The Surrogate Betwixt

How we met again

I spent the night in jail. It was cold and scary but the next day a lawyer came to see me. Leo had contacted a pro bono lawyer about my behaviour. If that wasn’t enough, he came to see me. Leo told me that he found evidence to get me out. He asks me to be patient. It was easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one behind bars.

I explained to Leo that my biggest worry was losing my scholarships due to a criminal record. He assured me that it wouldn’t happen, so once again I put my trust in him. There was something about him that made me trust him.

After three days in jail, I was let go. A correctional officer called me and asked me to follow him. We picked up my stuff and I was free. No explanation just gets out.

I got my phone to call an uber. My phone was dead. I was stuck in the middle of no where with no phone. I walked to a bus stop nearby and sat down. While waiting for the bus, a taxi parked next to me and called my name. I looked at the driver confused.

He called my name again and asked me to get in. I asked him how he got there and how he knew my name? The taxi driver explained that Leo had hired him to take me home.

How did he know when I was getting out? I was confused but couldn’t wait to get home, so I got in the taxi and went home. Once I got home, I took a shower and went to bed.

I don’t know how long I slept for. Jeannette woke me up by hugging me. I was confused. I thought she was mad at me, but she was hugging me. I got up and saw her eyes full of tears. She began to apologize for not believing me and not visiting me in jail. I told her that it was fine, but she insisted on apologizing.

Jeannette explained that there were cameras on the balcony and the whole incident was recorded. Apparently, somehow the footage from the security camera was leaked to the press, and everyone knew what happened.

I wondered if Leo had to do with it. He did promise to help me. With my name cleared, I was able to walk to my graduation and keep my scholarships. I know you must be thinking this is it. This is when we got together and lived happily ever after. Sorry to burst your bubble, but no.

It actually took us many years to find each other again.

That summer I immediately started school. I had to keep my grades up to keep the scholarships, so I spent all my free time studying. I had no free time. After a while, Jeannette moved out with her sugar daddy and left me alone with the rent. Jeannette tried to find me a sugar daddy so I could stop working and concentrate in school like her, but that wasn’t for me. I don’t know how she did it, but it was good for her. She didn’t have to worry about working or rent, he took care of everything for her. He wasn’t that bad looking, but he was old. I could never have done that. But to each their own.

I worked hard and, as I did in high school, I graduated with honors. I even had a job waiting for me after graduating. One of my scholarships eventually ran out and I had to get a loan and a second job, so the first thing I’m planning to do once I graduate is pay for that loan. I will be teaching science at the same high school I graduated from, so I’m planning to keep my weekend job. I enjoy working in the coffee shop. Now, my night job… UGH! I’m so happy to be done with that. Don’t get me wrong, being a security guard is great when you are trying to study, but the hours were the worst.

Days before graduating from college is when Leo and I finally met again. I was picking up some coffee before work. Leo was waiting behind me, in line with the same mean blond cop that was with him the day I met him. I ordered and when I was going to move out of the house to wait for my older, I saw him. He looked a little older and his chest was definitely bigger. Our eyes met and my heart jumped. I was surprisingly excited to see him. Well, he looked good.

He recognized me immediately. He smiled and whispered my name. I was so lost in his eyes that I didn’t hear the barista calling my name. Leo smiled, grabbed the coffee from the barista and gave it to me. It was embarrassing. I grabbed the coffee, thanked him and told the barista that his order was for me. I gave her back my credit card. Leo insisted on paying for his coffee, but I didn’t let him. His partner taps him on the shoulder, smiling. I guess he didn’t recognize me because he smiled at me too. Then he told Leo to get my number. We exchanged numbers and I left.

Leo texted me that same day. He wanted to know everything about me. We texted back and forward nonstop.