Previous Disclaimers Apply
Chapter 4
Olivia was the first out the door. She had another stop she wanted to make before going to the grocery store. Natalia wasn't too far behind her, she just needed to grabbed a certain object from the spice drawer in the kitchen. Soon both ladies were on their way to their respective destinations.
Olivia had called first trying to locate the person in question that she was hoping to see; with information in hand she headed towards the courthouse. She found her unlikely confidant in an empty court room.
"Hey, your office said I could find you here."
"Olivia, I've already moved Phillip's trial up; there's nothing else I can do." Replied Doris.
"I'm not here about that. I wanted, I needed someone to talk to."
"So you come to the woman you are blackmailing?"
"I never would have… I wouldn't..."
"What's happened?"
"Everything. I…we…Natalia kissed me."
"What? When?"
"Today. I had an episode with my heart. I'm OK, it was just a battery, I'm good now. But they had to sedate me to check things out. And when Natalia thought I was asleep she was talking to me telling me how much I mean to her and that I made her happy. Then she…she kissed me."
"OK, did she tell you this afterwards? You said you were asleep."
"I had already started coming around a bit when she came into the room. I heard what she was saying and I realized…"
"She felt the same way."
Olivia nodded her head, trying to keep tears from falling that were starting to form, happy tears.
"She caressed my face and kissed my forehead. Doris, I've never had a reaction to another person the I do with her. As soon as her lips left my skin I wanted more and so did she. I thought about stopping her. I knew what she was going to do. But I thought that if she did it, if she kissed me then maybe just maybe we might have a chance. And she did it; the next thing I knew I felt her soft lips on mine. I couldn't help but respond. I don't know how long we kissed for but I never wanted it to end."
"But it did. What happened then?"
"Well at first Natalia tried to run, but I wouldn't let her. She was apologizing and saying how sorry she was for kissing me; but then I told her I wasn't that sorry she did. We talked for a few minutes and decided that we were due for a very long talk. So we decided to meet back at home later to talk about things."
"So are you ready for that? To talk openly and honestly with her? I mean the two of you have been dancing around this for months now."
"We already have."
"You have?"
"Yes, I just left her. She is going to the prison to tell Rafe and then to see Frank. Frank proposed, did you know that?"
"No, I didn't. What is she going to tell Rafe and Frank? What did you talk about?"
"We talked about us and how we feel about each other. Doris, I'm in love with her. I thought I knew what love was, I mean Josh, he was probably the closest I've come; but Natalia. I don't know how to explain it. I've had things happen to me in my past and it's those experiences that made me put on this tough exterior and not always look for love when I was getting involved with a man; but Natalia she somehow got through all of my defenses. My daughters, I would do anything and everything to insure their happiness. It's always been about them, now Natalia is part of that too and Rafe. I will move Heaven and Earth as long as that means Natalia is happy."
"Wow, I remember how you described Natalia to me that day in my office. I thought you were in love with her then. So how does she feel about you?"
"I think on some level I was in love with her then; I just wasn't ready to say it out loud. As far as how Natalia feels about me…she's in love with me too."
"So…?"
"We want to be together as a couple. I thought that her faith and religion would keep us from being together, but Natalia believes in what we have together and she wants it all."
"All?"
"All…you know, sex."
"Don't tell me Olivia Spencer is coming to me for advice on how to have hot lesbian sex with her girlfriend?"
"No! Doris! I don't think I'll have any problems figuring that out. It's just that Natalia is going to tell Rafe about us. She doesn't want to lie to him we are also going to tell Emma tomorrow. We would do it today, but she is at a sleepover tonight. Natalia is going to see Frank and give him his ring back; then we are having our first date tonight. I'm going to cook a wonderfully romantic meal tonight and spoil my girlfriend."
"So Natalia is engaged to Frank?"
"No, he proposed. She didn't give him an answer. He told her to think about and for her to hold on to the ring."
"He's the one casualty in all this that we both regret."
"You said Natalia wants a physical relationship; I thought she was a devout Catholic?"
"She was raised Catholic, but she doesn't agree with some of the more out dated doctrines, including same-sex relationships. She believes that God is love and that we shouldn't be denied what any other couple in love has. So we are going to take things one day at a time, one date at a time. She is my best friend, but we still have a lot to learn about each other and we need to get to know each other as a couple."
"I'm really happy for you Olivia. I want to apologize for the whole press conference thing over Emma's presentation. I should have never done that; it was wrong on so many fronts."
"Thank you, apology accepted. And I want you to know that Natalia and I won't say anything about you either; but I do hope you'll think about coming out, at least to Ashley. And know that you have a friend here if you need someone to talk to, OK?"
"OK. Thanks."
The ladies hugged awkwardly.
"Alright, I need to go. I've got to get to the grocery store and then home to cook my girlfriend a dinner that will knock her socks off, or maybe another article or two of clothing."
Doris couldn't help but laugh. Olivia headed towards the door as Doris stopped her.
"Olivia, you can cook, right? You just don't seem to me that you would know your way around a kitchen."
"Doris, do you know how I made my way before I bought the Beacon? I had to make a bundle of money somewhere."
"No, I don't."
"I spent 10 years as the best damn executive chef on San Cristobel island. Gotta go, Bye!" Said Olivia as she walked out the door leaving Doris with a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Well, I guess you do learn something new every day." Said Doris to an empty courtroom.
Natalia arrived at the prison; she quickly parked her car and headed inside by way of the visitor's entrance. Soon she was through the search and had signed in. The guard led her down the hall to the visitor's room; it was empty. She was thankful for that in case Rafe didn't take the news well. She walked to the window and looked out over the landscape. She sent up a short prayer to God asking that He be with her and Rafe today and to help Rafe understand and accept her and Olivia's relationship. She heard the door open letting her know that the guards were bringing Rafe in.
"Hey Ma! I wasn't expecting a visit from you for a another few days." Said Rafe as he went to give his mother a quick hug.
"I know, but there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"OK?"
"Sit down. How are you? How are your sugar levels?"
"Ma, I'm fine. You said you wanted to talk to me."
"Yes, I…There's something I want to talk to you about."
"Ma? You already said that." Replied Rafe reaching across the table to take his mother's hands in his.
"This may sound shocking, but I hope you'll listen to everything I have to say and remember that I raised you to be accepting of others and not to pass judgment."
"OK, Ma. You are starting to freak me out here a little bit." Replied Rafe as he gripped his mother's hands.
"Ma? Where are Gus' rings?" Asked Rafe as he moved his hand to see that his mother's ring finger on her left hand was bare.
"That's part of what I wanted to talk to you about."
"OK, I'm listening."
"I loved your father for most of my life. I want you to always remember that. Your father will always have a special place in my heart; he gave me you."
"I know Ma. Are you telling me that you and Frank are…"
"Are what? I didn't think you knew that I had gone out with him a couple of times."
"A couple of times, OK? I'm confused here Ma… Frank came to see me a few weeks ago. He said that you and he had been dating and it was serious. He said he was in love with you and then he asked me for my blessing because he wanted to ask you to marry him."
"He did what? I don't believe this!" Exclaimed Natalia who got up from the table and started pacing the room.
"Ma, what's going on, please? Are you not dating Frank? He's a good guy, but if you don't love him and he's not going to make you happy then don't be with him."
Natalia returned to her seat and took a deep breath.
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him that I didn't feel comfortable giving him an answer one way or the other. I mean, Ma, you never talked about him to me. He's never come here with you to visit, only Olivia or the munchkin has come with you. I've never seen you together so I have no idea how you feel about him. So I didn't want to give him false hope if you didn't feel the same way."
"Well, apparently your comments had no effect on him. Rafe, I had gone out a couple of times with Frank. It wasn't serious on my part; but then Coop died and I did something I never thought I would ever do. I'm not going to lie to you and I am going to be very honest with you. We are about to discuss a something that might make you feel uncomfortable, so I want you to listen."
"OK."
"As I said, I think of Frank as a friend; that's as far as my feelings for him go. I do have feelings for someone, but it's not Frank. These feelings sort of snuck up on me and when I realized it, it scared me. I was trying to fight these feelings. When Coop died, I was with Frank helping him pack up some of Coop's things. I was trying to comfort Frank, we were hugging and then he kissed me. I really didn't know what I was thinking; I was trying to fight my feelings for this other person and here I was with Frank. I thought if I was with him that maybe it would help me in sorting out my feelings. I slept with Frank."
"Ma!" Shocked at what his mother was telling him.
When Rafe woke up this morning he had no clue that he would be discussing his mother's sex life in the prisoner's visiting room. He remembered what his mother said about listening and not passing judgment so he sat there quietly and waited for her to continue.
"Raphael, please. Just listen to me, OK. I knew it was wrong before it even happened and I felt so guilty afterwards. You know how I feel about sex."
"I do Ma. You said that sex should only be shared by two people who love each other and are committed to spending the rest of their lives together."
"That's right. I avoided Frank for several days after. I never called him, nothing. Then I accidently ran into him. He starting talking about us and I told him that us sleeping together was a mistake, it was wrong and it will never happen again. Then a week later he shows up on my front porch and proposes to me."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. I was shocked that he even did it. He said that he knew why I reacted the way that I did to us sleeping together. He said it was because of my faith and that we weren't married."
"So his answer was to get married? Jesus, sounds like he just wanted to get laid again."
"Raphael, language!"
"Sorry Ma. But I mean come on, you don't call him for days after it happened and he goes straight for the ring. Something's messed up there with him. So you said nothing when he asked? What happened?"
"I was in shock. He told me to keep the ring and think about it. Then he left."
"OK. So where do things stand now?"
"Well, when I leave here I will be going to see him and give him back the ring. I will not be marrying Frank Cooper."
"Good. I don't won't you marrying someone you don't love and right now, I just lost a ton of respect for Frank."
Natalia breathed a sigh of relief after having this somewhat heated and embarrassing conversation with her son. Now, she still had to tell him about Olivia. She hoped that this conversation about Frank and her happiness will help Rafe to see that she is happy and hopefully he will be able to accept the relationship. She was just trying to figure out exactly what to say when her son's voice brought her back to the present.
"So Ma? Who is it that you have feelings for?" Asked Rafe.
TBC….
