Chapter Rating: PG-13
The pair continued along the corridor towards the boardroom in silence; Natalia walking slightly ahead of Olivia. Olivia, of course, enjoying the view.
She still felt somewhat annoyed, yet slightly amused, at Natalia's triumph against her in the elevator. She knew she had to focus. Olivia Spencer never backed down from a fight, and she always played through to the last inning whether she was winning or not. She knew she could do this; she felt confident that she could win this next round. The round in which she would chase after a personal and professional windfall. Confident that she had a strong plan, she knew it was unlikely that she would be turned down. Excitement about the future threatened to steal her resolve as she continued to eye Natalia.
This time you won't be able to stop me, Olivia said silently to the woman in front of her. I know you will want to, but it won't be your decision. As much of a relief it was to know that Natalia couldn't solely foil her plans, Olivia couldn't help but worry for Natalia. She had quickly learned that Natalia needed to be in control in order to survive. She needed the daily structure of having complete awareness of every single routine or changing thing to be able to feel as though her Universe was aligned.
I'm about to take that away from you, and it's only going to get worse from here. Olivia felt the tiniest pang of regret for how upset Natalia was going to be finding out that Olivia had come up with the better plan.
Not your problem, Spencer! If she wants to act like a stubborn, spoiled, neurotic control freak... Olivia was surprised at just how fast she could go from worrying about the younger woman's feeling, to being so entirely frustrated about everything that was, in essence, Natalia Rivera. She shouldn't have been shocked though. She'd done more than her fair share of complete 180-degree spins as far as her emotions towards Natalia were concerned.
GOD! Enough with Natalia already!
Andrew was waiting outside the doorway of the boardroom, texting on his cell, when he looked up and saw the two women headed his way. His eyes fell first upon Natalia, and although he was aware of Olivia's presence behind the dark-haired beauty, he couldn't quite pull his gaze away from Natalia. As Olivia approached, she could see the obvious look of instant infatuation on Andrew's face. Her history with Andrew had been long and complex but they had, for years now, tried to maintain a delightfully non-complicated friendship. Both had agreed that if they occasionally blurred the line between friendship love and sexual desire, they would act upon it without guilt and not analyze it to death the next day. It had been over a year since any 'blurring' had occurred, and this wasn't necessarily due to a shift in the unspoken rules, but mainly due to a decision to simply take appreciation in their loving friendship without complicating it further down the road.
Andrew now had the same look in his eyes for Natalia that he had occasionally had for Olivia. Olivia took notice of it and quickly decided that she didn't quite know, offhand, how she felt about that.
"Good morning, ladies," Andrew glanced briefly at Olivia and saw her serious gaze. He wasn't able to fully understand the meaning of her expression but felt as though he were being admonished for something. He moved to Olivia and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Morning, Love," he said in an overly familiar tone.
Natalia watched the interaction between the two with piqued interest. Olivia caught the other woman's raised eyebrow and distinct look of intrigue and swiftly detached herself from Andrew's light embrace.
"Natalia," Olivia cleared her throat before continuing. "I would like you to meet Andrew Radcliffe, from Nerostar Financial. He is one of my best advisers as well as a close friend. Andrew will be presenting with me today."
Natalia politely took the hand that was offered to her.
"Andrew, this is Natalia Rivera."
Andrew flashed Olivia a knowing smile before turning back to Natalia. "Ah, yes. We have heard quite a bit about you in this last week, Ms. Rivera.
It was Natalia's turn to glance over at Olivia questioningly. Olivia simply shrugged her shoulders slightly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Radcliffe," she said as she released her hand from his. "If you'll excuse me, I would like to be sure to get a front row seat for the spectacular show that I am quite certain your 'close friend' will be entertaining me with today." Natalia smiled even through the cutting sarcasm.
Andrew raised his eyebrows as he watched the brunette push through the boardroom door. "Um, okay? What was that all about?" He turned to Olivia who was still staring where Natalia had last been seen. She sighed deeply.
"Andrew... May I present to you, the Wrench."
-----------------------------------------------------------
The boardroom was full. Each member of the meeting spent the few remaining moments flipping through folders and talking quietly to their colleagues as they awaited Mr. Rivera's arrival.
Olivia and Natalia seemed to be the only two in the room not occupying themselves. They sat diagonally from each other one seat removed, shifting between the automatic exchange of brief glances and the holding of long glares. During one such staring match, Natalia decided it was the opportune moment to slowly unbutton her suit jacket and remove it, smirking as Olivia's eyes went momentarily to the now enhanced view of even more exposed smooth skin. She then turned her chair out to the side and leaned forward, pretending to remove a thread from the bottom of her pant leg. Olivia knew what Natalia was attempting to do, of course, and resolved not to let the reaction of her body translate to the expression of her face. She remained calm and stoic. She looked away quickly and leaned into Andrew to ask a made-up question; anything to keep her gaze away from Natalia.
Antonio entered though the boardroom doors, and the room went quiet. Introductions were hurried along, and the floor was opened to Olivia. As soon as Olivia went to speak, Natalia tossed the pen on the desk that she had been twirling around in her fingers. Olivia gave her an annoyed look and began.
"First of all, I would like to thank you, Antonio, for agreeing to meet with us today. I realize that the past week has been very..." she searched for a non-accusatory way to express the rest of the sentence that wouldn't anger Natalia "...busy for you. But despite what has occurred since the last time we were gathered in this room, I would like you to know that it has been a privilege to be here and to get to know both your company..." she glanced again at Natalia and carefully hid a knowing smile, "... and your family." She paused. "It has been this great respect for both that encourages me to hope that we will be able to continue doing business together. And that is why we are here today."
She stopped to request one of the folders that Andrew was holding, opened it up, and resumed addressing the room. "From what I understand, the previous transaction with the LWG has been successfully halted for the time being, and it isn't your wish to pursue that particular venture at this time. However, we are also aware that the economy is putting great strain on the travel and tourism sector. Eventually, as Ms. Rivera mentioned in our last meeting, tough decisions like the one she made last week have to be made, no matter how drastic they may seem. And without offending you, Mr. Rivera, I must agree that she made the right decision."
Each of the Rivera clans’ heads shot up at this remark.
"Having said that, I also agree with you, Sir, and can acknowledge that selling your entire franchise is not probably the most sound decision. However, it certainly is a valid solution if you factor in one other detail that Natalia mentioned in this room last week."
Natalia leaned forward and placed both forearms on the table, waiting for it.
"I believe it was mentioned that even though this hotel was on the market, there would be three other bankrupted hotels scheduled for possible demolition within the next year." Olivia paused to look at the younger hotelier.
Natalia started slowly shaking her head slightly back and forth, about to rise out of her chair and speak, but Olivia held her hand out in attempt to keep at bay the gale force of fury about to storm towards her.
"Listen to me, Natalia," she said pointedly. "You have made diligent efforts to keep this corporation alive. But, if there were an option to save both your franchise and these owned properties, you would owe it to your family and the stockholders to jump on that option to further the chain's growth."
"I don't believe this," Natalia rubbed her forehead and shut her eyes tightly.
Olivia turned to Mr. Rivera. "Antonio, a merger of our owned properties would give the Empire a consolidating drive to cut out the number of intermediary companies that are leaching away at our resources and our revenue."
Natalia now sat back exaggeratedly in her chair and folded her arms.
"Combining the efforts of this firmly established monarch in the luxury lodging industry with an ever expanding and popular brand name as I maintain with Beacon Industries would create a powerful force in both the east and west coasts. The terms and conditions of this deal will, of course, be further explained by my colleagues. But, essentially, if we can get the go ahead from the shareholders, obtain the proper government clearance, and secure adequate funding, we could close this deal by the end of November.
Think about the future of our brands. The merged sales and marketing initiatives would provide us with an opportunity to invest in the foreign market, therefore generating more reciprocated business and the possibility of joint ventures in the future. By establishing a sales-force between our luxury brands and consolidating our strengths, it would diminish the amount of concern surrounding cost synergies and focus our attention on the revenue synergies."
"What I want us to create here is a uniform system that would, ultimately, be beneficial to the shareholders." She motioned to her colleagues. "This team’s enthusiasm for creating a new national brand is, in my opinion, going to be shared by your board of directors. Please allow us to set the initial stage for this meeting. I am confident that we, as a team, will present a very polished proposal, which will include revenue forecasting and the opportunity for expanding verticals within the industry. This merger will be a process as I am sure you are all aware, but the end result will mean exponential gain for all of us. Together we will succeed, and in turn, reap the very highest rewards."
As Olivia sat down, Natalia stood up.
"Natalia..." Mr. Rivera began to stand when his daughter quickly made her way out of the boardroom.
"Allow me, Antonio?" Olivia hurriedly asked and waited for his approval to leave to catch Natalia. He nodded.
Olivia instructed one of her advisers to continue with the meeting and tapped Andrew on the shoulder.
"I've got it," he whispered.
She headed out of the boardroom at an even pace, but once in the hallway, she spotted Natalia already at the elevators. She all but jogged, getting to the doors as they were closing. She pushed them with both arms as she sought the eyes of the woman inside.
"Natalia, what are you doing?" she asked, not entering the car but not allowing the doors to close, either.
"You said you weren't here to take anything away from me."
"I'm not!"
The brunette shot her an incredulous look. "Lies from the pit of hell," she denounced, pointing back towards the boardroom. "What the fuck was that?"
"That was my way of coming up with a strategy that could very well save your family's company." Olivia was feeling indignant now.
"Oh why thank you, Spencer! How ever could we have survived without you?"
"Would you grow the fuck up, Natalia?!" Olivia shot back at the irate women trapped within the metal box. She stepped inside and allowed the doors to close. Natalia made an effort to reach for the buttons to press her suite's floor, but Olivia stepped in front of her.
"Get out of my way!" Natalia warned.
"NO!"
"You really are a piece of work, Spencer!"
"I'm aware!"
"Here to pick-up after the idiot daughter? Save the day?" She shook her head and laughed. "Couldn't help but notice that this glorious plan of yours isn't quite reading as being a lateral move for you?"
"It wouldn't be for either company. But if you’re referring to the fact that I have quite a large amount to gain from this, yes, I admit that wholeheartedly. This is business, Natalia, and it makes sense. Why can't you see what kind of an opportunity we have here?"
Natalia backed up from Olivia and looked away, reflecting momentarily before she spoke again. "I would love nothing more than to pursue this idea. You are right. It's a fantastic offer."
Olivia, in that moment, felt the last of her resolve slipping away.
"Then why the hell are you making every single thing I do seem like it’s a personal attack against you?! I am so fucking sick of this, Natalia!" Olivia moved closer even as Natalia backed up. "This may come as a shock to you, but not everything I do in this life is done with the express purpose to torture and oppress The Great Natalia Rivera. The marvelous topic of all that is YOU had no bearing whatsoever in this plan of action."
Natalia narrowed her eyes and simply studied Olivia for a moment.
"I dare you to promise to tell me the truth and then try and repeat that last sentence."
Olivia opened her mouth to offer a rebuttal and found she could not.
"That's what I thought." Natalia moved swiftly to the side to get to the number pad. Again, Olivia stopped her and batted her hand away.
"If you think that I am going to walk away from an opportunity like this simply because you and I can't get along for more than five minutes, you're more delusional than I thought?"
"Listen–"
"NO! YOU listen!" The volume of Olivia's voice was at the loudest Natalia had ever heard it. "Name one fucking, damned good reason why this deal is not the best thing for both of us. It doesn't even have to be spectacular. Just one reason why this can't work; why you won't even give it a shot!"
Natalia stood motionless. Barely breathing.
Olivia waited. Her expression shifted directly from an angered look to one of desperate pleading. "One reason..." she pushed the breath from her tense body. "Please..." she whispered, not letting go of Natalia's eyes.
The only sound was the labored breathing of both women and within a few short seconds Natalia could not stand immobile any longer.
She lunged towards Olivia, pushing her the few steps back into the number pad. Her mouth earnestly sought the taller woman's as she brought one of her hands to the back of Olivia's neck, pressing her downward. Their lips were already parted when they met. Their tongues made no attempt to remain inside their own mouths. Soft warmth was tasted. Savored, anxiously. Natalia pressed hard against Olivia's body and the older hotelier's hand made its way down Natalia's arm to find her hand. She quickly grabbed the jacket and file folder out of that hand and threw both items to the floor, freeing Natalia to move it inside the open lapels of Olivia's jacket and grab the material of her shirt. Frantic kisses became longer deeper ones as Olivia threaded her fingers through Natalia’s hair.
Olivia's thigh moved forward. She craved contact of any sort. She wanted nothing more than to hear audibly, from Natalia, what she herself was feeling. She wasn't disappointed as Natalia mewled in pleasure when the toned thigh pressed against her throbbing center, her hands grasping at Olivia's hips to try and increase the pressure. Olivia had no choice but to moan in reply.
In their heated embrace, Olivia's elbow pressed one the keys on the pad and the car started moving, causing both of the unbalanced women to lurch to the side. Their lips separated and their eyes connected. Panting from the lack oxygen, Natalia let her gaze wonder again to the swollen lips in front of her. It took everything she had left inside of her not to ravage those soft lips once more. But instead she pressed both hands against Olivia stomach and pushed herself back. Olivia caught her arms and tried to pull her once again towards her.
"No! Please Natalia, don't go back there..." Olivia begged in a breathless voice. "Don't take this away again!
Natalia saw the anguish in the other woman's eyes. She gently reached up and cupped Olivia's cheek, her thumb lightly running over the bottom lip that hers had just bruised.
"You asked for one reason."
Natalia removed her hand and bent down to get her jacket and folder from the floor. When she straightened back up, the look in Olivia's eyes froze her to the core.
"I hate you," Olivia said with the most painful amount of truth in her angry tone.
Natalia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Reason number two," Natalia said coldly.
The doors opened to an unknown floor and Natalia didn't bother guessing where they were. She brushed past Olivia and strode down the hallway towards the stairs.
When the elevator doors began to close, Olivia was still facing the back of the car.
When they shut completely, Natalia heard a fist collide forcefully with the thick metal doors.
And as Olivia continued on her way up, Natalia's tears came down.
The pair continued along the corridor towards the boardroom in silence; Natalia walking slightly ahead of Olivia. Olivia, of course, enjoying the view.
She still felt somewhat annoyed, yet slightly amused, at Natalia's triumph against her in the elevator. She knew she had to focus. Olivia Spencer never backed down from a fight, and she always played through to the last inning whether she was winning or not. She knew she could do this; she felt confident that she could win this next round. The round in which she would chase after a personal and professional windfall. Confident that she had a strong plan, she knew it was unlikely that she would be turned down. Excitement about the future threatened to steal her resolve as she continued to eye Natalia.
This time you won't be able to stop me, Olivia said silently to the woman in front of her. I know you will want to, but it won't be your decision. As much of a relief it was to know that Natalia couldn't solely foil her plans, Olivia couldn't help but worry for Natalia. She had quickly learned that Natalia needed to be in control in order to survive. She needed the daily structure of having complete awareness of every single routine or changing thing to be able to feel as though her Universe was aligned.
I'm about to take that away from you, and it's only going to get worse from here. Olivia felt the tiniest pang of regret for how upset Natalia was going to be finding out that Olivia had come up with the better plan.
Not your problem, Spencer! If she wants to act like a stubborn, spoiled, neurotic control freak... Olivia was surprised at just how fast she could go from worrying about the younger woman's feeling, to being so entirely frustrated about everything that was, in essence, Natalia Rivera. She shouldn't have been shocked though. She'd done more than her fair share of complete 180-degree spins as far as her emotions towards Natalia were concerned.
GOD! Enough with Natalia already!
Andrew was waiting outside the doorway of the boardroom, texting on his cell, when he looked up and saw the two women headed his way. His eyes fell first upon Natalia, and although he was aware of Olivia's presence behind the dark-haired beauty, he couldn't quite pull his gaze away from Natalia. As Olivia approached, she could see the obvious look of instant infatuation on Andrew's face. Her history with Andrew had been long and complex but they had, for years now, tried to maintain a delightfully non-complicated friendship. Both had agreed that if they occasionally blurred the line between friendship love and sexual desire, they would act upon it without guilt and not analyze it to death the next day. It had been over a year since any 'blurring' had occurred, and this wasn't necessarily due to a shift in the unspoken rules, but mainly due to a decision to simply take appreciation in their loving friendship without complicating it further down the road.
Andrew now had the same look in his eyes for Natalia that he had occasionally had for Olivia. Olivia took notice of it and quickly decided that she didn't quite know, offhand, how she felt about that.
"Good morning, ladies," Andrew glanced briefly at Olivia and saw her serious gaze. He wasn't able to fully understand the meaning of her expression but felt as though he were being admonished for something. He moved to Olivia and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Morning, Love," he said in an overly familiar tone.
Natalia watched the interaction between the two with piqued interest. Olivia caught the other woman's raised eyebrow and distinct look of intrigue and swiftly detached herself from Andrew's light embrace.
"Natalia," Olivia cleared her throat before continuing. "I would like you to meet Andrew Radcliffe, from Nerostar Financial. He is one of my best advisers as well as a close friend. Andrew will be presenting with me today."
Natalia politely took the hand that was offered to her.
"Andrew, this is Natalia Rivera."
Andrew flashed Olivia a knowing smile before turning back to Natalia. "Ah, yes. We have heard quite a bit about you in this last week, Ms. Rivera.
It was Natalia's turn to glance over at Olivia questioningly. Olivia simply shrugged her shoulders slightly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Radcliffe," she said as she released her hand from his. "If you'll excuse me, I would like to be sure to get a front row seat for the spectacular show that I am quite certain your 'close friend' will be entertaining me with today." Natalia smiled even through the cutting sarcasm.
Andrew raised his eyebrows as he watched the brunette push through the boardroom door. "Um, okay? What was that all about?" He turned to Olivia who was still staring where Natalia had last been seen. She sighed deeply.
"Andrew... May I present to you, the Wrench."
-----------------------------------------------------------
The boardroom was full. Each member of the meeting spent the few remaining moments flipping through folders and talking quietly to their colleagues as they awaited Mr. Rivera's arrival.
Olivia and Natalia seemed to be the only two in the room not occupying themselves. They sat diagonally from each other one seat removed, shifting between the automatic exchange of brief glances and the holding of long glares. During one such staring match, Natalia decided it was the opportune moment to slowly unbutton her suit jacket and remove it, smirking as Olivia's eyes went momentarily to the now enhanced view of even more exposed smooth skin. She then turned her chair out to the side and leaned forward, pretending to remove a thread from the bottom of her pant leg. Olivia knew what Natalia was attempting to do, of course, and resolved not to let the reaction of her body translate to the expression of her face. She remained calm and stoic. She looked away quickly and leaned into Andrew to ask a made-up question; anything to keep her gaze away from Natalia.
Antonio entered though the boardroom doors, and the room went quiet. Introductions were hurried along, and the floor was opened to Olivia. As soon as Olivia went to speak, Natalia tossed the pen on the desk that she had been twirling around in her fingers. Olivia gave her an annoyed look and began.
"First of all, I would like to thank you, Antonio, for agreeing to meet with us today. I realize that the past week has been very..." she searched for a non-accusatory way to express the rest of the sentence that wouldn't anger Natalia "...busy for you. But despite what has occurred since the last time we were gathered in this room, I would like you to know that it has been a privilege to be here and to get to know both your company..." she glanced again at Natalia and carefully hid a knowing smile, "... and your family." She paused. "It has been this great respect for both that encourages me to hope that we will be able to continue doing business together. And that is why we are here today."
She stopped to request one of the folders that Andrew was holding, opened it up, and resumed addressing the room. "From what I understand, the previous transaction with the LWG has been successfully halted for the time being, and it isn't your wish to pursue that particular venture at this time. However, we are also aware that the economy is putting great strain on the travel and tourism sector. Eventually, as Ms. Rivera mentioned in our last meeting, tough decisions like the one she made last week have to be made, no matter how drastic they may seem. And without offending you, Mr. Rivera, I must agree that she made the right decision."
Each of the Rivera clans’ heads shot up at this remark.
"Having said that, I also agree with you, Sir, and can acknowledge that selling your entire franchise is not probably the most sound decision. However, it certainly is a valid solution if you factor in one other detail that Natalia mentioned in this room last week."
Natalia leaned forward and placed both forearms on the table, waiting for it.
"I believe it was mentioned that even though this hotel was on the market, there would be three other bankrupted hotels scheduled for possible demolition within the next year." Olivia paused to look at the younger hotelier.
Natalia started slowly shaking her head slightly back and forth, about to rise out of her chair and speak, but Olivia held her hand out in attempt to keep at bay the gale force of fury about to storm towards her.
"Listen to me, Natalia," she said pointedly. "You have made diligent efforts to keep this corporation alive. But, if there were an option to save both your franchise and these owned properties, you would owe it to your family and the stockholders to jump on that option to further the chain's growth."
"I don't believe this," Natalia rubbed her forehead and shut her eyes tightly.
Olivia turned to Mr. Rivera. "Antonio, a merger of our owned properties would give the Empire a consolidating drive to cut out the number of intermediary companies that are leaching away at our resources and our revenue."
Natalia now sat back exaggeratedly in her chair and folded her arms.
"Combining the efforts of this firmly established monarch in the luxury lodging industry with an ever expanding and popular brand name as I maintain with Beacon Industries would create a powerful force in both the east and west coasts. The terms and conditions of this deal will, of course, be further explained by my colleagues. But, essentially, if we can get the go ahead from the shareholders, obtain the proper government clearance, and secure adequate funding, we could close this deal by the end of November.
Think about the future of our brands. The merged sales and marketing initiatives would provide us with an opportunity to invest in the foreign market, therefore generating more reciprocated business and the possibility of joint ventures in the future. By establishing a sales-force between our luxury brands and consolidating our strengths, it would diminish the amount of concern surrounding cost synergies and focus our attention on the revenue synergies."
"What I want us to create here is a uniform system that would, ultimately, be beneficial to the shareholders." She motioned to her colleagues. "This team’s enthusiasm for creating a new national brand is, in my opinion, going to be shared by your board of directors. Please allow us to set the initial stage for this meeting. I am confident that we, as a team, will present a very polished proposal, which will include revenue forecasting and the opportunity for expanding verticals within the industry. This merger will be a process as I am sure you are all aware, but the end result will mean exponential gain for all of us. Together we will succeed, and in turn, reap the very highest rewards."
As Olivia sat down, Natalia stood up.
"Natalia..." Mr. Rivera began to stand when his daughter quickly made her way out of the boardroom.
"Allow me, Antonio?" Olivia hurriedly asked and waited for his approval to leave to catch Natalia. He nodded.
Olivia instructed one of her advisers to continue with the meeting and tapped Andrew on the shoulder.
"I've got it," he whispered.
She headed out of the boardroom at an even pace, but once in the hallway, she spotted Natalia already at the elevators. She all but jogged, getting to the doors as they were closing. She pushed them with both arms as she sought the eyes of the woman inside.
"Natalia, what are you doing?" she asked, not entering the car but not allowing the doors to close, either.
"You said you weren't here to take anything away from me."
"I'm not!"
The brunette shot her an incredulous look. "Lies from the pit of hell," she denounced, pointing back towards the boardroom. "What the fuck was that?"
"That was my way of coming up with a strategy that could very well save your family's company." Olivia was feeling indignant now.
"Oh why thank you, Spencer! How ever could we have survived without you?"
"Would you grow the fuck up, Natalia?!" Olivia shot back at the irate women trapped within the metal box. She stepped inside and allowed the doors to close. Natalia made an effort to reach for the buttons to press her suite's floor, but Olivia stepped in front of her.
"Get out of my way!" Natalia warned.
"NO!"
"You really are a piece of work, Spencer!"
"I'm aware!"
"Here to pick-up after the idiot daughter? Save the day?" She shook her head and laughed. "Couldn't help but notice that this glorious plan of yours isn't quite reading as being a lateral move for you?"
"It wouldn't be for either company. But if you’re referring to the fact that I have quite a large amount to gain from this, yes, I admit that wholeheartedly. This is business, Natalia, and it makes sense. Why can't you see what kind of an opportunity we have here?"
Natalia backed up from Olivia and looked away, reflecting momentarily before she spoke again. "I would love nothing more than to pursue this idea. You are right. It's a fantastic offer."
Olivia, in that moment, felt the last of her resolve slipping away.
"Then why the hell are you making every single thing I do seem like it’s a personal attack against you?! I am so fucking sick of this, Natalia!" Olivia moved closer even as Natalia backed up. "This may come as a shock to you, but not everything I do in this life is done with the express purpose to torture and oppress The Great Natalia Rivera. The marvelous topic of all that is YOU had no bearing whatsoever in this plan of action."
Natalia narrowed her eyes and simply studied Olivia for a moment.
"I dare you to promise to tell me the truth and then try and repeat that last sentence."
Olivia opened her mouth to offer a rebuttal and found she could not.
"That's what I thought." Natalia moved swiftly to the side to get to the number pad. Again, Olivia stopped her and batted her hand away.
"If you think that I am going to walk away from an opportunity like this simply because you and I can't get along for more than five minutes, you're more delusional than I thought?"
"Listen–"
"NO! YOU listen!" The volume of Olivia's voice was at the loudest Natalia had ever heard it. "Name one fucking, damned good reason why this deal is not the best thing for both of us. It doesn't even have to be spectacular. Just one reason why this can't work; why you won't even give it a shot!"
Natalia stood motionless. Barely breathing.
Olivia waited. Her expression shifted directly from an angered look to one of desperate pleading. "One reason..." she pushed the breath from her tense body. "Please..." she whispered, not letting go of Natalia's eyes.
The only sound was the labored breathing of both women and within a few short seconds Natalia could not stand immobile any longer.
She lunged towards Olivia, pushing her the few steps back into the number pad. Her mouth earnestly sought the taller woman's as she brought one of her hands to the back of Olivia's neck, pressing her downward. Their lips were already parted when they met. Their tongues made no attempt to remain inside their own mouths. Soft warmth was tasted. Savored, anxiously. Natalia pressed hard against Olivia's body and the older hotelier's hand made its way down Natalia's arm to find her hand. She quickly grabbed the jacket and file folder out of that hand and threw both items to the floor, freeing Natalia to move it inside the open lapels of Olivia's jacket and grab the material of her shirt. Frantic kisses became longer deeper ones as Olivia threaded her fingers through Natalia’s hair.
Olivia's thigh moved forward. She craved contact of any sort. She wanted nothing more than to hear audibly, from Natalia, what she herself was feeling. She wasn't disappointed as Natalia mewled in pleasure when the toned thigh pressed against her throbbing center, her hands grasping at Olivia's hips to try and increase the pressure. Olivia had no choice but to moan in reply.
In their heated embrace, Olivia's elbow pressed one the keys on the pad and the car started moving, causing both of the unbalanced women to lurch to the side. Their lips separated and their eyes connected. Panting from the lack oxygen, Natalia let her gaze wonder again to the swollen lips in front of her. It took everything she had left inside of her not to ravage those soft lips once more. But instead she pressed both hands against Olivia stomach and pushed herself back. Olivia caught her arms and tried to pull her once again towards her.
"No! Please Natalia, don't go back there..." Olivia begged in a breathless voice. "Don't take this away again!
Natalia saw the anguish in the other woman's eyes. She gently reached up and cupped Olivia's cheek, her thumb lightly running over the bottom lip that hers had just bruised.
"You asked for one reason."
Natalia removed her hand and bent down to get her jacket and folder from the floor. When she straightened back up, the look in Olivia's eyes froze her to the core.
"I hate you," Olivia said with the most painful amount of truth in her angry tone.
Natalia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Reason number two," Natalia said coldly.
The doors opened to an unknown floor and Natalia didn't bother guessing where they were. She brushed past Olivia and strode down the hallway towards the stairs.
When the elevator doors began to close, Olivia was still facing the back of the car.
When they shut completely, Natalia heard a fist collide forcefully with the thick metal doors.
And as Olivia continued on her way up, Natalia's tears came down.
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