I Signed The Contract

Tara

As I walked out of his office, into the reception, I wished everyone else would disappear so I could do a celebratory dance. Signing this surrogacy contract gave me the feeling that I was on the right track.

“Five million dollars at the end of nine months!” I screamed in my mind and almost screamed out loud.

It was a lot of money. There was no way I would have been able to earn up to that even if I continued stripping for the next year. This felt like a jackpot.

I walked to the car park, unlocked my car door, and sat in the driver's seat for a few seconds before starting my car engine and driving out of Blue Diamond Enterprise, Logan Carter's company.

On my way home, I stopped at a store and walked straight to the counter.

“Hello”, I said when I got to the counter

“Hello, good afternoon. What can I do for you?” a man who appeared to be in his late fifties answered from behind the counter.

“Which way is the wine section?”, I asked not wanting to waste any time turning around and trying to find it when I could just ask

“It's that way”, he said pointing to a corner of the store that I had ignored.

“Thanks”, I said and walked towards the direction he had just pointed at, selected a cheap wine, went back to the counter, paid and was driving home again. I turned on the radio and sang along.

When I got home, Mia was sitting on a chair completely engrossed in her phone.

“Mia!” I screamed into her ear and she jumped.

“Oh my God, Tara, I hate you,” she said, and we both laughed.

“Guess what Mia”, I said

“Tell me Tara, you know I'm terrible at guessing”, Mia said, frowning.

“I signed the surrogacy contract. The medical tests went well. The doctor said we are a good match”, I explained excitedly.

“This is good news, Tara. I am so happy to hear this” she said and hugged me.

“Yes Mia, this is good news. I am so happy. Everything will be okay now”, I said, hugging her back.

“I bought wine from the store on my way home to celebrate”, I said, bringing the bottle out of my bag.

“Good thinking, Tara“, Mia said, and she went to get wine glasses.

When she returned, we poured our glasses full of wine, turned on the music player, and danced for a while as we drank. Then we sat down quietly just letting the music play.

“I’m happy for you Tara. This contract is the best thing to happen for you, my friend,” she said sadly.

“Thanks my friend. I'm happy too. Logan Carter said I'll have to live with him till I have the baby”. I told her.

“That will be good for you Tara and the child also. You'd both be well cared for”, Mia said and hugged me again.

“Why do you seem so sad Mia?” I asked wondering if it was just me that thought she sounded sad or if she really was unhappy.

“I’m happy for you Tara, it's just sad that you'll be leaving me. I don't know what I will do without you here. I mean just the other day, the landlord had already thrown our things out. If you did not come back and pay the rent, I would have been on the street. Now , with this contract you will be living with Logan Carter so you won't be here anymore. What will I do Tara? Our monthly rent is due in two weeks Tara and I don't even have a job. What will I do Tara?” Mia asked, laughing and as she laughed tears ran down her cheeks.

Hearing what Mia was saying as well as watching the tears pour down her face filled me with guilt. There I was, happy that my life was finally falling into place, and my friend Mia was drowning in her problems. I felt like a horrible friend.

Mia has always been there for me. Even at this time, I knew she was genuinely happy for me. She had even encouraged me to accept Logan's surrogacy deal. Yet I had not thought of her at all. What was she going to do really? I could not let the landlord kick Mia into the street.

“You don't need to worry Mia, I'll keep paying my part of the rent. I will still go to work so I'll definitely get paid and I'll send my part of the payment so you don't need to worry about that”, I said happy to have found a solution to my friend’s problem.

“Tara my friend you forget you'll be pregnant soon. How would you continue working at the strip club? Plus you'll be carrying the child of a billionaire Tara. There's no way he will allow you to work in a place like the nighttime bar”, Mia said and laughed at me. She wasn't crying anymore.

“You are right Mia. Logan Carter will definitely not want me to take his child to the nighttime bar even if it was still in my womb”, I said and we both laughed. This time it wasn't a sad laugh.

“Don’t worry about me Tara. I'm a big girl I'll find a way”, Mia said when we stopped laughing.

“No Mia, you are not just anyone to me. You’ve been more than a friend to me. I can't let you do this on your own without helping. I'm sorry I didn't really think this through before accepting Logan's proposal. I should have known that my absence would make things more difficult for you. But now I know, this will not be your problem alone Mia. I promise you”, I said and Mia hugged me tightly.

“Thank you Tara you are a good friend”, Mia said and sniffled.

“Meanwhile”, I said checking the time, “It’s almost time to get ready for work. But now I'm confused. Should I really go? Or should I just quit since I have this new contract?”

“You are the girlfriend of a billionaire now Tara, you should not be seen in such places”, Tara said and we both laughed.

“Maybe you're right. Logan Carter's girlfriend should not be caught stripping at a club like that”

I replied and we laughed again.

“But I think I should go. I'm not Logan Carter's girlfriend till I move in with him. Today, I am Tara Mia’s friend, so I think I better get to work soon. Who knows the bar would probably be filled today since it's a Friday. I could make us some extra money”, I said, sounding serious.

I drank the rest of the wine in my cup and went to have a quick shower so I could prepare for work. Thirty minutes later, I was on my way to the nighttime bar.