She knocked on the front door. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like she had to knock on the front door. She usually just walked right in and she did it from the back.
Her mom opened the door and Natalie watched her face fall. She wasn't prepared for how much that would hurt.
"Honey, I don't think this is a good idea"
"I just – I want to apologize again"
"Jessie isn't in a place to hear it right now"
"Well, don't you need help with Bree?"
Her mom paused, "Jessie needs me right now"
Natalie heard the subtext as clear as day. Jessie needs me, so you need to go. Deal with it on your own.
"Okay" she said, "Mom, if you need anything, just call"
She retreated to her car and made the second drive of the day. If she was being honest, if her mom felt that way, she should probably just pack it in and call it a day, because her dad was a lot less forgiving than her mom.
She got through security, knocked on the door and got let in by Nigel. Of course, Nigel knew everything and was sympathetic. She was less than welcomed when she walked into the living room to see her dad, Bo, and Nora.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Clint said.
"Just came to see what I can contribute to getting the company back"
"Don't you think you've done enough?" Clint yelled
"Clint" Nora tried to calm him down.
"She knew"
"And so did you" Natalie said, "I don't know why you think you're any different than me. The only difference is when Dorian got up there Jared said, 'hey, she's going to tell everyone'"
"You were letting him work on a plan that ultimately lost us stock"
"Just the other day you were telling me he outranks me" Natalie said, "what was I going to do, stop him?"
"You should have told me"
"You would have greenlit it if he told you the same thing, he told me"
"You are incorrigible" Clint yelled and stormed away. Nora followed him.
"Is all that true?" Bo asked.
Natalie nodded. She was trying not to cry.
"I'm sorry honey" Bo said, "Your dad- I don't know what he was thinking"
"He's thinking he's got to blame someone that's not him" Natalie said, "and lucky me, I shared the evidence with him so I'm the best target"
"He knew?" Bo asked, and Natalie nodded, "you'd think he would have known to start checking the charter, you know?"
"We didn't know how big the circle was – we thought it was just us and Nigel. Turns out there was Charlie, Dorian, Roxy – can't keep a secret with a circle that big"
Bo nodded, "He has no right to blame you" and Natalie nodded, "Did John find you?"
Natalie nodded, "I actually, I think I have to stay at Angel Square. I can't stay with mom and I obviously can't stay here. Roxy hasn't noticed yet and I don't think she'd care if she did"
"I'm sorry this is happening to you but I'm glad you can lean on him right now, when he's doing all this for me"
"It's not just for you" Natalie said, "It's for everyone. We'd all be better off if you had the job"
"You sure about that? I can't even stop an attack on my own family"
"I should've told you" Natalie said, "maybe then this all could've been avoided"
"You know what happened to Jared?"
"No, I lost track of him in the chaos, maybe he's still with Charlie"
"Yeah, I got some questions for him"
"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it" Natalie said, "I can tell when I'm not wanted"
"It'll pass, Natalie"
She nodded, and headed out to the foyer.
"Natalie wait" she turned to see Nora running down the stairs, "I just – I'm sorry"
"None of this is on you, Nora" Natalie said.
"It's not on you, either"
"You think you could tell that to my dad?"
"Believe me, I'd try" Nora said, "he said you and Jared kissed?"
"No. Jared kissed me and I would have punched his lights out, but Nash beat me to it. Well, you know what happened after that"
"Why did Nash turn on you?"
Natalie shrugged, "I think he probably saw what he saw and thought I had more to do with it. He'd lost everything. I can't say I blame him"
"Do you need a place to stay?"
"Nora, you don't want to get yourself in the middle of this"
"I'm the lawyer, I'm already in the middle of it"
"Dad convinced you to represent them? You took a leave?"
Nora nodded, "Asa gave me this house. That's the least I could do"
"With Ramsey though?"
"Well, it's just a leave, it's not permanent" she said, "besides, you don't have to deal with the police anymore, right? Let me worry about Ramsey"
Natalie could have screamed. Of course, she didn't and besides Nora didn't know that there was a case being built and she was right, the family needed a good lawyer right now.
"Right. Force of habit, I guess" Natalie said.
"I gave John hell when I heard"
"I'm sure you did" Natalie said, "but that's the least of our worries right now"
"yeah" she said, "seriously, you didn't do anything wrong. You can stay here if you want"
"I think it's probably best if I don't" Natalie said, "Dad needs to trust you. You need to keep being our lawyer. Me being here, neither of those things is going to happen"
Nora sighed, "Natalie you're his daughter. He's going to come around eventually"
She shook her head, "Yeah. In the meantime, he and I just need to be separated. It'll pass"
"I hope everyone sees that you're putting them ahead of yourself" Nora said, "It's not lost on me, sweetie. And I'll do my damnest to make sure everyone else knows it"
Natalie shook her head, "Family first and all that"
"Where are you staying?"
"I took out a room with Roxy. She doesn't care about any of this"
"Is that awkward with John nearby?"
"Nora, honestly, that's the last thing on my mind right now"
"Yeah" Nora said, "Take care of yourself"
Natalie nodded. She started towards the door, but Nigel stopped her.
"Miss Natalie, I- "
"Nigel, you didn't do anything wrong" she said, "None of this is your fault"
"I don't understand why you'd want to protect me right now"
"You didn't do anything I wouldn't" Natalie said, "and I'm the last person to pass judgement on something like that"
"You are too kind" he said, "If there's anything I can do to help you right now"
"Just keep doing what you're doing" she said, "Putting the family first"
"Thank you, Miss Natalie" he said and she finally made it out the front door.
She just sat in her car for a minute. She wanted to hit things and cry, but she knew there were cameras everywhere and she would not give the security guys or her father the satisfaction. She started the car and headed back to Angel's Square.
She parked, planning on just taking a key and dealing with Roxy later. Unfortunately, Roxy was present at the desk. Wordlessly, she ran to her and hugged her.
"Oh Nattie, I'm so sorry" she said, "I've been wanting to call, I didn't know if you were ready to talk – "
"All I've been doing is talking, Rox" she said, "Um, last night I crashed on the roof, I just wanted to escape, but um, I can't go to Llanfair and I can't go the Buchanan mansion, can I have – "
"Oh, sweetie, don't say another word, you got it" she said, "I'll put you on a whole different floor than Johnnyboy, too"
"thanks" she said, "if you don't mind, it's been a long day, I really just want to be alone for a while"
"One thing" Roxy said, "everyone is saying you and your former uncle were making out when it all happened – are you – "
"Please don't finish that thought. He forced himself on me. He says he loves me; he wants more with me, but I- "
"Oh" Roxy said, "boy that's awful. And after what Johnny did – "
"Roxy I really don't want to think about that right now"
"Right" Roxy said, "sorry" she handed the key over.
"Thank you" she said, "I'll be more open to talking to you another time, I promise"
"Don't worry about it, baby" she said, "I'm always here for you"
"Thanks, Rox" she said and she headed upstairs.
Once she was alone, she collapsed on the couch and clicked on the tv. The room was the same setup as John's so it felt familiar and that made her feel better. She picked up her phone.
Im in room 12.