doctor and is in good hands. You are supposed to worry about yourself", she paused while Gina just stared at her,
"just joking, I'll be your doctor till child birth, you're in my care, so you don't have to worry about anything. I received a paper on your progress so far from your former doctor. You're safe with me", she assured her and went on to look through her file,
"its been long since I saw her, I mean Cate, the last time I was sick, so we didn't get to talk",
"I see, open your mouth", Gina followed her instructions,
"how do you feel recently?",
"more energized in the evening, morning sickness, my stomach is rising",
"yea, I can see that, no quickening yet?",
"no what?",
"do you feel any movement in your belly?",
"hmm... No",
"do you feel anything else, any complications",
"just that I think am having trouble sleeping nowadays",
"alright", she said writing them all down,
"is your diet balanced?",
"I think so", She got up and checked her fridge, she scanned through it and nodded,
"is that all you take?",
"almost, but he makes breakfast, lunch and dinner, eggs mostly", She stared at her and smiled with one side of her lips.
"alright, I'll talk to him about the rest, you need some exercise, more ventilation, alright?", Gina nodded.
She packed her equipments and got up to leave,
"have we seen somewhere before?", Gina's heartbeat increased when she asked her the question,
"sorry?",
"you look so familiar, so I thought...nevermind", she said and the doctor nodded,
"alright, see you next checkup", she said and left. Gina thought for awhile, her instinct is always right.
Could it be we've seen each other somewhere before?
She prayed they haven't.
She turned towards the mirror, its been four months and her stomach is getting big every day. Last time Liam visited he promised to come today, she checked the time.
She picked up the phone Seth had given her. She couldn't make any other calls apart from his, so she found the phone useless. She had dialled her mum’s number and all the numbers she could remember, even hers but it always beeps off. She could only call one number. One stupid number.
He's been working from home, she couldn't go to the garden anymore and it looks like he hired some workers. Reasons why he gave her the phone. She hasn’t seen him for straight three weeks.
She dialed his number and stared at it, it rang for awhile and she heard his voice,
"what do you want?", She scoffed and cut the call.
She lay down on her bed, she brought out the book she was reading and unfolded the page where she stopped the last time. The door pushed open, and she turned immediately to find Seth standing by the door.
"you called?"
"what? Oh! No...yea sorry, I was just...", she thought of why she had called, "I just wanted to know if Liam was there, he said he'd come",
"what?",
"I am sorry", she said but he turned,
"come up", he said and left, Gina got up and followed him to the kitchen.
She sat down while he prepared lunch.
"it seems like you were busy, I can do lunch", she said but got nothing.
"you got a new doctor", she said again, she’s been meaning to talk to him about her but got no chance to,
"she said Cate is almost due, I wish I can see her, she's a good woman, I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl, did you see her? And by the way, the new doctor, she looks familiar", she stopped still thinking again, her gut feeling is never wrong,
"but don't worry I don't think we've seen before", she said chuckling,
"did she talk to you, she said she'll talk to you about other things, she said I need more exercise and ventilation, she also-",
Seth turned sharply and she stopped talking, he dropped a bowl of fresh tomatoes in front of her,
"pick out the heads",
"aww, they look cute, this is from the garden, right? Wow, I always wanted to make a garden out of the small space at the backyard but Mom never agreed to it, she said it will bring insects and stuff", she said, far away in her own thoughts.
Seth clenched his jaws while he cut the carrots,
why is she talking to me? He thought.
"she just doesn't know how healthy it is to eat fresh vegetables, she never liked vegetables. Do you like vegetables?", she asked standing up, "I'm done. Wow", she said when she saw the neat julienne cut Seth had made,
"where did you learn to cut so neat, my mother is the only one that can-", Seth stared at her again,
"sit down", he head pointed to the chair,
"sorry", she said and went to sit down.
Seth watched her through the glass cabinet, she's biting her nails, while he watched her his hand slipped and the knife cut his hand,
"fuck!",
"what?!", Gina asked rushing to him, she took his bleeding hand and shoved it into the sink, she washed off the blood, then she got salt and sprinkled it on the cut,
"ouch! Fuck!", Seth exclaimed taking his hand,
"don't be a baby, it'll stop the bleeding", she said and took his hand back and blew on it, Seth just watched her for awhile and took his hand,
"am fine", he said shifting her aside, his hand touched her stomach and she felt it move,
"did you feel that?!",
"what?", he asked,
"I felt my stomach move, I think that’s what the doctor called quickening",
"what?",
"never mind", she said and sat down.
They heard the door open and Liam walked in.
"ha! Am always on time",
"Liam!", Gina said and hugged him,
"easy there pregnant woman", Gina released him and sat back down,
"and how is the little guy doing?",
"he's fine. Wait...little guy? What if she's a girl?", she asked pretending a frown,
"well then…Howdy little angel?", Gina laughed,
“you look happy today, I like that”, he said pointing at her,
"well”, she said shrugging, “did you get it?",
"yes! All of them",
"aww you're a darling", she said blowing air kisses, she grabbed the bags.
Liam went to Seth,
"hey man",
"hey", he's been watching them through the glass ware, wondering when they got so close and chatty,
"have you finalized the contract? ",
"al…most almost",
"you know it’s tomorrow",
"yea",
"the interview, Katy's going to be there, are you ready? ",
"ever",
"how's she, Katy?",
"she asked me to marry her",
"w-wh-hat?", he asked trying to hold his laughter,
"men, she's head over heels for ya, so what did you say?",
"what do you expect me to say, nothing",
"nothing?",
"should I have said yes to a lady proposing to me?",
"Well, but its a good thing",
"hey Liam, you didn't get the orange color, its my second favorite!", Gina said still going throught he bag,
"next time baby",
"baby?", Seth asked before he could think,
"what? She's sweet",
"swe-since when?", Liam winked at him and went to Gina. He looked at the two of them and felt annoyance.
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Tricia came into the room after the break for shooting. She didn't make eye contact with the new director. She's playing a supporting role with younger models, its already disappointing and disgraceful.
After the shoot, she left the room to their make up room to change and leave immediately. But he was there. Immediately she saw him she turned to leave.
"Patricia", he called her and she turned with a smile,
"Noah", she said and walked in and closed the door.
"what are you doing here?",
"you've changed", he said with his wild smile she loved to see,
"that's what everyone's saying", She said and they hugged for awhile.
"want to go for a coffee?", he asked her and she nodded.
They went to a nearby cafe.
"so, how's life with you?", he asked her after getting both of them a hot coffee,
"don't even ask", she smiled and took a sip,
"heard you got married", he asked but she looked at him and smiled, embarrassed,
"not really, what about you, married?", she asked back so they wouldn’t have to focus on her,
"engaged", he said showing her his ring, Tricia smiled biting his lips and nodded.
They sat quiet for awhile,
"it would've been us together", Tricia said with a sad smile,
"you told me to leave",
"and you left?", she looked around and blinked back a tear that’s threatening to drip, she's dying of embarrassment and she couldn't stop herself from embarrassing herself more. She sounds desperate,
"you know what I was going through then",
"you weren't going through anything Tricia, you were so focused on your acting and modeling you barely gave anybody a chance, but I hung in there for you until you asked me to leave, you broke up with me",
"yea, and I don't want to ever see you again", she said and left.
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Faith stood in her car waiting to see her daughter or Damien. Then she heard a tap on her glass, a lady was standing there. She rolled down her glass,
"yes?",
"let's talk, I am Damien's wife", Faith sat still for a while, then got down and followed her inside.
"who are you?", she asked her after Faith had declined her drink offers,
"am Faith, a writer-",
"To Damien I mean", she studied the lady’s face and knew she is just holding herself back,
"we were...uhm…course mates..we went to-",
"then I guess you're Violet's mother", Faith stared at her for a little while and nodded,
"so, what do you want?",
"I just want to...want to take my daughter home",
"home? Your daughter?”, she asked with a chuckle, “Do you think I am going to let that happen?",
"look, am not here to pick a fight and neither am I here to deprive you of her-",
"I know you and why you came here after all these years. Its for the inheritance, right?",
"what? No…I just...",
"then why are you here all of a sudden?", Faith bit her lips,
"my mother...she knew about it and soon my husband will find out about it",
"so? What difference will it make?",
"I am sorry I made the decision to let go of her, I had to",
"am not giving her to you ", she said and got up,
"am not asking you-",
"please leave", she said and is not ready to repeat herself. Faith got up and followe her to the door,
"don't ever come back, again", she told her and locked the gate behind her.
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Montserrat hugged her mum and sat down,
"hi mum",
"pregnant yet?",
"no",
"what are you waiting for? We have fourteen more months, we're running out of time",
"I am trying mum",
"don't try! Just get to bed with Hector",
"I know your plans mum, but I love Hector and that's why I married him, not for some f*cking inheritance or to make babies!", she said and Theresa slapped her ,
"get your mind together, am doing this for the both of us, your father's family won't give you a dime, you should stick to me and let's do this together", she whispered into her face and left.
Montserrat touched her red cheeks as tears rolled down.
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Maria came as usual and sat on the molded chair, it has turned to her new hobby, she dreams of her daughter and grandson every night. She sat their quietly, checking the time every minute.
"why are you here again?", she heard someone ask behind her and turned. Her daughter was standing behind her. She stood up with a smile,
"oh…Hi",
"I know who you are, so what do you want?", Maria stood there dumbfounded for awhile, tears rolled down her cheeks before she could control it,
"you…how…how did you..find out?", she whispered, the door opened and the children ran out,
"let's go somewhere quiet", Maryglory said to her.
They walked down through the field path, they walked slowly for awhile without talking.

"when did you find out?", Maria finally asked,
"a long time ago", she said, "when I was still young",
"how?", she asked, her heart beating hard against her chest,
"when I was little. When I found out that orphanages are for children without parents, I asked Sis. Philomena who my real parents were, I asked Fr. Raymond too, none of them could give me a straight answer, for awhile", she smiled,
"until one day, your mother came, she was supporting our orphanage then, I was the one that presented her with a bouquet, since then I became her favorite and came to like her. She kept coming here. When I was eighteen, that's when I saw you for the first time, you came with her to the orphanage", Maria stopped walking, she couldn't remember that at all,
"somehow you can say it was my intuition, but I knew I had a connection to your mother, it was even obvious I looked like her, my suspicion rose when I saw you with Fr. Raymond that day and later I heard him telling Sis. Philomena that it was you", she stopped walking when she noticed Maria wasn't,
"you know, I followed you for a year, I tried to like you, but I kept asking myself why you left me. You couldn't even recognize me", Maria was already in tears, she was shaking her head,
"I didn't know", she said,
"of course, you don't, you never wanted to know me, I was your abandoned child, someone that was never meant to be!", she said strongly trying to hold her stand,
"I'm so sorry", Maria said between sobs,
"which begs the question, what are you doing here?", she asked folding her hand, Maria searched for the right way to put it, but guilt shut her mouth she couldn't make a sound, tears kept rolling down.
"I've seen you many times and I just wanted to make it clear to you. If you're here for my baby, then just leave, we have nothing with you. I just wanted to make it clear to you", she said and left her there.
Maria felt her knees wobble, she knelt there for awhile, while her heart hurt, tears rolled down repeatedly she couldn't help it. She wondered what she had done to herself, what her life had turned out to become.