Chapter One
"Do you have a problem with us, ladies?"
I'm standing at the Towers bar with Emma, waiting to pay for our ice cream, when I hear Olivia's voice from across the room, sounding louder and sharper than usual. Scanning the restaurant quickly, I groan when I see her confronting two women sitting at a table overlooking the one we've just left.
"You seem very interested in my family," she continues.
Her deep-timbered voice carries clearly over the noise of the restaurant, and I can see that she's already drawn the attention of a few people sitting at nearby tables.
"So, where'd you hear about us? From the mayor's press conference, or, wait a minute: you put two and two together, saw my daughter's book report on the internet, and came up with some freakin' scandal, right?"
Oh god, what is she doing?
I know that I need to get over there as quickly as possible before Olivia does something she'll regret. I glance down at the debit card reader in my hands and silently will the "approved" message to appear on the screen. I can just barely hear the women's startled comments and Olivia's mocking response before my payment goes through and I'm finally able to return the machine to the bartender.
Before darting away, I look down at Emma and plaster a bright smile on my face.
"Emma, sweetie, can you do me a favour?"
"Sure!" the little girl replies cheerfully.
I bend down and lift her onto a bar stool. "Stay right here, okay? Right where I can see you. I'm just going to go get your mommy."
Emma shifts around in her seat and stares across the restaurant at her mother, who is clearly only just beginning to warm up for the fight.
"Mommy looks angry," she says matter-of-factly.
"No, honey, she's just… having a little conversation," I lie. I give Emma a quick, playful rustle of her hair before making a beeline for Olivia.
I arrive just in time to hear her talking about the benefits of having two women raising a child in a household filled with love. As I approach, I'm torn between wanting to strangle her for contributing to the gossip mill that's already in full swing around us, and wanting to wrap my arms around her to thank her for defending our family to the world.
But we've already been exposed to the town's ire because of Doris Wolfe's televised speech, and I'm not interested in adding to the speculation about our relationship. I decide my only option is to stop her before things get out of hand.
"Excuse me," I say, trying to keep my voice calm and reasonable. Slowly, Olivia turns around and shoots me a warning look, which I choose to ignore.
"Sorry," I add, with an apologetic wave to the women. "She's a little… upset."
I meet Olivia's gaze and subtly motion to the exit in what we both know is a vain attempt to convince her to leave.
You don't need to do this, I plead with my eyes. We can walk away right now.
But Olivia is clearly not in the mood to be convinced. She's got her sights set on a fight and she's not about to surrender. I watch with a growing sense of anxiety as her eyes sparkle with a new idea.
"No, honey, no," she protests, her voice sugary sweet.
She shifts closer to me and I feel her fingers slide across my hips to pull me against her. The motion forces my arm around her waist, and I find myself drawn into a half embrace with her. I'm instantly filled with dread, along with something else – a feeling that has become more and more familiar to me over the last several weeks, and which only seems to intensify whenever I'm near Olivia.
"I'm not upset," Olivia continues, turning to defiantly meet the stares of the two women who are watching our interaction with obvious curiosity. "In fact, I've never been better."
Anxiously, I glance at Olivia. As unhappy as I am that she's pulled me into this charade, I can't seem to force myself to walk away. She has always had this effect on me. Even when we were fighting over Gus and every rational instinct told me to keep a safe distance between Olivia and myself, I could never seem to stay away from her for long.
And that bond has only gotten stronger as our friendship has intensified over the last few months. Now there are times when I feel as though there's some kind of magnet inside of me that pulls me to her. Even at this moment, with the inquisitive stares of the two women sitting in front of us and my own frustration with Olivia's antagonistic attitude, all I can really concentrate on is the sensation of her hand pressed against the small of my back and the smouldering look she's giving me. I'm frozen to the spot, unable to move away or say anything that would resolve the situation.
Luckily, things are taken out of my hands when the women exchange a pointed look with each other before getting up from their table. They throw two phony smiles our way and then move in unison to make their way to the bar.
As they go, I feel Olivia shifting away from me to follow them. But before she gets too far, I grab her hand and pull her back around to face me.
"What?" she asks, her face still full of confrontational anger.
"Olivia, you don't have to do this," I say, my voice pleading. "You don't have to prove anything."
For a brief moment, her eyes soften and I think she's about to give in. But, in the next instant something shifts and her fighting instinct takes over again. She gives me a look that brooks no argument.
"I do have something to prove, Natalia," she insists. "We both do."
A quick, calculating smile crosses her lips before she spins away from me to follow the two women toward the bar. I sigh heavily and trail behind her, a helpless witness to whatever scheme she's decided to hatch.
"Hey!" Olivia's voice forces the two women to turn to face her again. "You know what? I just realised I didn't get a chance to introduce you to Natalia."
Oh lord, please don't bring me into this again…
"I'm so sorry," she says disingenuously. She moves closer to me, and her arm slides around my waist again. "Natalia, this is Becky's mom and Owen's mom. Their kids go to the same school as Emma."
The women nod and smile awkwardly at me, while Olivia continues talking blithely.
"And Natalia, of course, is the other star of my daughter's school project, but I'm guessing you already knew that, you know, since you were up there whispering about us behind our backs."
I can hear Olivia's anger intensifying, and for some reason I feel the need to smooth over her bristling tone.
"Sorry," I say quietly. "Nice to meet you."
I instantly regret my apology when I see the patronising smile that Owen's mom gives me.
"Likewise," she smirks. Then she turns to her friend and adds uncomfortably, "We really should be going."
But Olivia won't be dissuaded so easily. She's like a cat that's cornered its prey, but wants to taunt it for a while before going in for the kill.
"No, no, no," she argues. "Don't you want to ask questions? Really, it's ok. You know, like what it's like to be two mommies together? Who fixes Emma's lunch in the morning? Who goes on her field trips with her? I mean, we both have decided to share that responsibility, and the cooking… although she makes a mean chicken and rice and her lasagne is to die for."
I cough out an awkward laugh. "Olivia…"
"And we work together at the Beacon; I don't know if you knew that. So we live and work together, but I have to say that I… I have never been happier in my entire life."
At that, I meet Olivia's gaze, surprised by her sudden shift in tone. Even though I know she's just trying to push her adversaries' buttons, I'm also aware that there's a certain element of truth in her words. But what she says next catches me completely off-guard.
"Because not only is this women a great mom," she adds, giving me a sultry smile, "but she is smart, and she's funny, and… let's face it: she's a hottie."
Olivia isn't looking at me now – she's gauging the impact of her words on the women facing us – but she tightens her grip on my hip, and suddenly I'm very aware of our proximity. An image leaps unbidden into my mind, one that has haunted me for the last two weeks: Olivia reaching forward, cupping my face in her hands, and pulling me into the most unexpected kiss of my life. I remember the warmth of her lips against my own, and my slight hesitation before I felt myself just barely begin to melt into her embrace.
All of this passes through my mind in a matter of seconds, before Owen's mother's voice interrupts my thoughts.
"It was nice meeting you, Natalia," she tells me, clearly looking for an escape. "We're late for PTA."
Olivia calls out to them as they walk away, her voice full of triumph. "Ok, say hi to Becky for me? And Owen? And call; we'll make a play date!"
As soon as the women's backs are turned, I spin away from Olivia, my mind still reeling in confusion.
"Well, that was fun," she says brightly, and her bemused tone only makes me more furious.
The worst part of it all is that I can't decide who I'm angrier with: Olivia, the women she confronted, or myself. The only thing I know for sure is that I can't bear to face Olivia right now. I don't even think about Emma, who is still sitting at the bar, and has presumably been watching the entire scene unfold. I only know that I need to get outside, to breathe some fresh air, to collect myself before we all get in the car to head back to the farmhouse together.
As I stride toward the exit, I hear Olivia calling out after me. "Hey, what'd I say?"
I ignore her and push open the door, gratefully gulping in the cool air of the early evening. I lean back against the wall and stare up at the sky, trying desperately to pull myself together before Olivia reappears. My heart is still pounding loudly in my ears, and my face feels warm and flushed.
If I'm being totally honest with myself, I know that it isn't anger alone that's making me feel this way. Underneath the anger lurks that other thing – that feeling that has been with me ever since Olivia pulled me into that kiss.
Ever since I almost kissed her back.
I can still feel the ghost of Olivia's touch on my hips, and I rub my hand across my back in an effort to erase the feeling.
What the hell am I going to do?
Before I can figure out the answer to that question, the door beside me opens and Olivia is standing in front of me.
"I thought you might have stranded me."
She offers me a crooked smile. I know she's trying to smooth things over with a joke, but I'm not in the mood to play along.
"Where's Emma?" I ask, noticing that the little girl hasn't followed Olivia outside.
"Her friend Jodie arrived with her parents while we were… talking with those two gossips." Her grin widens, and I try to counteract it with an even deeper frown. "They invited Emma to spend the night, so I said yes."
"Okay," I reply tersely, pushing myself away from the wall and heading toward the car.
Olivia follows close on my heels. We're silent until we reach the vehicle and settle into our seats. Finally Olivia speaks.
"I think I broke Owen and Becky's moms' brains." She throws her head back in a satisfied laugh.
The lightness of her tone touches something inside of me and I feel my anger boiling over. I glare at her as I start the car.
"Why do you do that?"
Her mirth is cut short by my accusation, and she turns to challenge me.
"Do what, exactly?"
"Make a scene, just to prove a point. We were having a nice time until you decided to pick a fight."
I pull out of the parking lot and try my best to concentrate on the road ahead of me.
Olivia laughs harshly. "What would you do, Natalia? Ignore them? Pretend that they aren't whispering about us?"
"Yes!" I yell, my voice sounding sharp in the confined space of the car. "You don't have to confront every single person in the world who annoys you, you know."
"Oh okay, so you'd rather that I ignore the fact that they're sitting there, trying to come up with ways to make my daughter's life a living hell? Because you know that's what that was all about. Derek isn't going to be the only kid who's forced to cancel play dates with Emma because of Doris Wolfe's press conference."
"Well, I don't think what you just did is going to help Emma in any way," I counter. "In fact, I think you only made things worse."
A thick pause passes before Olivia speaks again. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"
Her question catches me off guard. I know on some level that I'm overreacting, but I'm not ready to confront the real reason for my anger, so I deflect.
"What do you think those women believe about us now? With you talking about me like that…"
"Like what? It was all the truth, wasn't it? You are a great mom. And you're smart, you're funny, and…"
She stops short as we both realise what she was about to say. Another tense silence descends between us, and she turns away from me to stare out the passenger window.
A few minutes later, I heave a quiet sigh of relief when I pull into the farmhouse driveway. Only when I put the car in park does Olivia finally break the silence.
"You know, I took it easy on those two. They deserved a lot worse than what I gave them."
"I still don't understand why you couldn't just ignore them," I protest. "Why does everything have to be a confrontation with you? And, more to the point, why did you have to involve me in it?"
"Hey, you involved yourself," she points out. "I didn't ask you to come over to play referee."
"I wasn't the one who pretended that we're a couple!" I yell indignantly.
Olivia sighs and stares darkly out the windshield.
"Whatever," she says quietly. "Let's just forget it happened, okay?"
"Oh, that's easy for you to say," I snap, unbuckling my seat belt and reaching for the door handle.
She looks surprised. "You're coming inside?"
"Yeah," I confirm as I get out of the car. "We need to finish talking about this."
Before I shut the door, Olivia leans over the gearshift to call after me.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be going back to your date with Frank?"
"This is more important." I bend down to meet her gaze. "Are you coming inside, or what?"
"Alright, alright," she groans. "I'm coming."
tbc