Chapter 5 #2
Tiffany: Come to my office when you're finished with that room.
My stomach immediately did some weird shit. I knew exactly what it was about. I finished the mirror, put everything back where it belonged, and pushed my cart toward the service elevator.
Ariel spotted me again.
"Where you going?"
"None of your business."
"See! Secret spy shit!"
"Girl, go make a bed."
"I already made mine."
"Make another one."
"Where you going, Nyrobi?"
I pressed the elevator button.
"To get my promotion."
Her mouth dropped open.
"For real?"
The elevator opened.
"No."
"Bitch!"
I stepped inside laughing before the doors closed.
Tiffany was at her desk when I got downstairs.
She looked up from her computer.
"You finished your rooms?"
"Not all of them."
"That's fine."
She pushed her chair back.
"They want to see you again."
I didn't even have to ask who.
"Right now?"
"Yeah."
I nodded, but Tiffany kept looking at me.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That's not a nothing face."
She laughed.
"I was just thinking."
"About?"
"You."
"See, that's what everybody around here doing today."
"I heard."
"I bet."
She smiled.
"Don't worry about them."
"I'm not."
"You sure?"
"Girl, Ariel think I'm working undercover for the Stylez."
Tiffany stared at me.
"Undercover doing what?"
"Apparently reporting back on y'all."
She laughed so hard she leaned back in her chair.
"I swear these people need more work."
"Please give Ariel some."
"Oh, I will."
I started toward the door.
"Nyrobi."
I turned around.
Tiffany's face had gotten serious.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah."
"Because if there's anything involving your job that you need me in there for?—"
"It's not."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. It's personal."
Her eyebrows lifted slightly, but she didn't ask.
I appreciated that.
"Okay. They're upstairs."
I nodded and headed out.
The elevator ride felt different this time.
Yesterday, I had gone upstairs not knowing what the hell they wanted with me. Today I had twenty-something questions in my phone and a decision sitting right on the tip of my tongue.
I just wasn't giving it to them until they answered me.
When I got to the office, the door was cracked.
I knocked anyway.
"Come in."
Kaizleigh was sitting at the same table from yesterday. Billion was over by the window with his phone to his ear, but the second he saw me, he told whoever he was talking to he'd call them back.
I stepped inside.
"Hey."
"Hey," Kaizleigh said. "You working?" she asked.
I looked down at my uniform.
"No, I just like dressing like this."
She stared at me for half a second before laughing.
"Okay, smart ass."
Billion shook his head.
"I told you she was working."
"Nobody asked you," Kaizleigh told him.
I smiled.
They were funny together. Not fake funny either. You could tell they had been together long enough to know exactly how far they could take shit with each other before somebody got mad.
I sat down.
Kaizleigh looked at me.
"How are you feeling after yesterday?"
"Like I got questions."
"Good."
"No. Like a lot."
"Even better."
I pulled out my phone.
Billion looked at it.
"You wrote them down?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"I stopped counting."
Kaizleigh smiled.
"Ask whatever you need to ask."
"Don't say that and then start getting irritated when I'm on question seventeen."
"I won't."
"You might."
"I won't."
I looked at Billion.
"What about you?"
He shrugged.
"I ain't the one that gotta carry a baby. Ask as many as you need."
That was fair.
I opened my notes.
"Okay. First thing, can I still work?"
"Yes," Kaizleigh answered. "As long as you're medically able to."
"And if I'm not?"
"Then that's something that would be addressed in your contract," Billion said.
"What does that mean?"
"It means if you're put out of work because of the pregnancy, your lost wages can be accounted for. Your attorney will make sure you understand exactly how before you sign anything."
I looked up.
"My attorney?"
"Yes."
"Not y'all attorney?"
"No," Kaizleigh said. "You'd have your own," she stated firmly.
"Who pays them?"
"We do."
I frowned.
"So y'all pay somebody to make sure y'all don't fuck me over?"
Billion laughed.
"That's one way to put it."
"That's exactly what it sound like."
Kaizleigh nodded.
"Basically, yes. Your attorney represents you. Ours represents us."
"Okay."
I liked that.
I checked off the question.
"Medical bills."
"Covered," Kaizleigh said.
"Every single one?"
"Anything related to the process and pregnancy would be addressed before you ever start medication or have a transfer."
"What about regular doctor visits?"
"The clinic will explain what goes through insurance, what's paid separately and how everything is handled. You won't be expected to just start paying pregnancy-related bills out of your pocket and hoping somebody pays you back."
"Good, because I don't have it."
"We know."
I looked at Billion.
He held his hands up.
"That wasn't shade."
"It sounded a little shady."
"It wasn't."
Kaizleigh laughed.
"Keep going."
I scrolled.
"What if something happens to me?"
Her smile faded.
"What kind of something?"
"I don't know. Complications. Bed rest. C-section. Anything."
"Those are things the doctors will discuss with you during screening," she said. "Pregnancy comes with risks whether you're a surrogate or carrying your own child. I don't want you thinking I'm going to sit here and tell you nothing can happen,” she explained
That answer made me look at her differently. She could've easily told me everything would be fine just because she wanted me to say yes.
"So I get medically checked before anything?"
"A full screening," Billion said.
"What if I don't pass?"
"Then we don't move forward."
"And I don't owe y'all anything?"
"No."
"Not even for the lawyer?"
"No."
"Doctors?"
"No."
"Nothing?"
Billion shook his head.
"If you're not medically cleared, you're not medically cleared."
I nodded and kept going.
"What if the first try don't work?"
Kaizleigh's face shiftedbjust a little.
"We can try again."
I remembered what she had told me at the hospital. All those losses. All those times hoping.
I softened my voice.
"Is that common?"
"It can happen. The doctor can explain the chances better than I can,” she said.
"So putting it in me doesn't automatically mean I'm pregnant?"
"No."
"Damn."
I don't know why I thought it did.
In my head, once they put the embryo in there, that was it.
Apparently my uterus still had to accept the damn invitation.
"Okay."
I looked at my next question.
"Restrictions."
Kaizleigh leaned back.
"What about them?"
"How much of my life y'all get to control?"
Billion frowned.
"We don't control your life."
"I'm asking."
"And you should," Kaizleigh said before continuing.
"There will be medical restrictions. No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol during pregnancy. Certain medications may not be allowed, and there can be restrictions during the treatment process too."
"Travel?"
"Depends on the stage of pregnancy and what the doctor says."
"Food?"
"Same thing. Doctor recommendations."
"Working out?"
"If you're cleared."
"Hair?"
Kaizleigh blinked.
"Hair?"
"Yes."
"What about it?"
"Can I still get it done?"
Billion looked at me like I had asked if I could fly to the moon.
I pointed at him.
"Don't look at me like that. Pregnancy be having people saying you can't do all kinds of shit."
"I ain't say nothing."
"Your face did."
Kaizleigh laughed.
"Yes, you can get your hair done."
"Okay, good."
I scrolled again.
There it was…The question I had deleted and put back.
I cleared my throat.
"Don't laugh."
Kaizleigh immediately started smiling.
"I haven't even heard it."
"Your face already laughing."
"What is it?"
I glanced at Billion.
He looked confused.
Fuck it.
"Can I have sex?"
Kaizleigh dropped her head.
"See!"
"I'm not laughing at the question!"
"You laughing."
"I'm laughing because you warned me first."
Billion rubbed his beard.
"That's actually something the clinic needs to answer."
"Why?"
"Because depending on where you are in the process, they can put restrictions on sex."
"So sometimes I can't?"
"Yes," Kaizleigh said.
"For how long?"
"Nyrobi, I don't know the exact rules."
"See, that's something I need to know."
"And they'll tell you."
"Okay, because I don't currently have nobody, but what if I meet somebody?"
Billion looked away.
Kaizleigh started laughing again.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"I'm serious. Nine months is a long time."
"I know."
"And I'm not saying I'm gonna be out here fucking all over Orlando with y'all baby inside me."
Billion coughed into his fist.
I looked at him.
"You alright?"
"Perfect."
Kaizleigh was damn near crying.
"I'm just saying."
"We understand," she finally got out.
"Good."
I checked that one off. Then I got serious again.
"What if something happens to the baby?"
The laughter disappeared.
Kaizleigh looked down at the table.
I hated that I had to ask, but I wasn't skipping it.
"What if I miscarry?"
Billion's eyes went straight to his wife. Kaizleigh took a breath before looking at me again.
"Then we deal with it."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning we're not going to blame you for something your body couldn't control."
"What about the money?"
It felt fucked up asking right after saying miscarriage, but this was exactly why I needed to ask now.
"The contract will spell out how compensation works if the pregnancy ends early," Billion said.
"So I don't have to guess."
"No."
"And if something happens because I did something wrong?"
"That's something you'd need to discuss with your attorney because different circumstances matter."
I nodded.
Fair enough.
I scrolled farther.
"What if y'all change y'all mind?"
Kaizleigh's eyebrows pulled together.
"We won't."
"I know you don't think you will. But I'm asking what happens if you do."
She sat back.
"Okay."
"What if I'm pregnant and y'all break up?"
Billion looked at Kaizleigh.
Kaizleigh looked at him.
I immediately lifted my hand.
"I ain't wishing divorce on y'all. I'm asking."
"I know," she said.
"What if one of y'all changes your mind about the baby? What if something happens with the business? What if y'all lose all this money?"
Billion almost smiled.
"All of it?"