Vincent ran into the auto repair shop immediately he saw the beautiful damsel drive off in her exquisite car
"Who is she Nathan? Is she really pregnant with your child?" Vincent queried
"She's not carrying my child Vincent!" Nathan made known
"But what she said....."
"What she said was a lie coming from a place of selfishness and irresponsibility, whatever she said, it is absolutely irrelevant" Nathan said, glancing at the file she left on top of one of the cars
"Absolutely irrelevant" he repeated as he grabbed the file and flung it away
"Did she leave that?" Vincent asked as he went to pick up the file
"What's in here?" Vincent opened the file, his eyes darting through the file contents
"What?!! Four thousand dollars every month?!!" Vincent bellowed
"Let's get to work Vincent" Nathan said as he got his toolbox and began to work on a car, but Vincent wasn't going to let him off that easily
"Did you not see the amount here Nathan?!" Vincent asked, his eyes glued to the part of the contract that states Nathan will be paid four thousand dollars every month
"And did you not see the condition she gave?!" Nathan questioned surprised at his friend's reaction on what he considered as the most bizarre contract offer of his life
"Acting as her husband for nine months, of course I did! Being paid four thousand dollars every month, you'll have gotten thirty six thousand dollars by the end of the ninth month, that amount could change both our lives forever!" Vincent chided
"Well unfortunately Vincent, I am not as greedy for money as you are" Nathan alluded
"Is that the case or is it because of Julia?" Vincent asked, brows raised
"What has Julia got to do with this?"
"You know she's got everything to do with this! I know you Nathan, I've known you since highschool, we toiled together to scale through highschool as we had no high and mighty parents to cater for us, ever since we've known Julia, you've been acting like her shadow, doing anything and everything for her so she'll notice you but she never noticed you Nathan, just like a parasite she's only being living off you!" Vincent seethed
"Enough!!"
"Don't you ever, speak of Julia like that, especially not in front of me" Nathan cautioned, fuming with anger
"But you and I know it's the truth Nathan, when we finished college and she didn't have a place to stay, you offered her your place and you've being living together ever since, when she was diagnosed with cancer, your spent your little earnings all on her drugs, when I suggested you become a sperm donor, you downright refused me yet you didn't have a second thought when you came back to me and agreed to do it so you'll use all the money for Julia's surgery, you...."
"I only did that because she's my friend! Our friend!" Nathan pointed out
"Is that the lie you keep telling yourself? If you really consider her your just a friend why are you so angry that she wants to move out of your place tomorrow? Why are you passing out on such a good opportunity to earn a huge amount of money?" Vincent questioned waving the contract at Nathan's face
"Vincent, I am never going to agree to the deal that crazy lady offered, I will not fall for her whims and this isn't about Julia, that lady is nuts and I've never seen anyone as rude and proud as her, she might be Harvey Granger's daughter but that gives her absolutely no right to be so impertinent!" Nathan maintained but Vincent eyes seemed lost as he didn't seem to be listening again
"You...you lost me at the point where you said she's Harvey Granger's daughter, did.... did I hear you wrong or is she really Harvey Granger's daughter?" Vincent asked, his eyes slowly glistening with hope
"She said she's Harvey Granger's daughter, she was so braggy of it, her name is Blaire Granger and apparently she has her own company in New York" Nathan sneered
"You do know who Harvey Granger is right? The owner of the Grangers Enterprise, the popular businessman, the richest man in London, I would brag for the rest of my life if he was my father! Were you not in your right senses Nathan?! How could you ever refuse her offer?!!" Vincent yelled making Nathan flinch back
"She's rich, she's beautiful, did you not see her eyes? They were like two beautiful gemstones, her aura was stunning and jaw dropping, she is a goddess Nathan, your sperm brought you such luck, I expect you to cling to it with all your might! This is destiny offering you a chance to change your life for the better and you want to throw it all away? Are you comfortable with your current lifestyle? The way we are living from hands to mouth? For once Nathan, forget about Julia and make an attempt to make your own life better, you are a smart guy, stop acting so dumb, if you really throw away this opportunity to change our lives then we are going to stop being friends!" Vincent stated and handed the file to Nathan
"Go through the contract and make a wise decision"
.....
Blaire drove back to the Mansion she now calls home and luckily, the house seemed to be empty so she sighed and sank on the sofa
The memories of Nathan flashed in her mind and she huffed angrily, how could someone like him be so rude and discourteous?! He is every definition of unethical and annoying, of all the men in London, why did she have to end up using such a stubborn man's sperm?!
She stood up and walked to the bar area to grab a glass of wine, she needs it to calm herself down, the short time she spent with that douchebag must have raised her blood pressure
Blaire glanced at her wristwatch, it was just a few minutes past noon, Sarah should be on her flight to London by now
Since she lives here now, Sarah has being going from New York to London repeatedly to help her manage her business, oh how lucky she is to have Sarah by her side
Blaire finished her drink and stood up from the barstool but ended up bumping into James who was standing right behind her
"Oh you are home" Blaire said as she made to walk past James
"The Chairman is still awaiting your boyfriend's arrival" James reminded
"I told you guys already, he'll be here soon, I just need to find a way to coerce him into signing the contract" Blaire uttered and walked up to her room
....
Ryan and Linda drove back to the Mansion but the atmosphere in the car was eerie
"You aren't going to say anything?" Linda asked as Ryan drove
"What is it that you expect me to say? You made the decision, you've always made the decisions and I never have a say in anything, this shouldn't be any different right?" Ryan asked, eyes focused on the road
"Come on Ryan, stop acting like I made the decision out of selfishness, this is for both of us, Blaire is already pregnant and we can't afford to not have a child on the way too" Linda uttered hoping Ryan will understand
"And you think the best way to have a child is to use a surrogate?!" Ryan queried
"You know I am not able to carry a child, this is our only option!" Linda maintained
"We could've gone for an adoption!" Ryan countered
"Then the child would not have your DNA and father will never hand over the company to you when the child doesn't share the Grangers bloodline! Perhaps, it's your sperm and my egg that was used on the lady so everything will be fine, the baby will still be our child, only difference is I won't be the one giving birth" Linda explained
"I perfectly understand Linda, my concern is what will father say? The surrogate's welfare is now our responsibility and we'll have no choice but to bring her with us to the Mansion, what is everyone going to say? We'll be jeered and mocked" Ryan said, failing to keep the fret out of his voice
"I care not about what people will say Ryan, what matters is I'll have a child in the way and when father hands over the company to us in the end, I will have the last laugh and I will make all of your siblings pay for every single jab they've thrown at us, I'll make them all pay" Linda stated
.....
Nathan drove his bike back to his one room apartment
He walked into the house and met Julia's luggage all packed up
"Julia!" Nathan called and Julia emerged from the kitchen holding a ladle
"Welcome back Nathan, I was just making dinner for both of us" Julia beamed a smile at Nathan
"Your luggage is all packed up" Nathan pointed out
"Yes, I told you I'll be moving out tomorrow" Julia reminded
"And I told you that I am never going to let that happen, you should continue to stay here especially now that you are still recovering from your surgery, perhaps, I never complained of being tired of living together with you" Nathan uttered
"But I am complaining Nathan, I am tired of all this, I have totally recovered from my surgery and I have a friend at Oxford street willing to take me in, we've already had this argument in the morning, I am no longer comfortable with living with you, I hate it that people always mistake us for married couple just because we live together, I hate that I am not able to invite my friends for a sleepover just because I do not want them to misunderstand this situation, I know we've been friends from high school and you've always supported me but you have your own life and I have mine and it is time for me to go out there and live my life, I hope you understand that Nathan" Julia beseeched and heaved a sigh "I'm going to check on my food, It might be burning" Julia said and walked back into the kitchen
Nathan sank on the only chair in the apartment, her bike key and Blaire's contract on his hand, Vincent had made sure he went home with the contract so he'll read through it but he never really planned to open the contract, he just came home with it to avoid Vincent's continuous bugging but now he couldn't stop staring at the file as Vincent's words flashed through his head
...."This is destiny offering you a chance to change your life for the better and you want to throw it all away? Are you comfortable with your current lifestyle? The way we are living from hands to mouth?".....
Of course he is not comfortable with his current lifestyle, he has worked hard all his life yet his hard work never paid up, all his life he was always at the loosing end, a long time ago, he had decided to be upright and to work his way to success but maybe it is time to take shortcuts for he has lost many things in his life but he can not afford to loose Julia too, Julia is his first love and he will do anything for her, including accepting a weird deal from a crazy lady just to give her the comfortable lifestyle that she so deserves
With a strong feeling of determination resonating in his being, Nathan opened the contract file and began to read through it...