Chapter 3

It was around 8:00 a.m. when Paul Costa strode into his office building. It was a huge building, the headquarters of Costa incorporations, in the very Heart of New York.

He was wearing an Armani suit and a blue tie, he looked as handsome as always and had a smile etched on his face.

The moment his foot touched the marble floor, everyone fell quiet. Nobody was expecting him until 9:00 a.m. and they certainly didn’t expect to see him smiling, it was strange. He never smiled, he was always scowling and frowning. People parted as he made his way to the elevator, they had the notion that his smile was dangerous. He went all the way up,to the top floor.

He walked past an empty desk, where the personal assistant should be, and noting her absence he nodded.

Immediately he got into his office,he reached for the telephone and stopped after seeing the letter across his desk.

“Dear Mr. Costa,

You are to sign the documents in the envelope under this letter. You also have a conference call with Mr. John Lee from Kotex Energies by 11:00 a.m, After that, you have a brunch date with Lara Jean from Fig Enterprises by 12:30 p.m. You are also expected to be at a meeting on the second floor at 3:00 pm, you have to attend Mr. Noel’s book launch by 5:00 pm and then there is the dinner date with the Dowager by 7:00 pm.

I will be taking the day off, do not attempt to call me, you won’t be able to reach me.

Yours faithfully,

Stephanie M, Hathaway.

Ps: My decision still stands.

He scoffed and called her and true to her words, he was unable to reach her. Who the hell does she think she was! he immediately dialed a number on the telephone.

“Come here right now!” He yelled to the secretary at the other end of the line and slammed the telephone down.

Natalie scurried quickly to his office, stopping in front of his door to take a deep breath, straighten her dress, and fix her hair before gently tapping at the door.

“Come in!” Came Paul’s voice and she quickly opened the door.

“When did Stephanie come in?”He asked without giving her time to greet him. He was furious that she dropped a letter just like that!

“About 30 minutes ago, she said she already called you”

“Bullshit” He cursed out loudly and Natalie sharply looked up at him.

“sir”

He muttered a string of curses again before telling her to leave. Just then his phone rang, it was his mother.

“Paul!!,clear your schedules tomorrow evening, I want to have dinner with you and Victoria” Came Mrs. Costa’s voice from the other end of the phone.

“Mother!!,if you want to have dinner with Victoria, you can do it all on your own, I do not care about Victoria nor dinners,I have work to do” he shouted into the phone.

“Paul you have to….” He did not wait to hear her as he quickly ended the call.

“Fucking hell”, he muttered.

Stephanie sat in her small living room watching “Family Guy” when she heard a knock at her door. She strode towards the door wondering who it might be as she wasn’t expecting anybody.

She opened the door to see Paul and was surprised, his mouth was open and his eyes bulged, Stephanie Hathaway,his PA stood there in all her marvelous glory.

She had forgotten to pull a robe around the thin blouse she was wearing and the shorts, it barely covered her bottom and she wasn’t wearing her gigantic glasses,her hair was also tied up.

Paul remained standing there unable to say anything, he was almost drooling. Her hips flared at her waist, her legs were smooth and soft, his eyes travelled up to her chest, her thin shirt hugged her, squishing her breasts together, she wasn’t putting on a bra. He swallowed hard as his groin throbbed.

She quickly shut the door and before he could knock again, she opened it, this time wearing a robe and hugging it tightly to her body.

“I prefer the former look,” Paul said smiling and he was telling the truth, he liked her body, especially her curves and her eyes.

“Excuse me?” Stephanie rolled her eyes.

Paul cleared his throat trying to remove the images and the thoughts swimming in his head.

He needed to get a grip on himself!, what was he doing!, He was Paul Costa and She was his personal assistant! her status,way beneath his!.

What happened was a mistake and he was there to rectify that mistake not continue it! yes, she was beautiful but he’s seen loads of beautiful women, there was nothing special about her. But even as he tried to convince himself that, he knew there was something different and special about her, different from the other women.

“What are you doing here?” She glanced at her phone and continued “Aren’t you supposed to be with Lara right now?” .

“I cancelled. I want to talk to you” He said firmly.

“If you are here to offer much money, you are wasting your time, I….” She trailed off before Paul hastily cut in.

“Look, this is important, let's go inside and talk”

“No”, came the bitter reply.

Paul clenched his teeth.. “please, come on”

She looked at him again, sensing the urgency in his voice before opening the door wide enough to allow him entry.

His eyes roamed the small space and sparse furniture,wondering how someone could live in such a place, it was just too small!.

“Well then, What is it?” she asked cocking a quizzical brow.

“I want coffee, you know as I like it,” he said smugly.

“If it's a warm welcome you’re expecting, I’m sorry to disappoint you, you won't get it. And I’m not your assistant today, it’s my off”.

“Okay then! I have an offer for you” Paul said flatly.

“Take all your offers and shove them up your ass” she fired back.

“Feisty,aren’t you?,i have been deceived by you” he said,glancing at the small television in the room.

“I wasn’t telling a lie…”

“Of course I know. I just didn’t know this side of you” he interrupted.

“What side?” She questioned and he looked at her,smirking.

“My offer..” he started to say,abruptly changing the topic.

“I don’t want to know what it is,I’m not interested” she said sharply.

Paul chuckled lightly, “At least, hear me out first, it's not about money I promise” She looked up at him “Well a little, but it's not all money”.

“What is it?” She asked quietly.

“Full custody of the baby when it's born,” he said quietly and then added as an afterthought “Of course you will be compensated”

Stephanie just sat there not saying a word, refusing to believe what she just heard.

“Stephanie” he called out,to be sure she was still with him.

“Get out!” She screamed. “Get the fuck out of my house you sick bastard!!!” she suddenly felt anger pulse through her veins as she glared at him murderously.

“I will give you time to think this through, and of course there are other terms, you will have to sign a contract,” he said quietly again.

It was probably the way he was calm while telling her such things that made her enraged.

“You will never have my child, this baby is mine and mine alone, nobody can change that”.

He flinched at her tone. “How are you going to raise a child?” He looked around her apartment, “In this roach-infested shithole?, this dump?, wake the fuck up Steph!” He spat out scornfully and continued.

“You want to keep the baby? fine!! Don’t get rid of it, become a surrogate Mother, Your child will have the best of everything, a good life, a better life than what you can offer it, think about it”

Stephanie swallowed hard. “Get out,” she said calmly.

“You do not want to battle me Steph, you do not. You don’t have the means to!, think about my offer, If it’s more money you want, I can give you” Paul said calmly and walked to the door then he turned “Never do something permanently foolish because you are temporarily upset” with that he left, but not before glancing at her face.

Seeing her like that broke him, he didn’t understand why. She was probably crying at the prospect of not being with her child but it was for the best, she didn’t have the means to take care of a child and he was going to make true of his words.

She was going to be the child’s surrogate mother and Victoria would be the child’s mother. He had to discuss this with her first. He knew she liked him too much so talking to her about that would not be a problem, she could convince her parents too. He was counting on Stephanie to make the right choice, which was surrogacy.

He still did not understand why her tears affected him, it was not the first time he had seen a woman cry, so why?.

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Hey, husband!” Came the voice from the other end of the phone.

“Vicky, My mum wants to have dinner with you and me tomorrow, is that okay with you?” He asked, knowing she was going to agree. He planned to tell them both about the baby then.

“Certainly babe, I have to go shopping tomorrow for a dress to wear then, you have to come with me…”

“I will come pick you up, just let me know when you’re ready,” he said and ended the call.

“Here goes nothing” he muttered.

********************************************

“So let me get this straight, Your boss offered you twenty million dollars to get rid of the pregnancy but you refused and then he came here today and offered you money, which he didn’t state the amount but told you he would give you any amount you want in return for having full custody of the baby after it’s born and you still refused and he said the offer’s still open”

“Yes..sss” Stephanie replied in between sobs.

After Paul left, She called her best friend, Ciara, and narrated everything from the pregnancy to her while crying.

“Your very hot boss?” Ciara asked, unable to believe how foolish her friend had been.

“Yess” she replied.

“And you want my advice because you know if it gets to court you are fucked?”

“Yes,” Stephanie replied and started crying again.

“You,my dear friend are very foolish! A whole 20 million US dollars!!!!! and you said no! Okay, how are you going to take care of the child? No,how are you even going to get a good lawyer to go against Paul Costa!, you are his PA, you know how powerful this Man is! Costa Inc. owns half the country, it’s a household name! He’s right about you being unable to battle him. And now, he wants to go along with your wish, you can keep the baby, but after it’s born, you will cut all ties with it and you want to botch that?”

Stephanie kept wailing and asking what she could do about it. She really couldn’t face Paul in court!.

Costa Inc. was a giant corporation, it owned many schools and universities, airlines, railways, buses, the food production industry, hotels, there was Costa furniture, Costa cars, Costa hospitals and lots more.

“My advice for you? call him, tell him to give you that twenty million dollars and that you’d give up custody of the child. Because if you go to court, my dear you will lose!.” Ciara said firmly.

Stephanie kept wailing and nodding her head in denial. She could not just give up her child, she couldn’t!!.