Lower than rock bottom

5 Lower than rock bottom

“Now, I know this is a lot to take in,” Gracie began.

“No kidding!” Zara snapped and plopped in the sofa, her legs weak under her. She was trembling now, shocked out of her senses. Being asked to go talk to CEO Andrew was like asking a child to drill through a wall of metal with nothing but a nail. Asking her to get him to sleep with her in order to get a baby…that was like asking Satan to help people become good!

“It’s a very delicate task which is why we want it done with utmost confidentiality,” Gracie added, her eyes stern though she tried to keep a sympathetic look. Zara bit her lip, nodding at intervals as she spoke. God knew she needed the money they were offering.

“It’s a very difficult thing to do, I know,” Gracie said, sighing. “But, believe me when I say that we’re desperate…I am desperate. Of course, you can back out if you don’t want to.”

“No, no,” Zara said, raising a finger. She glanced at Aaron and he gave her a soft smile of encouragement. “I’m rather curious, Madam Gracie.”

“Please,” she said, urging her to say what she had in mind.

Zara took a deep breath. “If you’re so desperate, why not just force a wife on Andrew? I mean, arranged marriage has been done so many times that it has become a thing for rich families!”

“Only if we could,” she said.

“You see,” Aaron said, cocking his head, “my brother is like a whirlwind, unpredictable to the last degree. No one can force him to marry and he hasn’t shown interest in marrying for ages! All we want is a simple push, a nudge to get him to crack so we get what we want.”

“Which is an heir?”

“Exactly,” Gracie said, smiling. “You’re a smart one, child.”

Zara’s frown deepened and the oddity of the situation presented itself again. “Well, if you’re desperate for a child that much then you could easily adopt or just get him to donate his sperm for surrogacy or test tube babies!”

In fact, that seemed like a good idea to Zara. Surrogacy wasn’t that illegal in the country and it was done a lot of times—provided one had the money to do it. As far as she knew, the Sebastians had a lot of money that couldn’t even be finished up till the third generation. Why go through her? Why the hassle?

“Have you seen my son on any press conferences?” Gracie asked, sighing.

Zara nodded.

“Good,” she said. “Does Andrew ever speak or smile? Does he act friendly to anyone at all?”

“None that I know of,” Zara said, shrugging. “Most I’ve seen has been him grunting when questioned and giving thumb-ups or thumb-downs to questions. Most times, he uses proxy to speak to the media.”

Gracie exhaled, her eyes looking lost to the distant. Zara wondered what she was thinking of. “And do you think,” Gracie said, “that we could just go to him and say, ‘hey, can you donate your sperm so we can grow you a baby?’”

“I…”

“My brother would flip,” Aaron said, chuckling. “Can you believe he hasn’t had a girlfriend in fifteen years?”

“I can imagine,” Zara said. However, her head had been frozen over, making imagination the hardest thing she could muster at that moment. She could only stare at Gracie, her mind spinning in circles. “Why, then, do you want me if you think he can’t be coerced into having a baby?”

“Because you have charm,” Gracie said. “With you, it won’t just be a matrimonial thing or something that requires commitment, it would be like a one-night stand. If you’re seductive enough, I believe you can break Andrew’s cold façade.”

“We’ll give you support,” Aaron said. “Andrew can be a tough nut but he isn’t wild. I suspect he might even fall faster than we imagine.”

“Why…do you even need an heir now?” Zara asked, her throat dry.

“You don’t know how hard it is for a mother to not see her grandchild early,” Gracie said, her face softening. She exhaled and said. “Anyway, the reason isn’t for you to know. All we ask is that you consent to carrying the child.

“Your task is to be around Andrew all the time, seduce him, talk to him, get him to bed you and finally, give us a child. During the duration of your contract, you will be taken care of and we’ll still pay what we agreed.”

“Okay.”

“You can decline,” Gracie said, worried. “If it’s not okay with you, you can refuse and we’ll let you go. It won’t be easy to find another person but we’ll do it.”

Zara nodded absently. “You aren’t worried that I’ll leave and start talking about all this?”

Aaron chuckled. “You signed a non-disclosure agreement. Besides, very few would believe such a claim.”

“I see,” she said, her heart pounding in her chest. She had second thoughts as to the deal. If she took it, she’d be able to set her life straight. That amount of money would see her through everything she had planned out. She could start her own business, she could see Daisi through her therapies, she could see Dominic through school.

She could pay her rent, she could buy better clothes and food for her siblings, she could hide better from the people from Charlescare, she could—most importantly—pay Ethan Field for the favour he rendered five years ago.

However, on the other hand, if she accepted the deal, she’d be selling herself. She’d become someone she wasn’t. someone who was willing to sleep with a random stranger for money and worse, she was supposed to get pregnant for him.

That made her, in her opinion, worse than street prostitutes. But, she wondered. Was this how prostitution began? Those girls who turned to selling their bodies, did they try all means available but had no luck? Were they faced with the same situation as she and decided to do what they did?

Zara could understand them. In a way, she was now going to do was necessary for survival.

She took a deep breath then said, “I’ll take the job. However, I need to be assured that I’ll get the payment as promised.”

“In due time,” Aaron said, standing. He stretched, yawning as if he’d been cutting stone all day. “We’ll meet the lawyer so you can sign the contract, then you can start.”

“But first,” Gracie said, throwing a look at Zara. The way she looked at her made her shrink back in fear. “We will have you go through some tests to know if you’re fit to bear our child. We’ll do fertility tests, blood tests, psychological and emotional tests…in short, all tests possible.”

“This is to make sure that you don’t have…any medical condition which could jeopardise this task,” Aaron said. “And also, to ensure you don’t have any STIs.”

Zara snorted, annoyed that they’d say that to her. “How am I sure that your brother is clean as well? How do I know if he has STIs?”

“He has his check-up weekly,” Aaron said, smiling. “Believe me we’d know if he had any infection or condition. He’s fit—physically, mentally, psychologically and even in the reproductive sense.”

Zara exhaled, feeling her hands and feet go cold. She was actually consenting to having sex with a stranger and getting paid for it! How low was she going to get? How low was life going to shove her?

She thought she’d seen rock bottom at Charlescare but this was a new low, a lower bottom than she’d seen. However, compared to Charlescare, this was far, far better.

“We can start now,” she said, firming her resolve. There was no need for virtue or dignity when her life was going to be in danger. She knew how Ethan was. She’d heard rumours too. If this was going to save her life, then so be it. “I hope I check out.”

“Very well,” Aaron said, checking the time. “We’ll have the doctors over in an hour. Be patient, Miss Peacegiver.”

She nodded.