Chapter 51

Rafe had a lot to think about. He walked slowly back to Frank's apartment thinking about everything his mother had said. He had been slowly changing his mind about Olivia, but he still wasn't there yet. He didn't know if he ever would be, but he did know that his mother loved Olivia, that she was happy with her. Knowing that, he decided to do what he should have done weeks ago. After stopping at Frank's, he went in search of Olivia. He called the Beacon and discovered she wasn't there today, so he went walking. After a long while he found her sitting on the old bridge.

Walking up briskly, he called to her. "Hey you. Olivia, I have something for you." She looked at him quizzically. "Before I do, I want you to know. That I want my mother to be with Frank, not you."

"You came all the way here to tell me that?"

"Yes. I want it to happen, and I want you to be alone."

"That's important."

"Just please…"

"Just wait…"

"Just…"

"No, my turn to talk, my turn."

"Go ahead."

"She wants to be with me. I'm the one who said no. okay?"

"Olivia, she should not be with you."

"Yes, but I should be alone?"

"Look, I just came to give you these." He pulled the letters from his back pocket and handed them to her.

"What? What is this?"

"They're letters, from my mother. I didn't want you to see them but, well whatever. Just take them, and please, please don't hurt my mother." Before she could respond, he turned on his heel and strolled away.

Olivia looked down at the envelops in her hand. Natalia had been telling the truth. She had written her. She noticed that all but two of them were already opened and assumed Rafe had read them. At the moment she didn't care. As much as she wanted to read them, wanted to know if they made a difference, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was too afraid to risk her heart again. She tucked them in her purse and started her walk back to town.

After giving Olivia the letters, Rafe didn't want to think anymore. He acquired a six pack of beer and sat at the ballpark drinking them while he waited for Ashley.

She arrived shortly after he started on the first beer. Walking up behind him on the other side of the fence. "Hey. I got your message."

"How's Reva doing?"

"I don't really know. How's your mom?"

He burped from drinking too fast. "Excuse me, let's see. Um, she's a lesbian, which is interesting enough, but uh, she, she already plans to marry a woman. So…"

"What?" Rafe's phone rang. "Wait, is that her."

He ignored the call and put the phone back in his pocket. "Yeah."

A few days passed and Olivia was thankful that she hadn't heard from Natalia. She wasn't sure her heart could take it. What she didn't know, was that Natalia had taken that time to form a plan, to win back Olivia's heart that she had so badly and carelessly broken.

Olivia walked into her office to a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Calling to her assistant she inquired. "Kiera, Kiera, who sent the flowers?" She received no response, but she had a feeling she already knew. Attached was a card that simple read, 'I hope these flowers are as beautiful as you are. Love Natalia.' Without her permission, her faced formed a small smile. Quickly, she schooled her features as she removed the flowers from her office.

Placing them on a table in the hall by the elevator, she tried to arrange them. As she did, Vanessa stepped off the elevator. "Oh my, those are beautiful. Wow. You have an admirer."

"Oh, I just don't really want them in my office so I was trying to find the best place to put em."

"Oh well they're so beautiful, if you don't want them, give them to someone who needs cheering up."

Olivia noticed the shopping bags in her hands. "You don't need cheering up. You went out and took care of yourself. Didn't ya?"

Vanessa laughed. "I went a little overboard, but it's just that I have a date and um, I didn't know what to wear so."

"You have a date?"

"With Billy. I mean it's a little, I don't need to be nervous about a date with Billy but, I guess we all just have someone in our lives like that. Somebody that just makes us do crazy things like go out and buy a whole bunch of dresses that we don't really need."

The two women laughed and parted ways. Olivia left thinking about her person like that. The one person that can make her do crazy things, she chastised herself for letting her thoughts drift to Natalia.

Natalia was ready for the next step of her plan. Cookies. Olivia loved her cookies and she was hoping to at least get a moment to talk with her when she delivered them. Walking around the store, she ran into Mel as they both went for the last bag of chocolate chips.

"Did you need the chocolate chips? It's the last one. I was gonna make some cookies." Mel said.

"Oh, me too."

"You were?"

"Yeah. Actually, you know what, you take the chocolate chips I can use some peanut butter."

"Oh, no, no, no. You take em."

"Oh no, actually these are not for me. Are they for you?"

"No, they're for a friend."

"Well, what we could do, um, we could bake them together, and we could use the peanut butter and the chocolate chips and our friends will get both."

"That's a great idea."

"Yeah"

"Definitely. You get the butter I'll get the eggs."

"Okay. And you can just follow me to my place. Big kitchen."

"You're on."

The two finished grabbing supplies and drove to Natalia's. In the kitchen they started making their cookies.

Natalia thought it was nice to bake with someone. "I make a ton of cookies all the time, for the church community that I'm part of, and once a month we take all these cookies to nursing homes and hospitals and, it's actually really fun. You should come some time."

"Sounds fun. Maybe I will. So, is that why you're baking today?"

"No these are uh, I'm making these for a friend."

"Oh. A friend. Mmmhmm."

"Yeah. That's why you're making cookies right?'

"Yeah. I think so. I think he's my friend."

"You don't know if he's your friend?"

"Well, it depends on what your definition of friend is. Are you saying friend, or friend?" The latter friend referring to something more.

"Well which one do you want him to be?"

"I think I want him to be a friend." Referring to the latter.

"And that's why you're baking him cookies."

"I am. And that's why you're baking yours."

"Definitely." Natalia said with a sigh. All she wanted was her family back, but she knew this would be an uphill battle. If Olivia was one thing, it was stubborn.

Olivia was still trying to make the flowers look right on the table when Blake walked by.

"You need a bigger table. For the flowers. I mean the flowers are beautiful. That's the problem, it's not showing them off very well."

"Yeah. Well, no I appreciate the pointer." Olivia tried not to ask but had to. "Uh, I've just been wondering about this. Did you know, that Rafe asked Natalia to choose, when she left?"

"You know, Natalia's life it's her business."

"That's kind of a convenient answer Blake."

"Natalia's my friend, and if she confided something about her life to me, she asked me to keep it secret."

"I just don't understand. I don't get why she would come to you about something like this and not come to me."

"Because. Her life choices effect you, just like your life choices affect her. That's what happens when you really love someone."

"But isn't that all the more reason why she should have come to me in the first place?"

"Well sure, it should happen that way. But it doesn't always. Sometimes the last person in the world you can go to with the big stuff is the person that you love. And I wouldn't worry about it, you two are going to work this out."

Olivia didn't say anymore. She grabbed her flowers and walked back to her office. Leaving Blake starring after her.

Shortly after, Olivia was doing paperwork when a knock on her open door, followed by a familiar voice sounded. "May I come in." Natalia asked hopefully. Not waiting for an answer before stepping further inside.

"You're in." Olivia refused to look at her. Instead focusing on putting her papers back in their folder.

Natalia walked closer to the desk and placed a tuber ware of cookies on it. "I just baked these for you."

Olivia glanced up for only a second and then looked back down and over to the flowers. "So, I got your flowers."

"I see."

"You shouldn't have."

"I wanted to. I want you to know how I feel. I don't want a minute to go by without you knowing how much I love you, and how important you are to me."

"Look I, I wanna believe that. You have no idea how much I wanna believe that. But I don't think I'll believe anything you say anymore."

"That's not fair."

"Maybe not, but unfortunately it's how I feel. So, I need you to just, take your cookies and go home." Olivia handed her the cookies with a cold expression on her face.

Natalia left and went to sit in the park. She looked to the sky and spoke to no one. "I know Olivia is stubborn, but I know she'll come around."

Frank walked over at the end of her sentence. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Um, have you talked to Olivia?" he asked awkwardly.

"Not really. I don't think Olivia wants to talk to me much right now."

He sat down next to her. "Oh. Well, uh, sorry about that. I just want you to know that whatever happens between you and Olivia, I just want you to know that we can work things out, be friends."

"I'm so glad to hear that Frank. You're a good friend to have."

"I just want you to be happy. I really want you to be happy, and I just have to hope that I can be happy too."

"We'll both be happy."

"Yeah, yeah we will. So, I'll see you later then?"

"Sure. Cookie?" She held out a cookie to him.

"It's one of yours I'm sure." He commented as he took one. "I'll see ya later then. Call me if you need anything."

She smiled at him and he walked away.

Reva was sitting at her table playing cards with her son Johnathan when they heard a car pull up outside. As Reva walked out, Olivia was getting out of her car with the flowers. She had decided to take Vanessa's advice and take them to someone who needed cheering up.

Reva stepped closer. "Hi, wow."

"Hi. You hanging in there?"

"Yeah I'm, no, I'm not hanging in there. You know it's just difficult when you, you know find someone to love and then they aren't there anymore."

"Yeah. Um. Well, somebody gave me these and I can't keep them, and I thought maybe they could cheer you up."

"Well, they're beautiful. Sure."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Thank you" Reva reached to take them.

"They're a little heavy."

"Oh, my goodness. Good. Great. Well, I'd ask you in but um, the place is really kind of a mess."

"No that's okay I have to go anyway but enjoy. Enjoy the flowers."

"Thank you. Thanks."

Olivia walked back around to get in her car as Reva carried the flowers inside.

Olivia walked back into her office and Natalia was sitting behind her desk. "Look whatever it is, rice crispy treats, cake, dermally pie, it's not gonna help."

"I didn't bring any food this time."

"What do you want?"

"I know what you need. You need for me to prove to you that I love you, and I will. I will prove it."

"Chocolate chip cookies aren't gonna make me trust you again."

"What will?"

"I don't know Natalia. I don't know that anything ever will. We were engaged Natalia. Usually that means two people committed to each other who work out their problems together. That's not what happened here. You chose to leave me, to figure things out on your own, you didn't trust us. So no, I don't think anything you do is going to make me trust you again."

"Oh no see, you're wrong. Something will. There is something. And I don't know what it is yet, but I will figure it out. What we have is good. This is really good. And things are gonna work out. Cause I think things are already starting to work out, and you may not be able to see that yet but I can and I'm gonna keep coming back here until you do too." She grabbed her purse ready to leave when Olivia spoke again.

"Take off the ring Natalia." She turned and left her own office so she wouldn't see the tears she knew Natalia would cry following that statement.

The following morning Olivia walked into her office, she called to her assistant. "Kiera I need the numbers for that catering job you booked yesterday." She sat behind her desk, ready to start her day, setting the file she was carrying down she noticed it didn't sit level. She picked it up and saw the engagement ring she had placed on Natalia's finger all those months ago laying there with a note. I know you will give this back to me one day, until then, hold onto it for me. I love you Olivia. Oh, and Rafe told me he took the letters, and that he gave them back. I know you, and I know you are being too stubborn to read them, but please do. I know they don't make up for my leaving, but I think they might help you.

Olivia's eyes misted slightly, she had really thought Natalia would keep the ring, guess she should have known better. Natalia would never keep something that wasn't hers. She wiped her eyes and prepared to work.

Natalia had been in the hall, watching her love, the wetness in Olivia's eyes told her all was not lost. She squared her shoulders and walked into the office. "I have the file that you wanted." She handed it over with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I didn't bring any cookies; I don't have any flowers…"

"What do you need?"

"A job. I need a job. And I realize that you filled my old position, and Kiera seems nice." Olivia just looked down and shook her head. "You know I was hoping there was something else. I'll start from the beginning. Whatever you have. Waitressing, I can be a maid again, whatever you have available."

"I know what you're doing and you know what Natalia, it's not fair. I want you to leave." Olivia exited her office headed for the elevator to go to her suite and Natalia followed.

"You know I'm a good worker."

"You're a great worker. I'll write you another letter of recommendation but you cannot work here."

"You don't have any openings?"

"Oh, stop it. I, this isn't about a job okay. I know what you're thinking. If we work together I'm gonna be reminded of how much I love you. Well, I don't need a reminder. In fact, I don't wanna be reminded."

"I need a job."

"You're gonna find a job. You will. You're talented okay. It's just, not here. It's too hard for me okay. I need some distance."

"I understand, it's just, I really liked working here." She took a small step closer to Olivia.

"You love everywhere that you work. It's one of the amazing things about you. You just see things from a beautiful place. Which is why we can't do this. Good luck with your job search. I know you'll find something." The elevator dinged and Olivia got in. Leaning with her head against the wall. This was so much harder than it should be. It had never been so difficult for Olivia to walk away from someone. When she's done, she's done, but Natalia, Natalia was different. Natalia she loved with her whole heart and she just couldn't turn that off.

Natalia leaned against the wall for a moment. She knew it wasn't over yet, but this battle to win Olivia back was proving to be more difficult then she thought it would be. Olivia was hell bent on staying away. Natalia knew she could only push so hard before Olivia would completely shut down, but it was hard not to. She knew she stood on the edge of losing Olivia for good. Push too hard and lose Olivia, don't push hard enough, and lose Olivia. She had to keep the perfect balance or Olivia would put up walls too big for even her to break through.

Gaining the strength to stand again, she pushed off the wall. She blew a kiss towards the last place Olivia stood and walked out of the Beacon. This kiss was asking for help. Any sign that would help her know how to get Olivia to see that what they had was good.