Title: Even If It Killed Her
Fandom: Guiding Light
Characters: Olivia Spencer, Natalia Rivera, Frank Cooper, Emma Spencer, Blake Marler, Rafe Rivera
Category: Angst, with a side of angst. Romance.
Rating: Eventually NC-17, though for most of it, it could probably past for oh, PG probably.
Word count: 1,009
Summary: Olivia will do whatever is necessary to make Natalia happy, even if it kills her.
Spoilers: Takes place around late April, early May '09, and contains spoilers for all events therein.
Author's Note: I see you there, sitting behind your computer, wondering why I'm posting this when I haven't even finished The Importance of Family yet. And you're right, but I'm still putting the finishing touches on that one, and this is all finished. It's sitting here on my computer, staring at me, daring me to post it. So posting it, I am.
Beta: jlynxi was awesome enough to beta this for me. It's very much appreciated because I know this is a lot of fic! And I should definitely give a big shout out to rysler for letting me bounce ideas off of her throughout the whole process of writing this fic.
Disclaimer: All characters (Olivia Spencer, Natalia Rivera, Emma Spencer, Ava Peralta, blah blah etc.) and situations belong to Guiding Light, Telenext, Proctor & Gamble, etc. I'm not them.

And really I only have one more thing to say, but I think ya'll are going to like it:daily posts!

Part One

"What kind of bitch are you?"

Olivia's head snapped up from her desk, her eyes narrowing even before she had focused in on her intruder. "Well good morning to you too, Frankie." She let her pen fall from her fingers and leaned back in her chair, steeple-ing them under her chin. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"You know damn well why I'm here." Frank retorted, looming over her as he attempted to be intimidating.

Frank was not the first person to have stormed into her office in a rage, making insulting accusations, and occasionally she had even been uncertain where those accusations were coming from. Usually it had been because she had too many schemes going to remember which one in particular had pissed the person off. This time she genuinely had no clue. She hadn't done anything lately, nothing besides work and take care of her daughter and try to ignore her broken heart. She wasn't about to sound clueless in front of Frank though, not after he had come into her office with a chip on his shoulder. Nobody got to tear into her and just watch as she let it slide. Even if he was married to Natalia.

"Pretend I don't," she said with a smile designed to be infuriating. "Enlighten me."

Frank slammed his palm down onto her desk; she felt the way it shuddered beneath him and shot to her feet.

"I've been nice so far, Frank, but you don't get to push much further. Now tell me what the problem is."

"The problem is that you won't let Natalia out of her contract." He seemed to deflate a little. "How could you after everything she's done for you, Olivia? For the first time in her life, she doesn't have to work any more. She can stay at home and take care of her family like she wants."

Olivia recoiled and stiffened her knees, fighting the urge to sink back into her chair. Frank would have startled her less if he had slapped her. This was the first she had heard of Natalia wanting to quit - not that she would share that information with Frank. Let him think whatever he wanted. He was going to anyway no matter what she said. The thought of Natalia quitting though... She shied away from it, ignoring it in favor of dealing with the situation at hand. Losing Natalia - losing the last little pieces of her that she was holding on to - would be unbearable and she was not going to give Frank the satisfaction of crying in front of him.

"A contract is a contract, Frank. I'm well within my rights to hold her to it. She signed it and she knew what she was getting into. Stop treating her-" She bit off the rest of her sentence. She wasn't going to do it anymore - give Frank advice about Natalia. She had married him after all. Obviously he was what she wanted - not Olivia. She had to just let it go, let Natalia go and let Frank be her husband. Olivia squared her shoulders as she straightened. "If Natalia wants to discuss this further, she knows where to find me, but this is none of your business, Frank, so get out of my office."

Frank snorted. "Of course, this is my business. She's my wife."

For a moment Olivia couldn't help but stare at him. He just didn't get it. "No, Frank," she said softly. "It really isn't." Seeing the look of determination on Frank's face, Olivia realized he wasn't going to give up so easily. She sighed and tried again. "Did she ask you to come here and talk to me about this?" How she hoped the answer to that wasn't 'yes'. She had no idea what she would say if it was, not to mention the thought that Natalia was so worried about seeing her that she had sent Frank in her place.

"No," Frank admitted. "But-"

Olivia cut him off. "No, buts, Frankie. This is between me and Natalia. Stay out of it." She almost laughed at the irony of that line. How she wished she had said that to him months ago. How she wished there really was a 'me and Natalia'.

"You know what I can't figure out, Olivia?" He didn't wait for her answer. "What are you getting out of this? Besides getting your every whim catered to." He scowled at her as if he expected her to be cowed by the accusation. "Is it just that you enjoy watching a humble, hardworking woman like Natalia breaking her back for you? Is that how you get your jollies?"

Olivia stiffened, her hands trembling at her sides, not from fear but from the anger that was boiling up inside her. It took everything in her not to slug him in the jaw. Only the thought of the look of disappointment on Natalia's face kept her from doing it. Instead she took a deep breath and forced it out again. "Get out of my office and my hotel, Frank, or I will call security and have them throw you out."

"I won't forget this," Frank warned.

"Oh, I'm shaking in my stilettos," Olivia almost snarled, sinking down into her chair as he turned on his heel and stormed out of her office. She pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers and winced as she suddenly became aware of a pounding headache. "Damn it, Natalia," she whispered and then flinched, wishing she could suck the words back in as soon as they left her mouth. Even angry, frustrated, broken hearted and facing the prospect that Natalia would soon be quitting her job, Olivia didn't mean those words. She truly wanted Natalia to be happy and if that meant breaking the remaining shreds of her heart again by letting Natalia slip away for the last time then so be it. She would do that for her. Even if it killed her.

(1/23)