Letter 14
Gus had returned to Natalia's hotel room and was now loudly knocking on the door. "Natalia! I need to see you!" he shouted from the hallway.
Alarmed by his loud voice and the banging noise, Natalia frantically opened the door to let him into the room. "What's the matter Gus?" she asked. Then she commented on the time, "It's very late!"
It didn't seem to make any difference what time it was for Gus. When he left Natalia earlier, he had been confused and bewildered. Why had she acted so strangely? It seemed like half of her wanted him and half of her didn't want him. The half that wanted him was very sexual and warranted further investigation. She had kissed him in return, she had held on to him, and excited him. After their powerful kiss, Gus was sure that she would succumb to his advances. But the other half of the woman had asked him to leave, and this caused Gus to dwell upon the reason. She wanted to complete some paperwork. Who gives up hot, hot sex after being alone for a year for paperwork?
He had stopped off at the hotel bar, just beyond the lobby, after leaving her room and began drinking shots of whiskey. At first, he was looking for the real reason she turned him down, but after a few drinks, he was making up his own reasons. "Didn't she still have feelings for him? Or had she fallen in love with that prick, Frank? He had tried to reason with himself that she hadn't gone through with the marriage to Frank because she still loved him. But that was the reason she provided. Perhaps there was more to the story than she let on to him.
"I don't understand it," he started. "At one point in your life, you would have begged me to return, begged your husband to love you and our son, to make love to you. And tonight, nothing! What's going on with you?"
Natalia's face started to flush with anger; she wasn't sure what to tell him. "You've been gone for over a year and after a day you expect to jump into my bed with everything being alright? Well, everything is not alright!"
She had planned to ask him for an annulment or a divorce, if need be, but she didn't want to reveal anything about her relationship with Olivia just yet. That was something that could wait until later, when she had left Japan and when she returned to the states. She was beginning to see that they were very different people, so different that it would be impossible to stay married to him any longer.
"Look," she said, "can we discuss this tomorrow? I'm pretty tired. I'm still not used to this time zone, and you appear to be drunk. By tomorrow you'll have slept this off, and we can more easily speak to each other."
"I want to have it out right now," he slurred. "What's going on, Natalia? Are you that angry? You said, yourself that you forgave me. Were they just words?"
She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and curled her hair behind her ear. She then took a step back from him. "Gus, I'm not ready for you yet. And frankly, I think you better leave."
"Natalia," he implored a little louder, "You're my wife! We should be able to discuss what we need to right now! What's become of you?"
She began to turn as she replied, "Let me get some clothes on. I'll be right back," but as she moved away from him, towards the bedroom, he caught her arm and violently pulled her in for a kiss. She fought him at first, just like before, but again, he was so powerful that his strength was too much to overcome. His breath was laced heavily with whiskey, his body smelled of cologne, and his face was coarse with dark stubble. It scratched her as he sucked on her lips, seeking her to return the kiss to him. His tongue pried open her mouth and commanded her, and all she could do was surrender to him. He was too strong, and she was a little fearful of his current drunken and angry demeanor. With his one arm holding her upper back, his other hand sought her buttocks. Here, he pulled her closer to him, massaging her legs and rubbing her nether regions. His lips slipped down her neck as he pulled at her robe, and he began to move his mouth downward. Her collarbone was exposed, and soon his hot breath was upon it and making his way to her breast. Her robe fell to the ground as he began to suckle and gently nibble at her soft tissue. His hot breath on her chest was in complete contrast to the cool breeze that was entering the room from the French doors. She shivered, distracting him for a second, which caused him to notice the door ajar.
"Let's close this door," he motioned, as he moved with her towards the windows.
When he released his hold on her, she quickly ran to pick up her robe. As she made this motion, Gus noticed the letter sitting on the table, next to the love seat. "So! This is the important paper work you abandoned me for earlier!" He picked up the contents of the off white paper and inspected them. "Can't Frank let you go? You're another man's wife!"
"Gus, that's none of your business!" shouted Natalia, but he held the letter out of reach from her. "Don't read it! Please! Don't! It's personal!"
He pushed her away as he read. Again, she surrendered and stood some distance from him and allowed him to read the rest.
A realization was coming to Gus as he read the love letter. His face began to contort in wounded horror as he began to read her poem out loud. The letter was not from Frank! It was from Olivia! Olivia Spencer! How could this be? Olivia was a woman. At one time, Olivia had been in love with him. As he read and read each line it became more obvious that the letter had been a response to something that Natalia must have sent her. He looked up from the letter and stared at her.
"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded, "Is this some kind of joke? Are you and Olivia a lesbian couple?!"
Natalia had, by now, wrapped her naked body back in the robe and held her head in her hands. She rubbed her eyes and then her temples, feeling a possible headache in the near distance. "You weren't supposed to find out this way," she started, "I was hoping I wouldn't even have to tell you about us."
"Us?! You and Olivia???" Gus now backed a few steps away from her. "What are you talking about?"
Natalia took a deep breath and began to tell the incredulous Gus about how she had nursed Olivia back to health, how they had shared the farm, and grew to love each other. She said that it was difficult to leave Frank at the alter, but she was in love with the woman who had become her best friend. She noted that it had been hard on Rafe, and until Gus had come back from the dead, Rafe had accepted their relationship. She also noted that they were very serious, that she and Olivia had wanted to join their families into one home and they were looking toward the future. She commented that she was at peace with her decision to move in this direction and she hope that he would be too. When she was done, meekly she added, "I'll need an annulment or a divorce from you."
Gus stood aghast with his mouth wide open. He looked like he had been hit in the gut with a surprise left fist. "How could all of this have happened in less than a year?" he wondered out loud. "Here I was thinking I was going to have to beat the hell out of Frank, when actually I'll have to beat the hell out of Olivia!"
"Gus! If you try anything with her, I'll…" but she knew that anything she said would be an empty threat. What did she have to combat him?
He continued to read the rest of the letter, shaking his head as he did. "My God, if I had received a letter like this, I'd be in love with her too!" he finally smirked.
Just at that moment, the hotel phone began to ring. Both Gus and Natalia looked at it and then at each other. It was already after 2 am, a new day, which meant it was 2 pm in Springfield. Slowly, Natalia moved toward the phone to answer it.
Her face turned pale as she responded to the questions from the caller. She slowly lowered her body to the love seat, quaking as she did. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked in a hushed tone. Finally, she hung up the receiver and looked at Gus.
"That was Phillip," she said in a nearly inaudible voice, "Olivia has had a heart attack."
