;; Caveat Lector;; Look, I'm not gonna lie. Dante gives me a serious case of the flutters. And I always kinda just.. Liked the idea of Lulu with Johnny better anyway? Personally, Lulu's not among my favorites, but I digress. As I stated with Logan and Diego's fics, each OC will be connected to someone important in Port Charles. And I admit.. I almost wrote this one a totally different way (with Sam being Natalia's mother) but then the feels and the longing for more Alexis that I receive as of late hit me and yeah.. Here we are. There's a lot of context missing, but basically, Natalia is Sam's sister. She's Julian and Alexis' daughter. And she was raised with Sam by Cody McCall for a little while. Then Cody's wife split and took her along. So the sisters lost touch.. But that's all you guys are getting.
FYI, more interaction with Molly and Kristina to come. This part just came to me so I went with it.
"How'd your blind date go?" Alexis glanced up from a mountain of paperwork as her second oldest daughter, Natalia paused in the doorway. Natalia laughed for a second or two and then sank down into the chair across the desk from Alexis, leaning her head back. Staring at the ceiling for a minute or two as she sighed.
"Oh god, where to start? Firstly, he had a problem with the fact that I'm not overly religious and I'm not looking to be a trophy wife.. Or that's the impression I got from the literal re-enactment of the Spanish Inquisition that the man gave me before we even got our damned menus. He was visibly upset that I wore my favorite red dress as opposed to something black like he asked. Then when I had the audacity to order seconds, he acted as if I were some disgusting slob."
Alexis grimaced. "That bad, huh? This is a good firm reminder as to why I am glad I'm not interested in re-joining the dating world, by the way." Alexis gave her daughter a gentle and teasing smile and Natalia pouted a little in response.
"Mom, if assholes could fly, the Floating Rib would've been a one plane airport tonight. Then he kept touching me, even after I shoved his arm down three or four times. I was tempted to rip it out of the socket and beat him over the head with it." Natalia shook her head.
She trailed off mid - rant to watch as Dante Falconeri, one of the officers at PCPD came walking past. The aroma from a grease stained brown paper bag wafting in from the hallway and making her stomach growl.
Without pause, Alexis clucked her tongue. "You slept through all your alarms and didn't get to pack yourself lunch again, I see. Either that or it wasn't the burger in that bag Dante was carrying down the hall just now that caught your eye…"
Again, Alexis was teasing. She wasn't blind, she knew her daughter well enough by now to know that Natalia may or may not harbor a certain attraction to a newly single Detective Dante Falconeri.
Natalia took more after her than her sister Sam. Sam would've seen what she wanted and gone for it, no hesitation. Natalia, like Alexis, tended to overthink. To obsess over the slightest thing that could potentially go awry.
Alexis was starting to think that maybe if she were having such rotten luck with the blind dates or the dating sites she joined constantly, it might be more worthwhile to consider taking a page from her sister's book instead.
"Have I mentioned I'm not a functioning adult? Because I'm not." Natalia laughed softly after a few seconds pause. Watching as Dante disappeared into the bullpen of PCPD just down the hall. ,, if I had half my sister Sam's nerves of steel and all my shit together, whew. The things I would allow that man to do to me. I'd let him completely ruin my life.." just the thought had Natalia swallowing hard. Licking her lips. Fidgeting around in her seat just a little bit.
She grimaced and nodded yes to her mother's assumption as she pulled herself together and her mind out of the gutter.
"It'll be fine. I'll just grab something from the vending machines down the hall. Maybe a coffee from that stand over by the courthouse. Didn't you need me to run over and file that C&D order anyway?"
Alexis nodded. Pausing her work to bend down and pull up her purse from the floor. Digging around inside until she found a twenty dollar bill. "Get us both a salad. They're serving them down in the cafeteria."
Sending her down to the cafeteria for a salad was just a small subtle nudge. Maybe if she had to walk past the bullpen, Alexis hoped, maybe they'd bump into each other. She knew Dante had been in and out all morning because he was the arresting officer in at least three of the cases on the docket for the county today.
The grin her mother gave as she handed her the money did not go amiss. Natalia's mouth opened and closed and she started to object, but Alexis was waving her hands, shooing her away. "You have twenty minutes."
"Maybe the elevator won't get stuck again. Thought I was going to faint last time." Natalia mused. Standing and grabbing the folders that contained the paperwork for the C&D order and a few other documents she needed to file at the courthouse for the law practice.
After smoothing her hands over the simple red shift dress that she'd been wearing under the black blazer she'd already had to shed due to the shitty air conditioning in the building, Natalia stepped out into the hallway.
And right into the nice and firm body of Detective Dante Falconeri. Who also happened to be her new neighbor across the hall in the apartment complex she'd moved into.
She nearly lost her balance and she was doing it again, staring like a brain-dead idiot thing she tended to do whenever she saw him around lately.
Dante chuckled. Gripping the brunette's waist carefully. "Careful now. You uh.. You want me to carry any of that, doll?"
"I'm fine. Thanks." Natalia wanted to kick herself when the words came in a rambling rush and just slightly more of a question than an actual statement.
Dante still hadn't moved his hand.
Not that Natalia was complaining, of course.
No, she'd have been completely fine if he just held onto her waist like that all day.
"You sure?" Dante questioned. Snapping out of the slightest bit of a daze he'd caught himself in just then. "If you're heading over to the courthouse too, I can take some of it."
Natalia sensed he wasn't going to give up so easily so she smiled and held out half the stack of folders. "You didn't have to do this but thank you."
"No problem, doll. Just looked like ya had your hands full." Dante gave an amused smirk as he studied her intently. Kicking himself when he realized that he hadn't even asked her for her name.
Feeling guilty as hell as soon as he realized that yes, he'd been checking her out. Then feeling frustrated with himself because Lulu was already moving on and the ink wasn't even fully dry on their divorce papers yet.
"What's your name?"
"Natalia."
"Your mom works for Alexis now? I know Alexis mentioned she was planning to hire more lawyers to work at the practice." Dante asked, assuming that maybe Natalia was just visiting her mom for lunch and offered to run the errand since from the looks of things, Mason, Petrovich and Miller were really busy this week.
"Actually… Alexis kind of is my mother." Natalia smiled, giving a soft laugh when Dante gave her the puzzled look that pretty much everyone else tended to whenever Alexis introduced her as her daughter.
"Trust me. It's a long and sordid story and there's not nearly enough time in the day." Natalia shook her head, her laughter dying out a little. ,, way to go, Nat. Just go for the overkill and dump a lot of information out at once, yeah?" the thought came, prompting her to raise a hand and drag it through her hair.
Dante chuckled. Noting the cute little hints of a blush as it crept into her cheeks. She seemed flustered right now for whatever reason. He'd seen her in court earlier and she certainly hadn't been flustered then. She'd been a little angry, if memory served. She'd had to step out of the courtroom for a quick breather when the defense attorney tried to shift the facts in the case around and make it seem as if the defendant weren't guilty of what they were being accused of.
She worked in family court cases mostly. Not that he'd taken notice or anything.
,, oh but bet your ass you have. She's definitely had your attention lately." the thought presented itself, bringing with it a strong surge of guilt.
That again left him beyond frustrated.
They stopped at the elevator and Natalia pushed the button to take them up to the floor they needed to get to. To the lobby of the building. "I hope this damn thing doesn't get stuck for a second time this week."
Dante chuckled at that. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. I kind of really don't like small spaces. At all."
"We could've taken the stairs."
Natalia lifted her foot and Dante glanced down, noting the height of the heels. And promptly kicking himself when he worked it out in his head and realized that without said heels, she'd probably level up height wise with the center of his chest.
He bit his lip and clenched one of his hands. Conflicted, yet again.
,, If Lulu's movin on, man… Pickin right back up with Zacarra like they were never broken up, at that.." but he shoved that thought right out. It was still a little too soon. The pain of it all was fading but still just a little too new for him to even attempt thinking about anything he'd been entertaining lately.
"Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't wanna take the stairs." Dante teased a little. Natalia stuck out her tongue and shifted her feet a little. The heels were her favorite but the fact remained.. They pinched her feet by the end of the day.
The elevator dinged and the chrome doors slid open. Dante nodded to the open doors, allowing Natalia to step in first. Natalia stepped in, moving out of the way so Dante could step on himself. The doors slid shut and the elevator jerked to life, beginning it's ascension to the upper floor lobby.
Each time it creaked and seemed to slow, Natalia tensed a little, catching her breath. Dante glanced over at her a time or two because he heard the quiet catching of her breath. " You really don't like small spaces, huh?"
"Not at all, Dante. Not at all."
The doors slid open, revealing the lobby on the main floor. Dante stepped off and Natalia followed behind, the two falling into step with each other as Natalia tried to remember which office she needed to go into to file the C&D paperwork. Once she spotted the office, she nodded to it. Smiling at Dante as she took the half of the stack of folders he'd been carrying for her.
"Thank you."
"Like I said, doll. No problem. I'll see you around." Dante smiled as he said it. Natalia smiled back, nodding. "Yeah, I mean, we do live right across the hall from each other, right?"
"We do." Dante chuckled, nodding his head yes. As she disappeared into the office, Dante leaned against the wall. Laughing at himself because if that whole interaction had proven anything at all to him, it'd proven that he was most definitely rusty when it came to any attempt at flirtation.
Not that he had been attempting to flirt, of course.
Sam waved her sister over and held out the Michelob Ultra she'd gone ahead and ordered before Natalia arrived.
"Mom said you wanted to slap the taste out of the defense attorney's mouth today. Rough day?"
"Ugh, that's not even the half of it. First of all, let it be known that Ian McDougal is nothing of not a condescending prick and he's even worse when he's defending that fucking.. Scumbag. Sam, I shit you not… This asshole, he makes Cody McCall look like an actual fucking saint." Natalia popped the bottle against the counter and pried the top free from her drink, taking a long and thoughtful sip.
"Yikes. That bad, huh?"
"I mean, at least Cody never actually put his hands on us? This guy has left handprints around my client's throat."
"Calm down."
"Ugh! I'm just so pissed because I fucking know he's going to get away with the shit and she'll feel like she can't escape and she'll wind up going back." Natalia shook her head, grimacing bitterly at the thought. "I wanted to change the system."
"And that takes time, Talia." Sam reminded her sister calmly. Remembering the present that Scout had made for her aunt while at day camp, Sam dug around in her purse. Producing the bright red and black/brown spotted pasta necklace as she held it out to Natalia. "Scout made us necklaces today."
"Aww. Hey, when are you and Drew finally gonna let me have my niece to myself for the weekend?"
"This weekend, actually." Sam smirked a little. Adding quickly in a teasing tone, "Unless you're going to give that speed dating fundraiser another chance to work miracles this year?"
"Create actual fucking disasters is more like it." Natalia shook her head, laughing softly.
"Speaking of.. Why were you texting me from the bathroom stall on your date last night?"
"Because if I hadn't, dear sister, you'd have been bailing me out of jail. I have never wanted to choke another human being as badly as I wanted to choke that entitled prick I was set up with last night."
"You're the one who keeps putting off what she really wants." Sam shrugged, a mildly amused look on her face as she saw Natalia tense a little. Fidget with the label on her bottle.
"We both know that'll never happen."
"And why the hell not, hm? I think you're pretty damn amazing."
"Every single time I see the guy, Sam, I zone out like a proper moron."
"In your defense, he's definitely easy on the eyes."
"I think Mom's onto me. She caught me checking him out earlier when he walked past the office on his way back from lunch. And I'm pretty sure when she sent me off on a paperwork and lunch run for us and I bumped into him and we actually conversed as a result that I pretty much blew any actual shot I might have had if I were to get the nerve to make.. Any of those kinds of moves."
"Oh god, what'd you do?" Sam grimaced, laughing softly.
"I rambled. So much rambling, holy shit. Look, we both know I am not good at this smooth,cool and collected crap, okay? That's all you, dear sister."
"You are in court. What's different?" Sam asked as she reached out and took a nacho from the bowl of nacho chips sitting between them.
"That's work. I have to be professional and calm. I have to look like I have my shit together there. Plus, doesn't help that I take after our mom in that I fucking hate sleazy assholes and stupid people." Natalia mused.
Natalia reached for a nacho, munching on it thoughtfully. Gazing around the bar, her eyes settling on the door just as Dante Falconeri happened to wander in.
They locked eyes and she smiled, giving a polite nod hello.
Dante wandered over, stopping to stand next to Natalia. Chuckling as he flashed her a grin and mused quietly, "We really gotta stop meeting like this, doll."
Sam glanced from Dante and Natalia. Turning away to smile to herself. Her sister, as usual, was completely and totally oblivious.
"People might just start talking. You know how small this town is." Natalia was actually a little shocked when her mouth opened and that line came out. If she could've patted her own back, she would've, happily.
"Let 'em talk." Dante's smirk grew a little. The bartender approached and Dante told him that he was there to pick up an order he'd placed an hour ago.
"Tell the boys down at the station to be safe, yeah?" the bartender asked. Dante nodded. "Will do."
Natalia eyed the stack of styrofoam containers. "Another late one, hm?"
"Yeah. We're short-handed right now." Dante explained, grimacing at the thought of the long night ahead for him. They'd caught a huge case and somehow, a few of the rookies left to collect evidence at the scene of the crime managed to totally make a mess of it. This now meant that the task of making heads or tails of it and salvaging what they could fell to himself, Logan and Valerie.
"Hey, Detective?" Natalia called out as Dante started to walk away. Dante stopped, looking back at her. "Yeah, doll?"
"Be careful out there, will you?"
"Not makin any promises, doll." Dante chuckled, nodding to her drink. "Call an uber."
As soon as Dante was gone, Sam spoke up. "See? That wasn't so hard."
"Liquid courage, dear sister. Liquid courage." Natalia laughed softly, raising the bottle of Michelob to her lips and taking a long sip. "Hey, that fair is gonna be setting up downtown this weekend. I think I know what I'm gonna do with Scout."
"I swear to God above, Talia… if you hype her up on sugar and send her back to me, I'm definitely getting my payback when you've got one of your own. Remember that."
Natalia snickered and shook her head. "We both know I'm going to always be the fun and weird wine aunt."
"Oh.. Trust me. I have a feeling you're definitely going to be wrong about that one." Sam muttered quietly, making Natalia glance at her with a brow raised. "Oh, I'd put money on it. But I don't bet."
"Oh my god, live a little, woman. I swear to God, between you and Mom and your whole workaholic lifestyles, I'm gonna watch you both work yourselves in an early grave."
"Hey! I'm not that bad."
"Look, I just worry, okay? I know this is what you've always wanted. But every now and then you've gotta stop and smell the roses. Live a little. Enjoy the fact that you've managed to do every single thing you ever set out to do. Don't make me do all the enjoying for you." Sam smiled at her sister proudly.
Natalia smiled a little, toying with a napkin's edge. "Ya know? You might just be onto something."