SURROGATE : Conception (+18) BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

| 31 | The Land Parallel To This One ||

Liam wanted to do more.

Ever since he handed off the checklist to Penelope he felt it was inadequate. It was what she asked for, true, but starting a business was more than just filing paperwork.

On the other hand, he didn't want to offend her, or for her to think he didn't think she could do it on her own.

He combed his fingers into his hair.

Why she would care what he thought, he didn't know. He was certain she was capable and knew as much with or without his validation.

It wasn't like any real success story got their success on their own; everyone needed support.

On the other foot, he didn't want to overstep. He didn't want to smother her. So there he set for the millionth time in how many days scratching his head over what was the right thing to do in order to show Penelope support. When he should have been preparing for his client meeting in San Francisco in a few days.

It had only been a couple of days since his rather enticing and unexpected outdoor rendezvous earlier that week with Penelope; yet it felt longer. He'd seen glimpses of her, however, mostly just remanence of her presence. Dinner in the fridge with his name on it, or hearing the garage door open when she left early in the morning or came back in the evening. He was always on a call or doing something else and didn't get a chance to speak to her. When he'd finally make his way upstairs, she was fast asleep often in the nude as if she were waiting for him. He didn't want to wake her so he'd keep on walking to his room.

For some odd reason, it felt all wrong not talking for so long. Anyway, even though he'd not been able to see her seemed like all he could do instead was think about her.

His mind settled back on the sample work he saw of hers a couple weeks ago by the pool. She was so talented. Bias or no, her clothes belonged in some fancy shop being drooled over by adoring fans.

He laughed at the thought.

He figured Frida would be the one who had the connections to get the designs in the right hands to get recognized and she'd love the task. Penelope would also need to be able to create mockups to pitch to potential investors and clients, right? That would take capital and that he had in droves. The question still remained, would she be okay with tha--

"Ah, Liam. Glad you're in the office today. I need to talk to you."

He snapped out of his thoughts abruptly. "Chuck! A, uh, p-pleasant surprise." Was it really though? Liam looked around frantically checking to see if he got an email or message from Morgan. He frowned when he saw the flashing message icon on his laptop sent less than a minute ago. He clicked it.

MORGAN: Chuck, heads up!

"Th-Thought you and your wife were in Tahiti." Liam stammered, feeling caught off guard. Felt like someone walked in on him naked or something.

"Yeah, we were. She still is, in fact." The older man paused by the floor to ceiling window and stuffed his wrinkled hands in his pockets. "You know me, vacationing after twenty-four hours is just a bore."

Liam laughed. "Am I going to be just like you in thirty years?"

The old man laughed. "Let's hope you're better. Don't let the grey hair fool you, it will be a tough act to follow."

Liam's mood changed. He wasn't ready to go down this road again with Chuck. Partner was a big decision especially with all the changes planning to take place. "My wife's out of town. Didn't get to talk to her about the partner offer yet."

The old man waved him off. "I didn't come here for that, but that's probably a good thing because Kirby turned the partnership down. There's no one else I want to run the company so it'd be all yours then. Maybe even easier in that sense. Ran this company by myself start to current anyway. Going solo makes decision-making easier when there's only one mind to muscle with."