Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86710 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
I get to the magazine and follow my spy routine of checking that there’s no one paying attention to me before I sneak into the building. I can’t believe that I’m really going to do this.
I step into the open-plan office space and someone claps then another joins in. I grin with embarrassment and pride.
“Way to go, Olivia,” Jane shouts. “You’ll do a good job.”
As I cut across the room, I bump fists with a few of my colleagues. It dawns on me then what an honor Amelia has given me. This could be the biggest story we’ve cracked in the last few years and she’s trusting me with the interview and the write-up. I’ve been so obsessed with its effect on my personal life that I haven’t stopped to consider its effect on my professional life.
My stomach is more settled and I grab a cup of coffee from the staffroom kitchen before heading to the conference room. As I thought, there is everything I need, including a recorder, notebooks, and pens. More than I can possibly use.
I sit down and pull my notes from my bag. I go over them again. Jace’s face pops into my mind and I imagine his reaction to the article. I remind myself that even if I don’t write it, someone else will. And at least I can trust myself to write it in a way that is fair to both sides.
A slight knock comes on the door and a moment later, Amelia enters. She’s all smiles as she rubs her hands together. “Are you ready for the interview of the year?” she asks and sits down at the other side of the table.
“A hundred percent,” I tell her, smiling to reassure her. It’s not the work making me nervous. I love interviewing people and listening to their stories and journeys. The aftermath is what is making me sick. How betrayed Jace will feel.
“Good. I have full confidence that you’ll do a good job. We’ll have it in this month’s edition,” she grins. “I know, it’s soon but we have to get it out now else next month will be too late. We’ve centered this month’s theme around health, specifically women’s health.”
I nod. “Sounds good.” Journalistically speaking. Personally speaking, this makes me want to run to the bathroom to throw up.
Amelia’s phone rings and she answers it. “Great. I’ll be there in a few seconds.” She disconnects the phone and grins at me. “They’re here. I’ll go get them.”
My muscles quiver and twitch. I wipe my damp hands over my pants. My breath is suspended until I hear footsteps and the door opening. I inhale deeply and push my chair back to stand up.
Amelia enters with a blond woman who looks to be in her thirties followed by a slim, balding man.
“Olivia, this is Mike and Susan Howard,” Amelia says breezily.
I shake hands with Susan first. She looks even more nervous than I feel. I turn to Mike. He doesn’t show any emotion; this might as well be a run to the grocery store.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” I say as warmly as I can to put them at ease. “Please have a seat.”
Amelia and I bustle about, serving them coffee and trying to make them comfortable. It works and the petrified expression leaves Susan’s face.
“I’ll leave you three to it then,” Amelia says, even if she looks as if she’d rather stay. That would be a disaster. She walks out, leaving me and the Howards alone in the conference room.
I turn on the recorder. “Why don’t we start with what led you to the decision of having a baby through a surrogate?” I ask.
Susan glances at Mike before swinging her gaze back to me. “We couldn’t get pregnant and the doctors couldn’t find a reason why it wasn’t happening. The years were going by and our one big dream had been to grow our family.”
Tears spring into her eyes as she says this and my heart squeezes for her. The longing for a child and getting disappointed is something I can understand very well because of the months I’ve worked at The Anderson Clinic.
“We weren’t getting pregnant naturally so we decided to go the IVF way. Our doctor recommended The Anderson Clinic and we made an appointment.” She glances at Mike and he takes up the story.
According to Ivy, Susan had miscarried several times before they decided to try surrogacy. Ivy had no reason to lie. As for Susan, I don’t know why she would leave such a detail out but of course, I can’t call her on it as no one knows that I have the story from Ivy’s side.
Mike clears his throat. “There was a chance of a miscarriage even if Susan did get pregnant. After a lot of consultations and discussions, we opted to use a surrogate.”