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As David sat at a corner booth in Nichevo's Cafe, supping on an espresso and reading the Financial Times, he heard somebody
call his name. He turned to the door:
"Ewan!" he exclaimed to the tall, tanned middle aged man who was
walking over to the table. "My God, how long has it been?"
"About twelve years," said Ewan,
shaking David's hand affectionately.
"When did you get back?"
"A couple of days ago. I'm
planning to come back to England; been in discussion with a few firms in town."
"I can't believe this
after twelve years. Come, sit down. You have time for a coffee?"
"Yeah, I'll have a decaf cappuccino,"
said Ewan. David waved over a waiter and ordered Ewan's drink. He studied his old friend; Christ, Ewan looked well. He was
lean, fit, relaxed The USA had obviously agreed with the man.
"So, why are you coming back to Blighty?"
said David.
"Well," said Ewan, tasting his coffee, "America is great: You can make a lot of money,
a lot of money. I had a great time and did well for myself, but I don't know I got homesick, I guess."
"Well,
it would be great to have you around again," David said. "How did you find me?"
"I always remembered
that you liked this place. I was meeting with a firm up the road so I thought I'd pop in here just on the offchance."
"And here I am!"
"Yes here you are."
"Yes."
"Heh
heh hmm."
"Hmm."
"Er so, are you still with Alex?"
"Oh yes,"
said David. "Still happily married."
"Oh good, she's a great girl. Is she still practising law?"
"Yes, yes, she's a partner now."
"Brilliant," said Ewan. "Although, it must be
a bit hard to spend time together."
"It is, it is," nodded David grimly. "But we have managed
to get around that."
"Oh, how's that?"
"We've hired surrogate partners for each other
so that if one of us is unavailable, our surrogate can stand in for us."
"Good idea," said Ewan approvingly.
"A lot of my colleagues in the States use surrogates"
"Sure," said David. "They are very
useful. They save all that, 'Sorry, you'll have to cancel the restaurant tonight, something has come up at work,' kind of
nonsense."
"And you use them for sex, I assume," said Ewan.
"Oh God yes," replied
David. "I wouldn't want Alex to get all sexually frustrated and start having affairs with other men."
"No,
of course not," agreed Ewan. "That kind of thing can destroy a marriage."
"Quite. Still, the
whole surrogate thing hasn't been all plain sailing," said David.
"Really? How come?"
"Well,"
said David, handing the waiter his cup to signify his desire for a refill, "our first pair of surrogates just did not
work out. Around the time that Alex got her new position as partner, my time was being taken up with a huge merger deal. Neither
of us could spend much time at home."
"Right," said Ewan.
"Naturally we would make
sure that our surrogates would be available should we be unable to make it home," said David as the waiter brought a
fresh cup of coffee.
"Yeah."
"Thing is," said David, spooning sugar into his drink,
"our surrogates just ended up spending time with each other because neither Alex or I would make it home."
"Oh," said Ewan. "So what was the problem?"
"Our surrogates ended up falling in love
with each other."
"No!"
"They're getting married."
"Married? No
way!"
"It's true! Alex and I just could not believe it. It's so so unprofessional."
Ewan
threw up his hands in disbelief and sat back in his chair, shaking his head. "You just can't get the staff these days."
"I know," said David stirring his coffee. "I mean, they both signed the contract, standard stuff about
not letting personal relationships interfere with their surrogate duties. It's not as if they didn't know the score. They
just upped and left."
"You should have sued them," said Ewan.
"What would have been
the point?" shrugged David. "Besides, we were able to get replacements fairly quickly; it's a growth market. Alex
and I were sure to go to a reputable surrogate agency this time, we really checked it out properly."
"Very
wise," nodded Ewan sagely.
"Oh, and the other big news" said David leaning forward.
"Yeah?"
"Alex and I are going to have a baby."
"Congratulations David," said Ewan standing
and reaching over the table to shake Davids hand. "That's wonderful news. How far gone is Alex?"
"Oh
no, no, no," said David shaking his head. "Our surrogate is actually pregnant with the baby."
"I
see," said Ewan. "Are you the father?"
David chuckled. "As it happens, no. Like I said, neither
Alex or I have been home much lately. Certainly haven't had the time to conceive a child!"
"So, biologically,
the baby belongs to your surrogates," said Ewan thoughtfully. "Might that be problematic?"
"I
don't see why," said David. "Legally the baby belongs to Alex and me. It was conceived between our surrogates while
they were working within their designated hours for us. The baby is ours by proxy."
Ewan could not help but
look doubtful.
David noticed his expression and said, "Look, they both signed the contract; it's not as if
they didn't know the score."
Copyright Steve Kane 2001
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