The Surrogate Mother by Freida McFadden

Author:Freida McFadden [McFadden, Freida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press
Published: 2018-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

When Monica comes into my office this morning with my coffee, there’s no denying it anymore—she is really visibly pregnant. People at work are going to start noticing very soon, if they haven’t already.

It’s not surprising. She’s now seven months along. It’s amazing she’s managed to hide it this long, even with her creative fashion choices. I heard some snarky secretaries in the ladies room whispering about how Monica needs to “cut back on the chocolate.” I’ve heard still others joking about who the father might be. The gig is definitely up.

“How are you feeling?” I ask her carefully.

She rests her hand gently on her belly. “A little tired, but generally pretty good.”

“That’s great.” I chew on my lip, considering my next words carefully. “Do you, um… want to have a seat?”

Monica gives me a funny look, but she settles into the seat across from me. I get up and close the door so we can have some privacy.

“Listen,” I say to her as I settle down into my leather chair. “I’m sure you realize that it’s becoming very obvious that you’re pregnant.”

“I guess so,” she says.

She bows down her head. I notice for the first time that even though Monica has jet black hair like I do, her roots are pale. One of the selling points when she suggested being a surrogate for me was our similar appearances, but now I’m not sure any more she’s a natural brunette. Does Monica dye her hair black?

Why on earth would she dye her hair black?

I clear my throat. “So per our arrangement, I think it’s time to resign. I can start looking for replacements for you right away.”

Her eyes fly open. “Resign?”

“Yes,” I say tightly. “That was the agreement. When you started showing, you would resign.”

She stares at me for a moment, her mouth hanging open. “Is this because I came up with a better idea than you at that meeting with Cuddles?”

Ouch. Admittedly, I’ve felt a smoldering resentment toward Monica because of that meeting. Ever since then, Denise has been acting like Monica’s the new office prodigy. I can barely remember the last time I got that kind of mentorship from Denise. At a meeting yesterday, Denise told Monica that she was “really going places” at Stewart Advertising.

“It’s not because of that,” I say quietly. “This was our agreement from the beginning, Monica.”

“But it’s not in the contract.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s not in the contract,” she repeats. “I said maybe I’d leave, but I didn’t sign anything saying I would definitely leave.”

Now it’s my turn to stare. “But we agreed…”

She shrugs. “Yes, but I changed my mind. I like it here. I want to stay.”

I feel like she just punched me in the gut. I don’t even know what to say. This was our agreement and she’s backing out. It raises the question, what else will she back out of?

“Monica.” I’m trying to keep my voice even. “If you keep working here, I could get in a lot of trouble for our arrangement.

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