The Surrogate Girlfriend

Eva

Drowned in my laptop, I typed away continuously. The only thing I had done for the past two weeks was look for jobs anyway possible. Any sort of job, just to survive.

My father passed away a month ago, leaving myself, my mom, and my two little siblings to fend for ourselves.

I remembered when the news got to us that my dad was involved in a car accident and he died on the spot, I froze completely.

Call me heartless, but the only thing that came to my mind was “our only means of livelihood are gone.”

Not that I didn’t love him, but I never really got to know my father. He was always away and he never gave his attention to us.

He never let my mom work. He wanted her to be a full-time housewife and I blamed my mom for always accepting it.

Now he was gone, and we were left to suffer. The little savings we had was running out.

My mom had not been herself, the thought of us suffering made her ill. My ten-year-old brother and seven-year-old sister were the most heart troubling.

I couldn’t think of what they would go through when the money ran out completely.

I sighed and slammed my laptop shut. My head was aching badly. I hadn’t slept much of late.

“Eva,” my little sister Sofia called. She walked up to me and said, “I’m hungry.” My heart clenched at her words. Her face was so pale, it made me want to scream at the world.

“Um,” I stood up, scanned the fridge, cabinets, and pots. All empty. “Here,” I dipped my hands in my pocket and gave her some money.

“Tell Daniel to go buy snacks for you, too.” She happily took it and ran off.

Tears welled in my eyes for like the hundredth time, but I blinked them away fast. I walked to my mom’s room and saw she was asleep. I sat beside her and watched her.

“Please get well soon.” As soon as the words left my mouth, her eyes opened.

“Eva.”

“Mom, how are you feeling?” She tried to smile, but failed. Instead a tear slipped past her eyes.

“I’m so close to getting a job, Mom,” I half lied to her. I hadn’t seen a job yet, but I didn’t want her to worry more than she was already worrying.

“Eva…”

“Don’t worry, Mom, I won’t do anything stupid or illegal, I promise.” She looked at me with sorrowful eyes.

“Just rest, Mom, I’ll make something so you can take your medicine,” I said and got up, walking out of the room.

Once I got outside, all the tears I held back came rushing down my cheeks. I cupped my mouth in order not to make a sound.

My world was slowly falling apart. But I won’t give up. I am not a baby. I am twenty years old, I am an adult, and I can survive this.

I am strong. I wiped my tears and sat on the chair again, opened my laptop, and continued browsing away.

My phone beeped by my side and when I checked it, it was my boyfriend, Kelvin.

I let out a breath. Along with everything else I was going through, I still had to worry about my boyfriend.

I dropped my phone and focused back on my laptop when something at the bottom of the screen caught my attention.

“Surrogate needed,” I read aloud, my face twisted.

I nonchalantly clicked on it and saw a form display on the screen. I was about to cancel when I saw the money involved.

My jaw practically dropped to the floor.

$50,000.

At that moment, I didn’t know what possessed me. All I remembered was I accepted and I agreed to meet up.