Disclaimer: All characters and locations are property of ABC/Disney—except for Nick Dawson. He's mine, I tell you, MINE! Heheheh ;)
A/N: Hello! Yes, I know—I have another story going on, but this is my own little creation and it's all about Natalie. :) One thing though—because I know in the perfect world John wouldn't have kept a secret from her, Cristian was not Cristian—he was, in fact, an imposter. Everyone enjoy! Until next time—PCGirl.
Natalie stood behind the bar at Rodi's and concentrated on helping the customers at hand and ignoring the grief she still felt for Cristian. It'd been two weeks since he'd admitted he wasn't her dead husband, but someone who was given plastic surgery and sent here in order to kill Tico and Antonio with Cristian's memories. It had been a week since he was sent to jail for life, a day later the DNA test came back stating what John had felt all along—the man was not Cristian Vega.
She hadn't cried to John this time when Antonio came and gave her the news—she just wept in her brother-in-law's arms and they then went over as a unit to see Carlotta. She actually had only seen John a few times since the whole thing went down—he'd come in to grab some lunch, but either sat in the corner eating it or went right back to the police station to work on something more important.
The one time they had actually talked for more than a minute she told him everything was fine—only if it was. She shook her thoughts away as a new customer came to the bar, "Hi. Can I help you?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah. Well, hopefully you can help me in two ways. I need to get something quick for lunch and can you tell me where I can find—The Sun Newspaper office?" he asked as he pulled out his notepad and flipped through it quickly.
"I can help you on both parts," she smiled as she noticed his hazel eyes peeking through his sandy blonde hair that was in need for a haircut. "The owner of The Sun is my uncle—Todd Manning. And what would you like for lunch?"
"A cheeseburger would be great—are they good here?"
"The best in town—the works?" she asked as he nodded and she walked away. "So what is my uncle needing your services for?" she asked as she came back from telling the cook.
"My name is Nick Dawson and he called me a few days ago and asked me to come here—said he'd read a few articles of mine and is in the hunt for a new reporter. I figured I could use a change of pace and scenery so I said why not."
"I forgot to tell you—my name is Natalie," she said as she heard the cook holler her name and she went to bring his food out.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Natalie—hopefully I'll get a chance to keep the job and see you around sometime," he said giving her a broad smile before grabbing his to-go bag and walking out of the bar.
"Yeah," she said, giving a heartfelt smile for the first time in weeks.
-
What was she doing here? That was the question that kept running through Natalie's head as she walked off the elevator at The Sun and down the hall. After she had talked to the friendly newcomer to town she couldn't help but think her day had brightened somewhat. And now—here she was coming to see her sister, but somehow hoping she'd run into him.
"Natalie?" called a voice from behind her and she turned to see Jess sticking her head out of her office door.
"Hey—you about to call it a day?" she smiled at her and took note of Jess's reaction to her smile and walked towards the office.
"Yeah—you want to go somewhere?"
"I was thinking we could swing by the diner for a quick bite before heading to the apartment," she said, speaking of the apartment her and Jessica now shared.
"Yeah, but first I have to take someone over to The Banner—you are more than welcome to come with us first though."
"That's fine," said Natalie as she walked into her sister's office and smiled. "Nick—hi."
"Hey," he said, giving her that big smile again.
"Todd couldn't give you a job?"
"He could—I just read through some of his articles and thought them a bit too—uhm, stretched to accept the offer. Jessica here said that there was something opened over at The Banner—we're going over there now so I can talk to the Editor."
"Well, that's very noble of my sister," she said, giving a hearty laugh.
"Your sister?" he grinned at both of them.
"Yep—twins actually," said Natalie as she cocked her head to the side and smiled. "You know what? I'm just going to head over and see Carlotta by myself—I will see you back at home though."
-
Jessica walked into the two bedroom apartment she and Natalie had began to rent a week ago—Natalie hadn't been able to sleep in her old bed since the truth came out, and wanted to get away from Llanfair and constantly reassuring everyone she was ok so she'd found this place to rent. Jessica had talked her into moving in also and splitting the rent.
She put down her bags when she noticed the music coming from the kitchen and went to investigate. She smiled at seeing Natalie putting groceries away, "Who are you and what did you do to my sister?"
"Hmm?" asked Natalie as she looked over to see Jessica standing in the doorway.
"You heard me—I've had to force you to eat food and here you are putting away groceries that you bought yourself. I'm glad to see you've finally turned over a new leaf but this is still a sudden surprise. I thought you getting on with your life would be a more gradual process."
"I did too. I mean I'm still angry at that man—whoever he is, and at myself for trusting him, but today I think I had my first good day—hopefully there will be more to come."
"I hope that too," said Jess as she came over and hugged her sister. "And to celebrate this day let's go out—either to Ultra Violet or Capricorn, your choice."
"I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet, Jess," said Natalie as she pulled out of the hug and grabbed a can out of a bag.
"Nothing big—I promise, now go get ready," she said as she grabbed the can from Natalie as shoved her out of the kitchen.
-
Natalie sighed as she walked into Capricorn with Jessica. Though the second part of her day had been good she was completely on edge about going out at night and trying to act normal. What was normal anyways? "I'm going to get a table," she said as she slipped away and found a quite spot in the corner and Jessica went towards the bar to get them some drinks. She had felt fine at Rodi's—and in her own apartment, but she just kept thinking everyone was staring at her—pointing fingers at the poor little thing that couldn't even tell a stranger from her husband.
"How you doing?" asked John as he walked up to the table, his hands in his pockets.
"I'm alright. This is my first time out in public when I'm not working—if you can't tell," she said as she gave a shrug.
"It'll get easier—you can't blame yourself, he had everyone fooled."
"Except you. You saw through him the whole time."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Just when he started acting odd. I did want you to be happy Natalie."
"I know," she said giving a weak smile and looking over to seeing her sister and someone else coming over also making her smile brighten.
"Look who I found," said Jessica as she handed Natalie a drink and Nick took a seat also.
"Jessica said it was ok that I could join you two—unless you have some mushy female stuff to discuss," he said, wrinkling his nose at the thought.
"No," laughed Natalie out loud. "You are more than welcome to join us. John—this is Nick Dawson, hopefully the newest reporter for The Banner."
"Hey," he said giving a half smile-half puzzled look as to why a complete stranger to Natalie made her smile like that. "I'll leave you three alone—take care, Natalie," spoke John quietly as he easily slipped himself out of the trio's earshot and listened to Natalie continue to laugh and smile.