Natalie tapped the keypad of her laptop as she finished working on the proposal—it was complete, except for a few minor details that could wait until morning. Her eyes wandered once again down to the trash can that now held the empty to-go bag from Rodi's. She'd been shocked by John's gesture of bringing her lunch earlier—just as she had done for him more times than she could count.
She wondered what tonight would be like—he was obviously trying to woo her back into his arms, and if she was honest she wanted to be back in them. Finally letting her guard down she thought about the night before—how good his touch felt, but she had reservations—she had found herself again, and as much as she loved John and knew he cared about her—when she was around him it seemed like she lost herself, and she didn't want that to happen again.
She grabbed her purse and walked out the door, looking in her purse for her keys and suddenly ran into someone, "Sorry," she said, looking up at Jared Banks.
"Hey—you got a minute to talk?" he asked, trying not to stare into her eyes too deeply.
"No, I'm on my way to meet someone. Can this wait until tomorrow? We need to finalize the proposal anyways," she said as she tried to walk around him and he stopped her. "Jared—let me by."
"No," he said as he pushed her into an empty office and closed the door.
"Fine. What is this about?" she asked, trying to make this quick, she didn't want to keep John waiting too long in fear that he'd chicken out if she wasn't there right at six.
"The letter—the one Nigel showed your dad and Bo that I was their brother—it was fake."
Natalie stared at him—it had hurt bad enough just a week ago when she'd found out she'd been making out with her own relative, at least Jess had the luxury to say even though they did sleep together they weren't blood relatives. "And how would you know this? You and Nigel aren't the best of chums."
"It was a con—."
"I thought you weren't a con."
"I'm—I'm not. I overheard Nigel about whom the real heir was—I threatened to tell everyone who it really was unless he let me be him—just for a little while."
"Did you not think about how I would feel about thinking I was making out with my uncle?"
"No—but that's why I'm ending this now. Because of you—."
"Because you felt sorry for me?" she asked, her anger rising and all thoughts of where she was headed to before this bombshell escaping her thoughts. "I hate it when—."
Jared threw his hands up to stop her, "Yeah—I know—when people feel sorry for you. But I can't keep looking at you and thinking about you like I am now while still playing the part of your uncle."
"Oh—you think that knowing you aren't my uncle is going to make things better now?" she said as she slipped past him and walked towards the door. "Think again pal—conning me is one thing, conning the entire Buchanan clan is a whole other can of worms," she said as she took one last look at him standing there before slamming the door shut.
John walked to the edge of the docks—he'd been walking for about an hour now in silence since leaving Rodi's. She'd never come. He'd talked to Mac earlier in the day and he'd agreed to let John rent out Rodi's—it was during the peak of dinner rush, but he'd told John he'd do anything for him and Natalie, they belonged together and he hoped they found their way back to each other.
But she'd never shown, even when Mac told John he'd wait an extra half hour at no charge, but John had declined and instead walked out into the December night.
He looked around the empty dock and remembered her words months ago—
You know I'm right John.
He wished he'd argued with her—wish he'd had it in himself one more time to start an argument where they agreed to keep their relationship whole, taken whatever it took to not end something they'd wanted for so long.
He started to turn around—deciding on going home for the night, he'd call her and invite her to breakfast in the morning. Maybe he'd been a little forward earlier—he'd give her time to think, but he wasn't going to give up.
As he turned he saw Natalie standing there watching him—how long had she been there? Was she even going to tell him she was there or just slip away without him seeing her? "Hey."
"Hey," she said, not quiet making full eye contact as she came forward. She had just decided to let him be—it was hard to read him from the back and she wasn't sure he was thinking of her at the moment—this place held no good memories for them, and she'd witnessed his and Marty's kiss here so she assumed it was of her. "You looked like you were in pretty deep thought just then."
"Yeah," he said with a nod as he walked closer to her. "There was once this woman I fell in love with—and no matter how well our relationship was going, I always screwed it up. I was hoping she'd give me another chance."
The combination of his words and looking into his blue eyes had Natalie instantly ready to go into his arms, but she remembered what she'd decided to tell him earlier—before the whole bombshell with Jared had her running to the roof the Angel Square Hotel to think.
"Since we've been apart I've found myself John—the real me, the one that knew exactly who she was—not Vicki and Clint's daughter, not Cris' wife or your girlfriend, but Natalie Balsom Buchanan who came to this town and didn't cower under some nameless title.
"And I like being her again—I like being able to make decisions and not worry about what someone will think. When I'm with you it's so easy to get lost and forget who I am—forget the real me. If we do try this relationship out again and it works—I'm not going to walk on egg shells this time—am I making sense?" she asked, worried he'd see it more as an ultimatum rather than an explanation of who she felt she'd become once again.
John couldn't think of a good answer so he did the one thing he thought might be right, he lifted her head up and covered her mouth with his. When he released her from his kiss he looked into her eyes, moving her hair out of her face, "Perfect sense. You want to go to Rodi's or home?"
"Home," she said softly, as they turned and began to walk away together, him putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close just as he had done months ago, but this time he knew she wouldn't be leaving at the end of the night, not tonight, not ever.
