Will she allow anything between us when she finds out everything? I can’t be sure. Although, nothing but blood connects her to Layla, as they have never even seen each other.
Olívia mentioned going out on a date set up by Melissa. Has it already happened? Is she with someone? Just considering that, I feel my blood boil.
I enter my office and pretend not to notice the astonishment on Kathleen’s face when she sees me arrive with Nina in the stroller and a bag on one arm. When she starts to get up to approach my daughter, a simple shake of my head stops her immediately.
Kathleen has been particularly insistent and unpleasant in recent days. There are no more insinuations but rather an approach so clear that it has become uncomfortable. Yesterday we were reviewing a report, and out of nowhere she got up, came behind my chair, and practically rubbed her breasts in my face. I had no choice but to tell her to sit back down in her place.
She is a beautiful woman, but there has never been any interest from my side.
After what happened yesterday, I sent a message to the HR department asking for her to be transferred by the end of the week. Which reminds me that I’ll have to call Melissa in no later than tomorrow.
I look at my wristwatch. I asked them to delay the meeting by an hour, although I hate making people wait for me. I keep the door open to make sure Olívia will come to me as soon as she arrives on the floor.
Five minutes later, she sends a message.
Olívia:Good morning. I’m here.
The girl is clever and has already realized that she won’t be well-received by Kathleen.
Me:You can come straight in.
As soon as she arrives, the air changes. The energy that always surrounds her hits me head-on.
However, despite all my instincts telling me that I can trust her, there’s still the memory of how my daughter was rejected by her own mother, so I doubt whether I made the best decision.
“Come in and close the door.”
She obeys, but her gaze is already fully focused on the stroller. “Do we have a visitor?” She smiles broadly, andalthough she’s standing still, I can feel that every cell in her body wants to approach. I remain guarded near Nina because I can’t relax my protection over my little girl.
“Yes. I had to bring her. Come here.”
She doesn’t hesitate, and as always, her proximity affects me in ways it shouldn’t. I pick up my girl—who by now is drooling on a teether—and lift her up to show her. “Olívia, this is Valentina, also known as Princess Nina to the family.”
Although I try to sound light, I’m attentive to the face of the woman who has fascinated me since the first moment I saw her. People can lie through words, but they rarely can fake facial expressions.
What I see in Olívia, however, quickly allows me to breathe again. Her eyes shine as she, perhaps unconsciously, moves to touch Nina. My daughter, in turn, throws the teether on the floor and mirrors her gesture, reaching out her chubby little hand to, unbeknownst to her, touch her only living maternal relative.
Nina isn’t wary of strangers. She’s more than used to people, given the madness that is my parents’ house, so before I can say anything, she leans, wanting to go to Olívia, who smiles. I don’t think she realizes what she’s doing when she reaches out her arms towards Valentina.
“Do you want to hold her?”
“Can I?”
I know it’s a decision that involves much more than simply handing my daughter to a stranger, but that’s why I brought her into our lives in the first place. “Yes.”
She comes so close that for a moment we form a whole. Three hearts emitting warmth.
“Hello, Princess Nina. Nice to meet you. You’re even prettier in person. How is that possible?”
“Dada . . .”Nina responds, distracted by the chain Olívia has around her neck. There’s a small heart-shaped gold pendant on it. I’m always so overwhelmed by her proximity that I didn’t notice the choker until now.
“Watch your necklace and your hair too. She’s in a grabbing-everything-that-catches-her-eye phase.”
Olívia barely hears me. She already has Nina in her arms, and even though I’m late for the meeting, I watch them. Like everything about Olívia, I can see the delicacy with which she holds my daughter, and it reaffirms my certainty that I made the right decision to bring them together.
“No problem. I took care of a neighbor’s baby throughout my adolescence. I spent at least two hours with her every day from the time I was fourteen. I know how curious they can be at that age.”
“I called you because I have a meeting and the nanny let me down. Could you stay with her here in the office while I’m gone?”
