Chapter 66

Elyana's POV I woke up early the next morning because my mind couldn't stop giving me so many things to think about. It was disturbing, I admit, but I wanted to respect Felicity's decision to make the distance even though I still didn't know the reason behind it. Furthermore, Pretzel promised to keep me updated if she learned anything from Felicity and I wanted to wait rather than disturb that silly gay. It was a good thing there were some other things I wanted to focus on. That was more important than wasting time chasing him with reasons he seemed he wouldn't even care to tell me. I decided to text Quintin that morning. I told him to meet me at the popular ice cream parlor, just not far from the subdivision where I lived. It would not be a good idea to ask him to just come to the mansion because my mother would surely ask him many questions. "Mom, I'm going to the mall. I need shoes to pair with the dress I will wear at the New Year's Eve party." I used an excuse. "Do you want me to ask one of the servants to come with you?" My mother asked, but I didn't need a chaperone. "N-no, Mom. I can manage," I immediately answered. I bid her goodbye and sprinted out the front door before she could say anything else. It was a relief that she didn't try chasing me. I drove the car and went straight to the meeting place. Quintin wasn't there yet when I arrived. I searched for a spot to sit where people outside wouldn't see me easily. I picked the corner and thought of ordering two scoops of ice cream while waiting for him. I was already enjoying their best-selling coffee latte ice cream when Quintin arrived. "Why did you order already? You didn't even wait for me," he complained while pulling a chair across me. He sat on the chair, sulking like a child in front of me. He crossed his arms over his chest with a pout. "It doesn't look nice on you," I commented and I went back to eating my ice cream. "It doesn't matter whether it looks nice or not. It's unfair that you ordered already without waiting for me. I thought you called so we could ice cream together," he reasoned, making me finish what I was eating to explain to him the real reason why I called him. As a starter, "I have a favor to ask." I looked at his expression to figure out first whether to continue or not. When his eyebrows moved. I assumed he was curious so I continued. "I'm planning to do something and I will need your help with it. I thought of you since we already know each other." "You know you can count on me, right?" he asked. "I—" "Wait, let me get one scoop of ice cream first," he interrupted me. He immediately stood and went to the counter, leaving me with my lips parted. I let out a sigh. I suddenly felt nervous. He had no choice but to wait for him to go back to his seat, and after a few moments, he did. "What is this favor you need?" he asked right after eating the ice cream he spooned. He was about to spoon another when I decided to answer. "I want you to be my donor." I saw how Quintin froze. His eyebrows met and he slowly lifted his head for our eyes to meet. I gave him a moment to process what I said. His eyes cleared, and I saw concern right after. "A-are you sick? What should I donate? If it's a kidney, I'm not sure if it is still healthy," he said. I nearly chuckled at his expression. It kept changing and his eyebrows seemed curly because of the waves it created. "I don't need your kidney, silly," I corrected. "Then what do you need me to donate? Money? I could help you right away if money is what you need, but I don't think you do. You're near to my richness," he asked and even made an effort to boast how rich he was by comparing my net worth to his. "N-no, not money," I replied; however, I couldn't find the right words to tell him exactly what favor I needed from him at that time because I was ashamed. "If not kidney and money, what could it be? My eyes, ears, nose, or my ears—my face?" "Who would dare to ask to borrow your face?" "That's insulting!" he exclaimed. "As if you didn't know how many women had been chasing me," he boastfully said, but this made me think of making fun of him. "Wait, I have a mirror here; I want you to see yourself. You are not even that attractive." "You're so harsh today! I should leave now, I guess," he protested. I chuckled in disbelief at how much he was affected by my words, and before he could leave, I retracted what I had said. "I'm just kidding! Sorry—I didn't mean what I said." Quintin rolled his eyes at me. "Tsk! What do you need then?" "Okay, I'll get straight to the point now." I paused. I looked around first to check if anyone was sitting near enough for them to hear what I was about to say. Luckily, customers were mostly sitting on the other side, where they could see the street. Quintin already knew everything that happened before Christmas and what Lucas confessed when he went to the Philippines so I no longer needed to add more to what I had to tell him. I took a deep breath. "If you would let it—-can you be my sp*rm donor?" I saw surprise in Quintin's eyes, making me think of taking it back, yet before I could open my mouth, Quintin spoke. "I can't see anything wrong with that. Besides, I'm just wasting most of it in the bathroom or the trash after it gets trapped inside the co— "Oh gosh, Quin—stop telling those." I stopped him there. "Why not? You're not a v*rgin to get shy about these kinds of conversations," Quintin argued. "Yes, I'm not but it's gross." I raised him an eyebrow and that silly man only laughed at me. "So, when do you need it?" Quintin asked as if he were asking about something that would cost him something in the future. "Does that mean yes? Are you willing to be my donor?" I asked to make sure. "Yes, I have nothing to lose. You only need a small amount, right?" he asked formally when I was already so uncomfortable with our conversation. "I-I don't know, honestly. I don't have a schedule yet," I replied. "Hmm, why don't you ask your doctor now? So I can adjust my schedule as well," Quintin suggested. He made me think for a moment and I eventually took out my phone from inside my bag and called the person I needed to call. Calling Doctor Chelsea... Quintin kept silent as I talked to the gynecologist about her availability. "I'm free tomorrow around eight to nine," the doctor told her, and while still on the phone, I excused myself to ask Quintin about his schedule for tomorrow. "Will you be available tomorrow?" Nervousness and a high amount of excitement filled my heart. "Can you come tomorrow, Quintin?" I turned to him. He leaned his back against his chair and took his phone out of his pocket to check his planner. "I'll be free if it's early," he answered and Doctor Chelsea seemed to hear it from the other line to respond. "That's good. I will fix everything right away and call you back for confirmation." "Thank you, Doctor Chelsea. I'll be waiting," I responded and I ended the call right after hearing her reply. I put my cell phone back in the bag that was sitting on the table. "Do your parents know what you are planning, Elyana?" I looked up at Quintin, who had suddenly become curious. He appeared to be bothered suddenly. When he said he was fine with the favor I was asking for, he seemed overly confident. "The truth is, they don't. I did not tell anyone. I planned to lie to them, telling them I went to a party, met a stranger, then something happened, and so on," I replied, which he simply laughed at. "Very clever! But what if they try to find your child's father?" he inquired. "That's something I'm not bothered about. Even if they find where I went, they won't find it either because it wasn't even true that that's what happened." "Still—" "If you're afraid they will find out you are my donor, you can back out." I cut him. "I'm not backing out. I'm just worried about you." "Nah, you don't have to. I know my parents very well. I will try my best to convince them that I don't need a father for my child so they won't have to look for a father. My dad would believe me, I'm sure of that. Besides, they can't force me to find a man and get married just because I suddenly got pregnant." I paused. Thoughts came flashing in the back of my mind—things I had been through that brought me to the situation where I was at that time. "The trauma is still here inside my head. The fear in my heart that I'm sure would linger forever. I just want to have a child with whom I can pour all of my love and care. A child who would not hurt me the way my ex-husband did to me," I added, and Quintin's expression softened. "I want this to be just between us. You don't have to tell anyone. Let's have a deal, even better. Let's sign an agreement beforehand," I suggested and he immediately agreed, even though according to him, that wasn't even needed. "I'll get my laptop in the car and be right back," Quintin excused himself. "Okay, I'll stay here," I answered and I did what I said. He came back with the laptop in hand. He let me borrow it and asked me to put in a document all the things I wanted to include. Quintin made everything convenient for me at that time and once I was done, I showed it to him. I gave him time to read it entirely. "I will sign it now here and forward you a copy you can print. Sign it and keep it for me," he said. He didn't even ask to change anything. "Okay, thank you, Quintin." We left the ice cream parlor right after settling that. He took me to where I parked my car and waited for me to completely leave before going to his car. I was on my way home already when Doctor Chelsea made a call to tell me the exact details of my schedule the next day and I called Quintin right away to tell him that information. 'This is it,' I murmured. I was a few steps closer to my dream of becoming a mom and I wouldn't let that opportunity slip out of my hand.