Thank you for your kind words last chapter.
"No, mom, I cannot talk about such a bomb here!"
"Why? You're afraid it might come and blow up in your face?" asked Taylor.
"Yes!"
"And you're right…" Someone entered the office causing for two pair of eyes to turn towards them. "An explosion happens so fast."
Steffy heaved a sigh and returned behind her desk. "Have you ever heard of a knock?"
"Oh no, she comes from the valley, you know." Taylor responded instead of Brooke earning a loft look from the blonde woman.
Steffy sniggered at her mother's comment. She was putting some order on her desk when she accidentally made some documents fall. Brooke's gaze on her then became more pressing as she creased her brows in interrogation.
"What is it, Steffy?" she questioned. "You seem tensed." She noted.
To say that Steffy was tensed was an understatement. Her nerves were at cracking's door! And it was completely comprehensible: the poor woman was pregnant, and from the looks of things, it would be a stressful pregnancy. She had no clue if she was about to lose the father of her unborn child who also happened to be the love of her life… She was more and more having a hard time dealing with her father's daily (physical) absence. And to top everything, she was wondering if Brooke had overheard her and her mother and was therefore now aware of her very non-official pregnancy.
"That is just the effect of your presence." Taylor told Brooke.
"I am talking to Steffy, Taylor!" the latter snapped.
"Oh sorry, I wonder where I got this bad habit to intervene in my daughter's place." She ironically confessed. "You know… speak for her, choose for her, think for her…"
Brooke turned her head to stare at her with submachine guns instead of her.
"I only advise my daughter, I don't dictate her what to do." She defended.
"Why do you feel aimed at? I didn't say your name."
"You are so living in the past, Taylor. I feel sorry for you. You two need to stop plotting against my daughter." She declared and daughter like mother widened her eyes in astonishment; they exchanged a disbelieving look. "When will you ever get over the fact that I won and you lost? Same way Hope is going to get Liam back and you are going to lose him…" She spoke that last sentence addressing Steffy. "…If that's not already done."
"Are YOU done?" Steffy asked not really expecting an answer and not getting one; instead Brooke drew herself up. The brunette left her desk and advanced towards her rival's mother. "How dare you come into my office not to talk work, but to provoke me AND my mother, and throw unfounded accusations at us?!" she flared up.
She was so mad she didn't even enjoy the feeling of relief that should've caused the realization that Brooke didn't know she was pregnant.
"Steffy…" Taylor tried to calm her daughter.
"No!" she exclaimed before turning back to Brooke. "Enough is enough! I am done being tormented by you and your blasted sisters!" she declared.
A knock at the door interrupted their quarrel.
"Come in." Steffy said bringing her hair behind her ear before putting each hand on the corresponding hip; her voice reflecting her non-appeased anger.
Madison entered the room. "Hey!" she greeted them. "Sorry to interrupt. Mister Forrester is waiting for you in his office… all of you."
/
"We need to put Forrester Creations back in the spotlight. We need to attract a new clientele, occupy fashion magazines again." Eric declared.
"We have Spencer Publications for that." Rick rightfully pointed out. "Ask Bill."
"Yes, Brooke, why don't you ask Bill?" Taylor suggested pointedly.
Brooke threw her a deathly glare.
"Actually, I was thinking you would ask him." Eric said addressing Steffy.
"Me? Why me?" asked the latter.
Her grandfather raised his eyebrows and looked at her as if the answer to her question was obvious. As a matter of fact, it was commonly known around Forrester Creations and Spencer Publications that Steffy was one of the very few people who had won Bill Spencer's admiration and respect. If all his intrigues to unite her with his elder son said anything, it said the magnate held Stephanie Forrester Jr high in his esteem.
"Because you're pretty much his daughter-in-law and he adores you." He answered.
At the 'daughter-in-law' part, the principal concerned looked away, embarrassed. She could feel Hope's intense gaze on her but acted like nothing.
"She's not his daughter in law." Reminded Hope in a stern voice.
That comment prompted Eric's gaze to direct on the blonde before his eyes went round the room, a rather concerned look on his face.
Steffy turned to stare at Hope. "You really want us to rush to the altar, don't you?"
The latter gave her a fake smile.
"Ladies, please…" Marcus intervened fearing that the business meeting would turn into a settling of scores.
The raven-haired woman turned around rolling her eyes and shaking her head slightly. It was in those moments that she was persuaded she was the better option for Liam; Hope could be so immature… it was impressive. She was all the opposite: she was mature, understanding, indulgent, and most of all, she was well aware life wasn't a fairy tale and she didn't expect it to be. Therefore, she didn't go crazy every time that realization hit her in the face.
A semblance of calm settled down in the office again.
"So will you talk to him?" Eric asked his granddaughter.
She looked back up at him. "Sure." She answered with a smile.
"Great." He nodded. "Of course, that won't be enough. If we want magazines to talk about us, then we need to give them something to talk about." He stated. "And please by something, I obviously do not mean our love lives." He specified addressing particularly Hope and Steffy.
The two antagonists were satisfied with casting glances at one another.
"You're thinking launch a new line?" suggested Thomas.
"Launch a new line, put an old one back onto our agenda… one or the other."
Brooke knit her brows in a questioning matter. "You have one in particular in mind?" she asked.
"The Intimacy line was a major success." Eric responded.
"Huh?" did Steffy, slowly connecting the dots.
The Intimacy line was Steffy's line, originally Brooke's. It was a lingerie line, which had known a true rebirth when the brunette had become its new egeria. It had been the topic of conversation of the whole fashion world for weeks after Steffy took the torch out of Brooke's hands.
"Wait, you want us to start producing the Intimacy line again?" Marcus made sure.
"That's it." said Eric.
"That is a terrible idea!" Hope intervened.
"That's a great idea." Rick spoke at the same time than his sister. She threw him a deathly glare. Rick supporting Steffy's line wouldn't help him reconcile with his little sister.
"Okay. Clearly we don't all see eye to eye but personally, I think it's worth it." declared the company's CEO.
"So do I." supported Thomas.
Hope removed the hand she had brought to her forehead in despair. "Again, this is a terrible idea." The blonde insisted. "You say you want to regild the company's image. You intend to do it with a lingerie line?!" she disbelievingly asked the man she regarded as her grandfather; indignation dripping from her tone of voice.
"The Intimacy line made the fashion world talk about us like no other had in a very long time. It success was outstanding!" the latter pointed out. "I never understood why we even stopped the line."
Indeed, the sudden interruption of Intimacy had been a major shock and for Forrester Creations' staff and for their customers. It was as if Ridge had just woken up one day and decided to put an end to the line, catching everyone off guard.
"Neither did I." admitted Thomas. "I still don't."
"I do." Steffy intervened. "It's thanks to Hope and her charming mother who convinced my gullible father that what was best was interrupting the line." She explained.
Hope just rolled her eyes while Brooke let out an ironic chuckle.
"Well, your father never could say no to Brooke." Eric told his granddaughter in a false confessing tone causing all the assembly to burst out laughing.
"The sales had decreased!" the blonde grown-up woman still defended.
"Oh please, not nearly enough to stop the line and you know it." spoke Taylor.
"In all objectivity, guys, what do you think?" asked the CEO.
"I agree with you, Intimacy with Steffy as the lead model had an immediate and outstanding success." Thomas declared.
"Same here." Marcus agreed.
"I think it's exactly what Forrester Creations needs right now." Rick seconded.
"I never understood why we stopped the line in the first place." Oliver admitted.
"Okay, whoa, let's breathe for a second." Steffy intervened, trying to keep her panic under the surface. "Hope has a point: regild the company's image with a lingerie line? Really? Let's go back to our classics."
At the brunette's statement, every single person in the room frown their eyebrows in confusion, except for her mother who knew exactly what was going on.
"You're against Intimacy's re-launching?" her grandfather asked her, making sure he had understood well.
"For now." She confirmed. "I mean at the moment." She clarified.
"Steffy." Her brother called out. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing. I just don't think it's in our best interest to re-launch Intimacy right now. The chances are too big."
Thomas looked at her, confusion emanating from his eyes, silently asking her for an honest answer.
Hope and Brooke exchanged a confused yet worried look.
"Well, I'm taking them." The CEO declared after taking a moment to consider Steffy's arguments, causing all eyes to turn back on him.
"Fine but don't count me in." the raven-haired woman warned.
"Excuse me?"
"I refuse to model for the line." She stated.
"Why? What's your excuse?"
"I, I'm…" she struggled to find her words. What could she possibly say? I'm kind of pregnant and I'm not sure how my stomach will do in lingerie? "I just don't feel like modeling anymore." She ended up saying.
"Are you sick?" Eric questioned.
"No."
"Are you planning on leaving town any time soon?"
"No."
"Perfect, then it's settled." He concluded. "The Intimacy line is back on our agenda with Steffy as our lead model.
"Madison, you're in charge of publishing the news on our website." He instructed and she nodded.
"Thank you all for coming and have a nice weekend. Rest well; we'll have a loaded week."
/
It was a bright Monday morning; Hope was on a photo shoot for her line Hope for the Future on the terrace of Forrester Creations with Oliver as the photographer. She wore a long and beautiful white tunic, the color of innocence and purity, everything she used to be, everything she wasn't anymore. She looked absolutely magnificent; she glowed. Her hair was smooth and it bore headdresses. She looked like an angel who was coming straight down from heaven to shed her light on earth.
She was taking poses like a pro, what she was. Oliver couldn't take his eyes off of her; she had bewitched him and he wondered how Liam had let her go.
How could anyone ever get enough of Hope?
No one could compare to her, at least not to the Hope he remembered. She was… one of the kind.
"Yes! Amazing!" he approved continuing to photograph her.
Oliver observed Hope through the lens. "Put your hand on your hip." He told her; she complied. "Purse your lips."
Again, she complied.
"Yes! There you go!" he kept taking photos. "You look stunning!"
"Do I?" the blonde asked mischievously earning a big laugh from Oliver.
/
Steffy was in her office doing her public relations job thinking about how to promote Hope for the Future's new collection. Oliver had made a video with new pictures of Hope wearing the new collection's clothes and Hope doing a runway on Forrester Creations' podium. The promotion video was already on the company's website and it had reached an impressive number of views. Better make hay while the sun shone.
She hadn't talked to Bill yet like her grandfather had asked her to. She had planned to call him that same day but then she had postponed it to the next day, then to the next day and then to the day after that; and now it had been three days and Eric was pressing her for an answer. The thing is the raven-haired woman knew if she talked to Bill, Liam would be the immediate topic of conversation and the father would scold her for giving up on his elder son. And she really didn't feel like talking about the latter with the first…
Truth be told, Steffy didn't want to talk about her relationship with Liam to anyone. She just wanted to get him out of her head and the best way she figured to do that was to work. Unfortunately, right now, her two priorities at work consisted in Hope's campaign and finding a way to dissuade Eric from re-launching the Intimacy line that didn't include revealing her pregnancy to her grandfather; and those two priorities both brought her back to Liam.
The only thing she expected from the man at the moment was that he made his decision at last, so she could move on with her life, with or without him… The raven-haired woman really had no clue what Liam's decision would be… what life he would choose to lead.
She had fought so hard for him; she had fought like a lioness determined to get her male companion by her side. She had done everything in her power to make him see how perfect they were for one another, how complementary they were, and how un-right the blonde was for him; but she was never enough.
She knew Hope loved Liam, probably just as much as she loved him; but Hope just didn't understand like him she did, she wasn't right for him like she was. She got Liam in a way that was merely beyond compare: sometimes, all it took was a look and they knew exactly what the other was feeling. They were more than some stars-crossed lovers: they were best friends, they were soul mates, they were… a match made in heaven. The funny thing is the raven-haired woman didn't believe in those soul mates kind of things before she met Liam. He truly was the one for her, and she knew she was the one for him. So why didn't he see that?
Steffy had really struggled trying to figure out why it was so hard for Liam to let Hope go. But the more she thought about it, the clearer it became to her: Hope was Liam's first real love; she taught him true love. Therefore, it was only natural that he had some trouble letting her go… But he was pushing it, he was pushing. There comes a time in life when you just have to let go, you have to say goodbye to your past, enjoy your present, and focus on your future. Steffy didn't really understand whatever it was that there was between Hope and Liam, she wasn't sure she ever would and, she didn't want to, to tell the truth. All she wanted was for Liam to put his past –that is to say Hope –behind him for good. For if they were ever to have a future together, with their child, it was the only way: she wouldn't put up with his irresolution ever again.
She remembered telling him that they would have the greatest love affair known to man-kind. And they had. She just hoped, no she prayed, that it hadn't come to an end just yet.
/
"You want me to advertise Forrester Creations?"
"That's it." Steffy confirmed.
"Hum… I don't know…" admitted Bill.
Steffy tilted her head. "Bill, I do not have time for this." She told him seriously.
"Rho, you're such a bore." He said. "What is going on with you anyway?"
She looked away, irritated.
"Stifling your misery with work?" he bothered half-teasingly causing the brunette to roll her eyes. "Becoming a workaholic isn't the solution, you know."
Now, this is exactly why she didn't want to talk to Bill in the first place: she knew the old man wouldn't be able to keep Liam out of the conversation and would want to interfere in her relationship with the latter. Only, as usual, instead of patching things up, he would just end up making them worse. The raven-haired woman didn't need people to help her relationship with Liam; she needed them to stay out of it!
"Are you done?" asked Steffy.
"Not quite."
"Bill, I came here for work." She reminded him. "I am worried about Forrester Creations." She told him.
"Well, I am worried about my son." He retorted bluntly.
"Well, then talk about it to Hope!" she quipped; and Bill creased his brows in surprise.
Steffy swallowed hardly and diverted her gaze from his in embarrassment trying to regain her composure. She gently massaged her neck to release herself of all the tension that emanated from her.
"What is going on with you?" Bill asked articulating each word, concern plainly all over his face.
She turned around so they wouldn't face each other and moved away from him. She brought a soft hand to her stomach and caressed it breathing in deeply.
"Would you just stop acting like you are not involved?" demanded the old-man.
"We need those pages in your magazines. It's in your best interest too." She changed the subject.
"I'm sorry I'm confused as to how advertising for a company which isn't talked about anymore would be in my best interest."
Bill was well aware of what the raven-haired was trying to do but he decided to go along with it for now. "Actually, the way I see it, it's only going to make my magazine's sales fall." He added.
"A company in which you have shares." She reminded him. "Look after your interests! Give us those pages."
He smirked.
"Come on." She pleaded. "Hope for the Future is regaining the customers' interests and we might re-launch the Intimacy line." She declared.
"Really?" he asked, surprised.
"Really" she confirmed. "Though, maybe not with me as the lead model." She specified.
"Why?" he inquired.
Steffy shrugged. "I don't feel like modeling these days." She responded in a dull tone.
"Uh-huh." He said while nodding.
"I don't mean to upset you but would you please talk to Liam…" Bill tried.
"Bill…" she spoke in a warning voice.
"No, please hear me out Steffy, hear me out." He asked her. "Liam is lost without you, okay? He loves you and he misses you. Don't let his indecision concerning Hope get you down, he will come back to his senses, he will come back to you!"
"Well, I'm waiting." She paused. "But I won't be waiting forever."
"You seem like you've given up on him." Bill remarked.
She heaved a sigh and passed a hand on her forehead in fatigue. "I haven't given up on him or on us. I am merely tired, Bill." She confessed and he saw at her look that she really was. "I am done fighting for Liam. I've had enough. "I am done striving to be as beautiful as Hope, as morally invested as Hope, as respectable as Hope… I love Liam and I am me. That really should be enough."
"It is." Bill asserted. "You are more than enough, Steffy, and Liam will realize that." He promised.
Steffy turned around and walked to Bill's table leaning against the wall. She crossed her arms on her stomach protectively.
His brows knit together in questioning.
"Why do you keep…" he began to ask but stopped the clue of his thought.
"Oh my god." He said in a breath causing for the brunette to turn around immediately, in alert.
"What?" she inquired, managing to keep her panic out of her voice.
He creased his brows as all the implications of his realization reached his brain.
"You're pregnant."
/
Hope and Oliver were still on Forrester Creations' terrace; they were seated on a table looking over the blonde's photos Oliver had taken a few hours before. The latter had already got them released and now, they were choosing which ones they would submit to be published in Spencer Publications' magazine.
"These are so beautiful." Hope said.
Oliver gazed at the blonde in response. "You are so beautiful."
She turned to look at him and found herself caught in his gaze. A lump formed in her throat as she saw the sincerity in his blue eyes and read the affection on his face. Hope couldn't remember the last time someone had looked with so much adoration.
She focused her attention back on the photos in an attempt to hide her cheeks which had gained a pink tint. She lightly cleared her throat.
"It's all in the photographer." She pretended.
"No, it's not." Oliver countered his eyes still intent on her.
The blonde looked away, turning her head in his opposite direction. Oliver noticed her trouble and decided to stop with the compliments, as truthful as they were.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you." He apologized.
In response, she gave him a weak smile.
There was a moment of silent as Hope continued to consider the pictures where the photographer had merely tried to capture her heart-wrenchingly beauty.
"How are things going on between you and Liam?" Oliver suddenly inquired.
The blonde raised her head at the unexpected question but didn't look at him however.
"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that; I didn't mean to pry." He apologized once more.
"No, it's ok, you weren't prying…" She turned towards him shaking her head; she paused. '… I think. I don't know actually. Were you?"
He clucked. "It's kind of hard to tell, huh?"
She clucked as well. "Yeah, kind of."
"Especially given our history." He added.
She stared at him and studied his face: there was something morose about it; he seemed melancholy.
"I wasn't prying; I just wanted to know what's going on in your life." He explained and she smiled at him.
She turned back to look in front of her.
"Well, contrary to what I keep trying to convince myself, things aren't going so well between us. I mean, they're going on well, just… not so well."
"Okkkk." Oliver spoke.
"I mean…" she began before laughing. "He asked Steffy to move out nevertheless. He didn't ask me to move back in though."
"He's an idiot." Oliver stated. "Why?"
She huffed. "Please ask him." She rested her head in her left hand.
He chuckled. "In that case, I am an idiot too." He remarked.
She looked at him quizzically so he turned towards her and elaborated: "I never suggested that we move in together."
Hope stared at Oliver in silence for an instant. "Oliver, you proposed to me." She reminded him. "I think that beats an offer to move in."
"Yes." He confirmed nodding. "And you said no." he supplemented.
"Oliver, I…" she began but was cut off.
"No, don't, don't." He asked the blonde. "Please, don't give me the friend speech: you care about me, you love being around me, I'm an amazing friend.
"But I do." She searched for Oliver's eyes and once she found them, she pursued: "I do care about you. And I do love being around you." She confessed sincerely. "And you're not an amazing friend… you're my best friend." she added putting the emphasis on the word 'best'.
At that friendship declaration, for lack of a love one, Oliver smiled at Hope.
"I wouldn't trade you for the world." She declared reaching for his hand on the table.
He looked at their linked hands before looking up at her. "Good." He said. "Cause I wouldn't either."
The blonde's lips quirked in a tight-lipped smile, and the smile actually reached her eyes.
Oliver took her fingers in his hand, and pressed them.
Thank you for reading.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Reviews appreciated.
You can follow me on Tumblr under antoematiand soapezriaas well as on Youtube under the former.
Till next time.