SURROGATE : Conception (+18) BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

| 58 | Downside Up ||

Penelope turned the car off and frowned at the bright red engine light symbol. Damn, she forgot to tell Liam. She took a deep breath and rubbed her aching stomach.

Why the hell did Liam have to be right? She opened the door and gingerly slid out the SUV before making her way inside the building where she worked.

She grumbled once in the elevator cursing the form fitting pencil skirt. Just the most god-awful thing. She should have taken her happy ass to bed when they got home from his event in the wee hours of the previous morning, but no. She had to go on a late night, or more accurately, an early morning s'more fest and eat not one, oh no no because that would be too much like doing the responsible grown up thing. Not even two. But three or was it four, it was difficult to remember, s'mores in a myriad of configurations: peanut butter, nutella, caramel, etc.

God it was good though wasn't it?

She gingerly set her purse under her desk and slid into the chair trying not to disturb her already swimming insides. She thought she was starting to feel better after feeling like shit all sunday. Seems as if the sushi she just ate at lunch with Roxy was a not so good idea.

The tempest that was her stomach was back to a raging tsunami inside her.

She was on a serious sugar binge low to add to it: lethargic, just an overall feeling of "blah", and like Liam pointed out, there were no hangover tips for this kind of overindulgence. This was one of those moments that she was grateful for a short day.

Speaking of Liam, for some reason she smiled at the mention of the man's name, he was probably halfway across the Pacific by now catering to his client overseas in Japan. He'd be there most of the week, if her memory served her. She didn't see much of him yesterday either as he was at the office preparing for his meeting.

Though this was meant to be a light work day, she still had full plans. She planned to do some housekeeping things for her business like creating her business plan and things like that as well as researching different ways on how she was eventually going to Market and handle online sales and whether or not she wanted to have a physical location. She also already set up time to see her brother. She couldn't bail on that.

She sighed at the thought of her sibling. She could tell he looked forward to her visits even though he played it cool. He was a gentle soul, even though life hardened the shell around it. He was meant to love and laugh, not rot behind concrete walls and fight for his right to breath.

She looked at the clock on her computer feeling like hell, wouldn't he forgive her this once? She smiled briefly, then groaned and rubbed her tummy. He would get a good laugh out of this wouldn't he? She was sick to the core because she ate too many sweets. She laughed despite the discomfort because it was so ridiculous it had to be funny.

She hiccupped and bent forward when a zing of pain shot through her middle and up through her esophagus, only to be released as a burp.

Damn it! That Dragon Roll with those delicious deep fried shrimp were fighting in the bowels of her gut.

Regret.

Yep, she'd never tell Liam this, but he was right. She should have stopped while she was ahead. She grimaced when she hiccupped again while rummaging through her purse to find the antacids.

The most annoying thing was that she wouldn't just throw up. All day yesterday, and now today, nausea, unending. Why wouldn't her body just purge whatever was upsetting her equilibrium?

She had every nerve to take a sick day. She built up some time and would still get paid. She knew, however, if she went home that she was not going to make the decision to go back out and visit her brother.