Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 127: Taking You Away

He knew she was beautiful, that was an unhidden fact. But it felt like every time he saw her, she looked even more beautiful.

The picture in his room was evident of that, everyday he gazed at her face, he wouldn’t be able to look away until he forced himself to, just like right now.

There was another young woman behind her but his eyes never shifted from Anne. It was just a basic dress, neither was it from a luxury brand, nor was it anything that looked expensive but the way it clung to her so perfectly brought out a charm in her he’d never seen before.

His fingers unconsciously tightened around the glass of water on the table before him, the chill of the liquid inside the glass seeping into his skin but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, as she moved, the gentle sway of her hips seemed almost hypnotic.

"Annelise..." He found himself uttering her name, his voice a very low tone as if her name had just rolled out of his mouth without his knowledge.

Anne could feel her palms sweating. Could she really pull this off and convince Jasmine that she’d fallen in love with the man whose contract she signed and that he’d fallen for her too and they were getting married?

It was going to be a lot to take in for Jasmine, but Anne hated making people around her worry for her just like Jasmine had been doing ever since she found out about Anne’s contract.

Anne knew things always happened for a reason, and whatever path life led her to, it was for a specific reason. She had willed herself to stop mourning the life she once wanted, the one where she’d love someone and that person would love her back with all his heart, where she would be the most precious person in his life, where her feelings would matter to him and he’d want to spend the rest of his life with her. The kind of love seen in screens, that dream was far gone.

It was amazing how life could be, as a child we’re thought fairytales and beautiful happily ever afters, but then as an adult our eyes are forced open by life experiences, and even without being told we end up realizing those fairytales were just that...tales, and the world itself was reality.

Reality was brutal and sometimes painful, reality slapped harder than anything else and when it did, all visions of fairytales and happily ever afters are washed away.

What happened to Kristen and the desperation that led her here was Anne’s slap of reality, but it was funny that despite that, she’d actually let herself harbor little dreams, another slap of reality came in the form of Andrew Sterling.

As Anne entered the restaurant, her eyes collided with deep dark ones across the room, a fiery heat danced within those orbs, captivating her in a spell she couldn’t break from.

He wore confidence like a second skin, just by sitting in a restaurant he still managed to look like he lorded over it all.

Something in his gaze made her heart suddenly skip a beat, something in the gaze that refused to tear away from her, remaining fixed on her as If she was a prized art meant to be admired.

Heat flushed up her cheeks.

She wondered why he looked at her like that, and why he was still looking. Something inside her wished he would look away because his gaze was making her feel like something inside her was melting slowly.

What broke Anne out of the man’s spell was Jasmine voice sounding next to her.

"Anne, is that really him?" There was a trace of awe in her voice, "You didn’t tell me that he was this hot."

Anne looked away from him but still feeling the heat of his gaze on her.

Maybe she shouldn’t have worn this dress, it was too tight around her body, the fabric literally clung to her like a second skin but Jasmine had insisted after she’d told an absolute ridiculous story about a magical little love story that happened between a contracted surrogate and the man whose child she was supposed to have.

"I need to tell you something Jass." After calling Jasmine to come over to her place, it had taken Anne a lot of courage and hours of practice before Jasmine arrived to come up with this story.

Jasmine had looked at her with interest while munching on a bag of chips. It was hard to ever see Jasmine not eating anything, her mouth was always busy, snacking away every hour of the day. "What is it?"

"We need to sit first." Anne had dragged her away from the fridge but Jasmine only moved after grabbing a few more bag of snacks.

When they were seated, Jasmine looked at Anne with eager eyes. The latter hesitated for ten minutes straight, unsure how to start this conversation despite practicing a lot.

"Okay, now I can tell this is serious, what is it?"

Anne closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before looking Jasmine in the eye. "I’m pregnant."

Jasmine’s chewing came to a sudden halt, she stared dazedly for a few seconds, the bag of chips slipping from her hands, slowly tears began to well up in her eyes and she trailed a hesitant gaze down to Anne’s stomach.

"You’re really... pregnant?"

Anne nodded, swallowing a painful lump in her throat.

A quiet solemnity suddenly filled the air, Jasmine seemed to have lost all desire to continue snacking.

"And the man...does he know?" Jasmine suddenly asked breaking the silence meanwhile Anne had been contemplating how to continue the conversation. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"He does."

Jasmine sighed loudly, "You know what? I can’t take this anymore, I just...I won’t watch you do this to yourself."

Before Anne could react, Jasmine had tugged her hand pulling her along into the bedroom with a moderately sized bed in the center.

"What are you doing Jass?" Anne asked seeing Jasmine suddenly beginning to pack all her clothes into a suitcase.

"Taking you away." Jasmine replied not stopping what she was doing.

"What?"

"I won’t listen to anything Anne, I should have done this right from the moment you told me about this contract thing, I shouldn’t have let you continue with it. Let’s just leave, you don’t have to maintain the contract anymore. If you’re worried about Kristen let me handle it, I’ll get him out of this city and we’ll go somewhere far together, as for the child..." Jasmine paused momentarily looking at Anne’s stomach again before saying, "We’ll figure it out."

Anne’s eyes blurred with tears as she slowly approached Jasmine touching her shoulder lightly.

"Thank you Jass, I know you want the absolute best for me and I can’t tell you how grateful I am."

Jasmine wiped a stray tear sliding down her face.

Back then Anne had been a very good friend to her, it was her turn to do the same.

"Don’t thank me yet, do that when we’re already gone. Where would you like to go? I can’t decide yet my mind feels so chaotic and..."

"I’m not leaving Jass." Anne suddenly said making Jasmine stop her actions of packing, giving Anne a look of utter disbelief as if she’d heard what Anne said wrongly.

"I’m not leaving because... I’m getting married."

Jasmine’s eyes went wide and the clothes she’d just grabbed to toss into the suitcase fell from her hand.