“Hello, you must be Elise. I’m David. Please, come in and have a seat with us.” He motioned to the chair beside Carlson, and she walked over to him, shook his hand for a moment and then sat down, smoothing her dress beneath her.
His hand felt as warm and welcoming as his demeanor, and she decided almost right away that she liked him. He seemed a good man. In some men, their goodness is obvious, right from the start, and they don’t have to take time to show it to you or to try to convince you of it, it’s just there, and you know it. She knew it, and it settled her nerves a bit and let her relax enough to breathe.
He indicated the older man sitting next to her. “This is Carlson. Carlson is my attorney.”
The older man turned to her and smiled politely, shaking her hand and then looking from her to David. David walked around to the back of his desk and took his seat.
“Thank you for coming in today, we’re glad to have you here,” he said politely.
She nodded. “Thank you for letting me come in early. I have a business to open in a while and it would be difficult for me to be away from it in the early morning.”
David nodded and looked down at an open file on his desk. “It’s a café and chocolate shop, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Bella Mocha,” she said feeling her nerves begin to tingle again.
He looked up at her and folded his hands over her file. “Before we really begin, I am curious to know what it was that made you answer our ad.” He watched her carefully, taking in everything about her as she listened to him and answered him. One of the things that made him such an excellent businessman was his uncanny ability to read people and understand them.
She felt as though she had nothing to lose, really, so she told him the truth. “Well, I want to have a baby but I’m not really interested in having the relationship that usually goes along with a baby. In addition to that, I could use the money from this to expand my business. Those two things are the most important things in the world to me right now.”
David was impressed. She had told him the truth, all of the truth. He smiled at her and relaxed slightly.
“That’s a good answer, Elise. I’ll tell you, it fits right in with what we are trying to do. Our mission is an unconventional one, so I’ll ask you to keep an open mind while we explain it to you, alright?” He raised an eyebrow at her in hope.
She looked at him with a smile. “I think it takes a woman with a very open mind to answer an ad like the one I saw and actually come for the appointment.”
A soft chuckle escaped him and he nodded. “Well said, Elise, well said. You’re a clever woman. Good.” He looked from her to Carlson and Carlson nodded subtly, then David looked back at Elise.
“What we would like to do is to hire a woman to marry me, conceive and carry my child, give birth to it and then end the marriage after a three year contract. For this service, the successful candidate would be paid one million dollars.” He paused to gauge her reactions and he saw the surprise flicker across her face.
She couldn’t believe what she had heard: a million dollars. That would be enough to open several stores and pay off all of her debts, as well as raise a baby. She could hardly believe it, but then her mind snapped to the one part of his description, which hadn’t been mentioned in the ad.
“There was no mention of marriage in the ad.” She was brief, but polite.
He nodded. “No, there wasn’t. That’s something that we thought we would save for discussion with the right candidates. We wanted to be selective about the process.” He leaned back in his chair and regarded her with interest.
“What would you do with the money, Elise?” he asked curiously.
She didn’t have to think about it. Her answer was immediate. “I’d invest it into my business and open more locations.”
“That may be a wise move. Investing often is, if it’s done correctly. Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you sell your business and retire?” he asked in a gentle tone.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to retire. I’ve worked really hard to build that business up from nothing and I want to see it flourish. I want it to grow and I want to be at the head of that.”
“Dedication and hard work. That’s very good,” David said, turning his pen back and forth in his hand as he watched her.
“It’s unusual for a woman to not want a traditional family. Why do you have no interest in having a husband to help raise your child?” He tilted his head and kept his eyes on her face.
She looked away from him for a moment and then looked back toward him. “I haven’t met anyone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and at this point, all I really want is the child. I tried the dating scene and it didn’t work for me. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to have a family just because my Mr. Right hasn’t shown up.”
“So you’re done waiting for him?” David asked lightly.
“I am. I still want the baby, though.” She answered.
He nodded. “Alright. Well, here’s what I’m looking for. I want a woman who is willing to marry me soon, conceive a child naturally with me as soon as possible, and live with me as a spouse would, to help me raise it. At the end of three years, the woman and I would have an amicable divorce and share custody of the child. The woman would be paid the sum that I mentioned. All of the expenses incurred for the duration of the marriage to me and all expenses incurred for having and raising the child would be covered by me, apart from the payment for the position.”
Elise raised her eyebrows slightly and took a breath. “You want to conceive it naturally? You mean… sleep with you?” her stomach turned upside down.
He nodded slowly. “Yes, that is, only until a pregnancy can be confirmed. Once we know that a baby has been conceived, intercourse would cease to be a part of the agreement. It’s solely to produce a child.”
Her nerves tightened all throughout her body. She knew there might be a catch and this was a big one. She had thought that it might be artificial insemination and that was fine with her, but the idea of having intercourse with the man sitting across from her interviewing her made her nerves feel like they were exploding and her stomach had dropped through every floor of the building all the way to the street below them.
David’s brow furrowed as he watched her face. “I see that you might need some time to think about this. I can give you a little time, but I do want you to know that we are anxious to get this started immediately. I would want to be married next week at the latest.”
She could not stop her eyes from opening wide and staring at him. He smiled kindly at her.
“I realize it’s a lot to take in. I’m sorry for that. I wish it wasn’t so sudden but it needs to happen quickly.” He looked at her with genuine empathy.
Elise felt little alarm bells going off somewhere in the back of her head. “Why do you need it done so quickly?” she asked, watching him carefully.
He never took his eyes off of her. “My public image is the face of this corporation and of many partnerships I have with other businessmen, politicians, groups and associations. I cannot afford to have my public image suffer anything detrimental and in order to show that I am a man of equality, I want to marry a woman with an African-American heritage and have a child with her. Three year’s time is enough to show that; hence, the period of the contract. At the end of three years, a divorce would be a believable course of events.”
Elise understood what he was saying and she knew that it made sense, even though her own scale was much smaller than his, she knew full well how important public image was to a business. It was why she had the smiling sign on her mirror in her office, to remind her to always show the world a happy face, no matter what was going on behind closed doors.
“Alright. I understand that,” she said, looking at him suspiciously. “What about the natural conception? Why couldn’t you just do artificial insemination?”
David blinked in surprise: a thing which hardly ever happened. He had never b
efore had a woman who didn’t want to sleep with him. In fact, he frequently had too many women wanting the complete opposite.
“I’ll be honest, this is a delicate situation.” He leaned closer to her. “We’d like to keep it as far under wraps as possible. If I were to marry and then seek the aid of a medical team to perform an artificial insemination, word could get leaked out that I had done that, and it would be detrimental to the entire project as people might not believe I had found true love with a woman of color if we weren’t going to conceive our own child together. I cannot take the risk that anyone would find out that this has all been set up. It absolutely must be transparent that I have married for love and have conceived a child in that love.”
She lifted her chin almost in defiance. “You’re a successful, handsome man. Why would you hire someone for this? Why wouldn’t you just find a woman and do it the traditional way?”
He leaned over his desk toward her, looking her in the eyes. “I am a lot like you that way, I haven’t met anyone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I’m in a serious time crunch here. I need this done right away. I don’t have the time to try to fall in love and do it the traditional way. I’m betting that you of all the women I’ve interviewed, understand that the best.”
Elise nodded thoughtfully and bit her lip. It made something unfamiliar in David’s chest tighten. He realized that it must be nerves. He looked at Carlson. “Do you have any questions for Elise?”
Carlson shook his head. “Not right now.”
David looked at Elise intently. “I will tell you this. There are other women I have interviewed for this position. I want it to be you. It is clear to me, as you sit here before me, that you are precisely the right woman for this task. If you want the position, it is yours.”
Elise drew a deep breath. Her mind was a vortex of thoughts and emotions. This was a huge commitment, an immeasurable and life changing endeavor, and it felt like it was coming at her like a speeding train.
“Could I please have a little time to think about it?” she asked softly.
David saw her hesitation and knew that she would turn him down if he made her choose right away. “I’ll give you twenty-four hours to think on it, and if you agree, then remember that we would need to marry in one week.”
“Twenty-four…” she mumbled as she stared at him. Her mind snapped to attention and she knew there was one thing she had to ask. “David, I signed a non-disclosure form when I came in here, and I will adhere to it, but you are asking me to change my entire life and make that decision within twenty-four hours. I have to ask that you allow me to talk with one person about this. I have a best friend who I rely on as a confidante and would like to discuss it with her. I realize that might not be possible, but I want to ask. She doesn’t have any connection to anyone who might leak your project out to the press. Would it be alright please, if I talk with her about it?”
The nerves in her body twisted and arched as if they were transmitting bolts of lightning through her, but she held her ground, and David saw it.
He considered it thoughtfully for a long moment, and shifted his gaze to Carlson who shook his head no almost imperceptibly.
David looked at Elise closely and then took a breath and said, “Alright, you can tell your friend. If your friend ever discusses it with anyone but you, the non-disclosure will go into full effect.”
Elise breathed a huge sigh of relief. Carlson closed his eyes and shook his head. David wrote his cell phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Elise. “Please call me as soon as you have an answer for me. Time really is of the essence.”
She nodded and stood up and he walked her to the door, shaking her hand warmly as she left them.
Carlson glared at him over the top of his glasses. “What are you doing letting her talk to her friend about it? We don’t know anything about that friend. We don’t know if she’s going to spill it all and make a huge mess for us.”
David just smiled. “I trust her. I think she’s going to keep it under wraps. Besides, if she does talk, we can always deny it. No one has any proof of it.”
Carlson just shook his head and rose, walking out of the room. David stood up and walked to the window with Elise’s file in his hand. He looked down at her photo and gazed at her sea green eyes. “I hope I can trust you. I believe I can. Please don’t let me down,” he said softly. He closed the file and looked out of the window, wishing for a yes from her.
Chapter4
Elise found her way to her shop that morning, though she had no idea how. Her mind was a tangle of thoughts, all of them pulling her in different directions. She had called Sarah as soon as she left David’s office and had reached her voicemail. She left a message for her friend and let all of the thoughts she was having run wild through her head until the store opened.
She tried her best to focus on the girls who worked for her, on her coffee and chocolates, on her customers, and on what she was actually doing all day long, but at the forefront of her mind was the feeling of a clock ticking down to zero, and her life hanging in the balance.
Sarah finally called her back later that afternoon and when Elise saw who it was on her cell phone, she went right for her office and closed the door.
“I need to talk to you,” she said quickly in a hushed tone.
Sarah laughed a little. “You are talking to me. What’s up?”
Elise shook her head, though Sarah couldn’t see her do it. “I mean I need to talk with you in person. When can you come by?”
Sarah’s voice sharpened. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.
“Yes, I’m fine… I guess… I don’t know. I need you to come by, please. When can you be here?” she pleaded with her friend.
“I’ll be there at closing. Will that work?” Sarah offered.
Elise felt relief spring up in her. “Yes, thank you so much, that works. I’ll leave the back door open, just come on in when you get here.”
“Alright, I’ll see you then. You take it easy in the meantime!” Sarah’s concern was evident and as they hung up, Elise was profoundly grateful to have someone as close to her in her life as her best friend.
The day could not have dragged on any slower, and it seemed to Elise that every time she looked at the clock, it hadn’t moved at all. She tried her best to pay attention to every conversation she had with everyone, but her mind continued to slip back to the meeting and she would be lost in thought and not present with the people around her. It was unlike her and even the girls in her shop became concerned part way through the day, but she reassured them that she was just tired and they busied themselves around her.
Years later, it seemed, the shop finally closed and as Elise turned the lock on the door, she felt like collapsing right there on the floor. Instead, she walked back to her office and did her bookkeeping, trying to stop herself from listening for Sarah’s car or her footsteps through the back door. She finished her accounting and poured herself a hot chocolate, hoping to calm her nerves, and finally, almost at the bottom of the cup, Sarah walked through the door and Elise set the mug down and threw her arms around her friend.
Sarah hugged her tightly for a long moment and then let her go and looked up at her with worried eyes. “Well? What is it?” she asked tensely.
“I applied for a strange job and went to the interview this morning.” Elise answered as though she were in confession with a priest.
“So? What was the job?” Sarah asked still looking at Elsie with concern.
Elise sank down into a chair and looked up at her best friend. “It’s a completely confidential project, so you can’t say anything to anyone about this, okay?”
Sarah nodded and sat down across from Elise. “Okay. So? What is it?”
Elise closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again and said, “There’s a guy who wants me to marry him and have his baby. I stay married to him for three years and then we get divorced and share custody of the baby.”
Sarah’s mouth fell fully open. “What? Have you lost your… you have lost your mind!”
Elise shook her head. “I know that sounds weird, but-”
Her friend shook her head vehemently. “That’s not weird, honey, that’s just crazy. What in the hell are you thinking?”
Elise sighed and held her hands up. “Let me explain a little, please!”
Sarah sat back in her chair and folded her arms over her ample chest in a huff, then raised her eyebrows up about as far as they would go and looked at Elise. “Alright, let’s hear it.”
Elise took a deep breath and tried to find the right words to say to explain it. “Well, the guy is this really wealthy media mogul-”
Sarah stopped her. “How do you know he’s wealthy?”
“Because I went through less security when I visited the White House in Washington. I was at his office. He’s on the top floor of a high rise building downtown here. Now, listen!” Elise lowered her brows at Sarah and Sarah rolled her eyes and then looked back at her friend.
“So he’s this wealthy guy and he is worried about his public image. He wants to marry a black woman to show that he is all about equality, and he wants to have a baby with her. Uh… with me. The whole thing is contracted, so it’s all down on paper, and so I would be marrying him and then we’d be that way for three years, and then we would get divorced and I get paid a huge sum of money.” Elise stopped talking and waited for her friend to respond.
Sarah lowered her gaze and glared at Elise. “I can’t even believe you’re considering this. How much does he want to pay you for this sham?”
“One million dollars,” Elise almost whispered.
Sarah’s eyebrows shot right back up her forehead. “One million dollars?! Are you sure?”
Elise nodded, biting her lower lip as she always did when she was nervous or thoughtful.
Sarah shifted in her chair and looked at Elise with suspicion in her eyes. “Is he ugly? Is he a dog? What’s he want to hire someone like you for if he’s got all kinds of money?”
The Baby Shower Page 19
