NEVER FORGET
Chapter 14

"So, let me get this straight...you quit your job at Reva's 'cause she thinks we are having an affair?"
Olivia couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud.

"That's not funny, Olivia! I'm not..."
The Latina didn't dare to go on talking.

"You aren't...what exactly?"
The hotelier looked at her provokingly.

"I...I...what I mean is..."
More babbling and Natalia felt herself blushing, which made the situation a lot worse.

"Yes?"
Olivia couldn't hide her amusement.

"I have a boyfriend, okay? He is coming to visit in a few days and I don't want him to hear any of this gossip. We had a hard time with me moving to Springfield and I don't need any more trouble now that things are finally getting better. Do you understand that?"
Natalia's brown eyes showed how worried the Latina was, when her eyes met the stunning green ones of a certain hotelier, "And Olivia...think about Emma. You know how cruel kids can be. I want her to have a chance here. She loves Springfield and the farm...and she's been through enough."

And all of a sudden Olivia Spencer got all serious herself, "I know you are right. But you need to understand that...under that circumstances...there is no way I can hire you."

Natalia nodded 'cause she had came to that realization herself only a moment ago.

"I'll help you get a job, okay? You have bills to pay...I'm aware of that", the hotelier announced out of the blue and all the Latina could do was to nod again.
She felt numb and somehow even naive.
Maybe this whole moving to Springfield thing had been a stupid idea and Frank had been right from the beginning.
They could be a family already if she would have stayed in Chicago, but she had been too stubborn to see it.

It was right then that Natalia Rivera looked into Olivia's eyes once again and it also was the moment she realized that she was exactly where she belonged.

There had to be a way.
There would be a way.
For all of them.
-

Frank's visit had been a short, but great one.
He had told Natalia that he had applied for a job in Springfield since he had been promoted some days ago, which meant that he was a detective now and the Latina was thrilled about the news.
And so was Emma.

They had spent two wonderful days in Springfield together with the little girl, who had been overjoyed to have Frank there, playing with her like her father used to.
And so Frank left with the promise to be back as soon as possible, which brought a huge smile to his girls faces.

Natalia knew she should have told him about her being currently unemployed, but she hadn't wanted to ruin their newfound happiness.
And she still had hope that Olivia would be able to help her out somehow.
-

A few days later the hotelier called indeed to let the Latina know that she had talked to her wife and Doris had told her to hire Natalia anyway, that the mayor would take care of the gossip problem.
And that she expected the Latina to be at her office the next morning.

Natalia wasn't sure if it would be a good idea, but on the other hand she was aware of the fact that she wouldn't be able to stay away.
She would work with Olivia Spencer.
-

Reality never was as kind as someone's imagination and being Olivia Spencer's assistant clearly was way more difficult than Natalia had expected.

There was a lot of fighting and yelling and since both of them were stubborn as hell and nowhere near backing off or stepping back from an argument, Olivia and Natalia spent a lot more time in the office than they would have needed to.
Simply cause everything took much longer with them debating practically over everything.
And although their relationship was 100 % work related, both women enjoyed each other's company in a weird way.
Even with all the arguing.

Olivia clearly was impressed that somebody finally dared to stand their ground with her and Natalia loved proving the hotelier wrong.
-

Two weeks before Christmas Frank finally moved to Springfield, which caused Emma to bounce around like crazy.
He would stay in his own little apartment in the city center for starters 'cause he and Natalia had decided to take things slow plus he would be at the station a lot faster in case he was needed.
The farmhouse simply wasn't the perfect place to live for a detective, who would be on call most of the time.

Olivia and Natalia on the other hand finally got along better, but that didn't mean they weren't fighting anymore.

They fought with so much passion that it scared the hotelier at times, but when Natalia and Olivia were honest they both loved all their battles like nothing else about them working together.
-

Doris would be gone during Christmas and wouldn't be back before January, the 5th 'cause of some promotion - strategy her new PR agent had come up with.

The bare thought of Olivia being all alone during the holidays made Natalia sad, but the Latina didn't dare to invit her over to the farmhouse 'cause she knew that Frank wouldn't tolerate it and a fight on Christmas was the last thing she wanted.

And the fact that Natalia hadn't even told him that she was working for Olivia Spencer yet made the whole situation more than just impossible.
-

When the Latina entered the hotelier's office the evening before Christmas to wish Olivia 'Happy Holidays' she found her boss stuck with a lot of paper work.

"You need to stop working for a while, Olivia. It's Christmas for Heaven's sake..."

"I have nothing else to do. There's nobody waiting for me at home, no place for me to go. So the least I can do is to catch up on all that stuff 'cause with all the extra events for Doris in the near future there won't be a better time than now", the hotelier stated, trying to sound not too depressed.

It wasn't that Olivia Spencer cared much about Christmas, actually she didn't care about it at all, but being all by herself made her sad anyway.

Of course the hotelier hadn't been able to fool Natalia, hadn't been able to hide her feelings from her, but the Latina had decided to keep silent for once 'cause Olivia would never admit any of it anyway.
And she didn't want to embarrass her or make her feel even worse.

"Good night, Olivia...don't work too much. And if you need anything...just call me, okay?"

"Don't worry, Natalia. I'll be fine. Enjoy the holidays with your family", the hotelier answered quickly before she turned her attention back to the papers on her desk.

Natalia was about to head out of the office, but stopped once again, looking at the hotelier, "Merry Christmas, Olivia."

"Yeah...merry Christmas, Natalia. Make it a good one. One E...Em...one Emma will always remember."
For a moment Olivia smiled, then she turned all serious again.

"She loves you. She always will. Never forget that", the Latina contered sincerely.

"I love her too. Always have, always will."
Olivia's voice was barely a whisper and stayed unnoticed by Natalia, who had already left the room.

Only a second too early to hear the truth.
Only a second too early to see the tear, which Olivia shed for the child she never had wanted to leave.